Illinois returns to Assembly Hall tonight for a big nonconference game against undefeated Clemson, and coach Bruce Weber is hoping the team’s 6-0 start will be enough to lure a few more students, whose section in the upper reaches has been noticeably quiet.

Actually, empty.

But let’s be honest. It’s not just students that have been staying away this season. The 60-game sellout streak is long gone.

Average attendance for the first three home games was 14,227 and that’s tickets sold. With big chunks of empty seats on the lower level, the actual attendance has appeared to be less than 10,000 at the first three games. Most of those seats are sold, now the people need to show up.

And Weber hopes the fast start will entice students to buy tickets as well.

“We had about 90 percent renewal,” Weber said of the season ticket holders. “It’s been the students. We need to get the students there, get them to buy in. You can do it two ways: play with a lot of passion and win some games. I think so far we’ve done that. Slowly but surely we’ll get guys back in the stands and get the noise going.”

It’s understandable that students might have to make decisions on how to spend money and that basketball games wouldn’t be a top priority these days. Assembly Hall lost some of its allure last season when the Illini were 7-8 at home.

Assembly Hall is no longer THE place to be, not at $156 for a student season ticket or $11 per game.

“The Hall has been a special place since I’ve been here and before that,” Weber said. “We have to keep energy alive in The Hall and make it a place to be and tough to play in.”