Illini, Lions play confidence game  

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They are two ships passing in the wintry night.

Illinois, which is coming off its first loss to Indiana in three seasons, has dropped out of the Top 25 for the first time this season. It has lost four of its last five games.

‘‘I don’t feel very well,’’ a congested Bruce Weber said Monday. ‘‘Our team isn’t shooting well. The weather is not very well. On a positive note, we didn’t lose this weekend.’’

When Weber is resorting to bye jokes, it’s usually not a good sign.

Penn State, which is coming off its third victory this season against a Top 25 team, is intent on earning an NCAA tournament bid. The Nittany Lions have won four of their last six games, and their two losses came by a combined four points at No. 1 Ohio State and No. 11 Purdue.

‘‘I told my kids it’s a nine-game season now until the conference tournament,’’ Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. ‘‘We’re all trying to keep in the race, to keep our hopes and dreams alive of playing in the NCAA tournament.’’

In light of the blizzard that’s expected to ravage Pennsylvania after socking Illinois, the Nittany Lions are prepared not to return home until Thursday after playing the Illini tonight in Champaign (8 p.m., BTN, 560-AM).

‘‘My assistant AD said to pack an extra set of clothes,’’ DeChellis said. ‘‘So, yeah, we’ve got some weather issues.’’

Illinois, on the other hand, has basketball issues.

‘‘We’ve hit a bad stretch,’’ said Weber, who’s pondering lineup changes. ‘‘I don’t know if we’ll do anything, but it has been talked about among our staff.’’

One minor move would be to start freshman Jereme Richmond ahead of defense-oriented senior Bill Cole. Less likely would be using Brandon Paul ahead of slumping D.J. Richardson. But those are cosmetic maneuvers.

Weber understands upheaval isn’t the answer. Confidence is.

‘‘I’m not sure starting lineups are all that important,’’ Weber said. ‘‘I just want our guys to play well, that’s the biggest thing. There’s no doubt confidence is a factor now. It’s taken a toll on Demetri [McCamey]. They all want to do well. It’s just figuring out how to relax and play basketball the way they’re capable of.’’

If the Illini want to see confidence, they don’t need to look any further than Penn State, which methodically took down No. 17 Wisconsin 56-52 on Saturday.

‘‘The kids really believe they can win,’’ said DeChellis, whose team bottomed out in a 74-64 loss to Maine on Dec. 21. ‘‘We kept preaching you have to play together. And somewhere along the way, they found their way.’’

It also helps that the Nittany Lions are playing loose.

‘‘Confidence is huge,’’ DeChellis said. ‘‘If we as coaches could figure out how to keep the confidence going, we’d have it made. But it’s not something you really do; it’s something they do.’’

Or, in the case of the Illini at the moment, something they don’t do.

‘‘We have guys that are thinking too much,’’ Weber said. ‘‘They’re not running hard, not letting loose. Obviously, it’s mounted up. .  .  . It’s not been very good.’’

If it doesn’t get better, Illinois might be in for a long, hard winter.