Illlinois' Weber wants consistency from Brandon Paul

Brandon Paul leaned back, closed his eyes, and rode the wave of students carrying him across the Assembly Hall court.

Paul had just dropped 43 points against fifth-ranked Ohio State. With that performance Jan. 10, Illinois snapped a five-game losing streak against the Buckeyes, re-entered the AP rankings at No. 22 and jumped to the top of the Big Ten Conference standings.

More than a week later, Paul still has the nation's attention. On Monday he was named the Big Ten men's basketball player of the week, then topped it on Tuesday when the U.S. Basketball Writers Association named him the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week.

His coach remains cautiously optimistic about whether the streaky junior can make a habit of carrying the team.

"He'll have some five-minutes spurts in practice where he dominates," coach Bruce Weber said this week, "but he doesn't do it consistently."

It's a problem Weber's watched since Paul arrived in Champaign in 2009. Paul scored a game-high 22 points during his first game at Illinois, setting a school record for a freshman debut. He scored 20 in his second game — including four 3-pointers for the second time — but averaged 2.25 field goals for 6.5 points over the next four contests.

It was more of the same Paul's sophomore year, when he scored at least 20 points against Michigan State, Northwestern and Purdue, but couldn't make a bucket against North Carolina, Oakland, or Indiana.

"I don't think there's any doubt he's shown flashes of (success) since he's been here, since high school when we recruited him," Weber said. "His problem has been consistency, probably shot selection, and just a sense of urgency."

Even last Tuesday's performance, a showing Weber calls "the night of a lifetime," started off-balance. Paul opened the game with a turnover, missed his first shot and didn't score until seven minutes had elapsed.

At halftime he had 15 points, but also four turnovers and a pair of fouls.

"I had way too many turnovers," Paul said after the game. "I have to take care of the ball better."

Weber hopes Illinois' long layoff — nine days passed between the Ohio State win and Illinois' trip to Penn State tomorrow — helps Paul come down to reality. He worries that Paul got hot against Ohio State, and will presume that kind of night can come again naturally.

"It gave us a chance at this point to be up in the race, but nothing is easy in the Big Ten," Weber said. "This weekend we have to go to Penn State, where coach (Patrick Chambers) has done a great job of getting his kids ready to play as hard as anybody in the league. They beat Purdue by 20 after we lost to Purdue by 20."

Eventually the Illinois students set Paul back on his feet. Penn State may do the same.

"Brandon Paul played like a pro tonight," Illinois center Myers Leonard said after the Ohio State win.

The question is, will he do it again?

The Associated Press contributed to this report.