Somewhere in the middle portion of the Illini’s win over Hawaii on Monday night, the home team put together a pretty decent stretch, creating turnovers and running the floor to push the lead to 21 points.

But coach Bruce Weber wasn’t too pleased with the start or finish, and he attributed some of his disappointment to a lack of preparation and what he said was too much goofing around at different points during the day.

“Before the game I told them they weren’t ready to play,” he said. “I didn’t yell, I didn’t kick anything. And they weren’t ready at the beginning. It was a good learning lesson. We have a routine before (the game) with shooting and when they’re supposed to be there and they weren’t very good. Too much goofing around.

“I think that’s part of having so many young guys. But I also talked to the seniors. Hey,  if you’re going to be a good team, if someone isn’t doing what they’re supposed to, someone has to speak up, not only the coaches.”

Hawaii kept the game close for most of the first half and the score was tied at 22 with little more than four minutes until halftime. But the Illini overcame their horrendous rebounding to pull out to a 13-point lead at the break. Their superior athleticism allowed them to build the lead to 59-38 in the second half.

At that point, Weber’s fears seemed to be in the past. But the Illini let up down the stretch and allowed a team that had traveled more than 4,000 miles to cut the gap to 10 points.

“We picked it up enough to control the game for the most part,” he said. “I’m just disappointed in how we finished. I’m disappointed for Bubby (Chisholm) and C.J. (Jackson) because should be able to get in.”

Illinois might be falling victim to a hectic schedule that has them playing six games in 13 days with little time for practice. They’ll go for 90 minutes or so today, but it’s probably not enough time to correct things such as poor blocking out that has led to a couple of bad rebounding games.

Hawaii had 18 offensive rebounds while the Illini had only 14 total rebounds. Forward Roderick Flemings nearly outrebounded Illinois by himself, finishing with 12. The Illini’s leaders: Mike Davis with four and Dominique Keller and Richard Semrau with two each.

I don’t want to make it sound like Illinois played a bad game and won. The Illini had 16 assists and five turnovers. They forced 22 turnovers and turned them into 28 points. They blocked six shots and shot 49 percent.

And there were good individual performances. Chester Frazier scored 14 points by making four 3-pointers. You might not see that again. Demetri McCamey matched his career high of 11 assists. Dominique Keller was active around the basket, despite a shortage of rebounds.

And get this. Richard Semrau scored under the basket a couple of times.

Now Weber can’t wait to get past Wednesday’s game against Chicago State and get some practice time. When the Illini return from a nine-day layoff, maybe Weber will see the kind of enthusiasm he saw from the Rainbow Warriors.

“They did a warrior cry in the hallway. They were loud,” he said. “I was talking and had to stop and listen. I hope the kids heard it. They were ready to play, ready to go and our guys weren’t doing any warrior cries, I promise you.”