Chester Frazier’s style is not one of a follower who waits for things to happen. So after Illinois lost at Wisconsin he urged the coaching staff to institute a press in the event the Illini needed it in another situation where they were trailing late, especially on the road.

He said his idea fell on deaf ears. But he made the same suggestion with the Illini on the brink of another road loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

A fullcourt press is not in the Illinois game plan. But there were the Illini, pressing the Wildcats into turnovers that helped spark a wild comeback and a 60-59 win.

“After we lost the last game on the road I suggested we do a press and try to speed teams up on the road,” Frazier said. “They didn’t listen to me then. But tonight coach McClain said maybe let’s try it. We tried it and it worked. We kind of threw it togther. Put a man on the ball, trap the first pass, take away the next pass. It was kind of like that.”

Assistant coach Wayne McClain drew up the press that was so effective on a moment’s notice and was given most of the praise. Northwestern looked flustered and it’s no wonder. Watch the Illini on film and you don’t find them pressing — ever. Ask Mike Davis how much they practice the press and he’s got a quick answer: “None.” But he backed up Frazier’s story.

“Chester told Coach, ‘Let’s try a little press,’ and we got turnovers and it got us back in the game,” Davis said. “But we don’t practice it really.”

Does Illinois win this game without the press? Probably not.

The Illini were still trailining 59-53 when Craig Moore lost the ball with 1:07 remaining. Trent Meacham hit a 3-pointer seven seconds later. Another turnover by Moore with 56 seconds left was followed by a Meacham layup with 42 seconds remaining. That’s five points off of turnovers created by the press.

There has been a lot of talk this season about players calling Chester “coach Frazier.” He took on that role during summer workouts and hopes to one day go into coaching. He got an early start against Northwestern.

“We really were playing their game for probably 35 minutes,” Meacham said. “Then we kind of got them playing a little faster than they wanted to and we escaped with one. We may not have deserved it, but we stayed together and found a way to win.”

After Demetri McCamey hit the game-winning shot with 2.9 seconds left, Northwestern had a chance to win. Moore, who leads the Big Ten in 3-pointers made, was left unguarded and fired a shot from halfcourt that fell well short.

The Illini left Moore a bit more open than coach  Bruce Weber would have liked.

“I know our guys didn’t want to foul, but we gave Moore too much space,” Weber said. “He got to halfcourt and shot kind of a HORSE shot, and the way he shoots bombs, you’re wondering if that thing’s going to go in or not.”

Afterward, there were a couple of references to another big Illinois comeback in Chicago. But it was a bit of a stretch to compare this one to the night the Illini erased a 15-point deficit against Arizona in the NCAA Tournament.

But you couldn’t have convinced the fans who stuck around at Welsh-Ryan, waiting for the Illinois players to emerge from the lockerroom. It seemed like a couple of hundred fans were stuffed in the hall awaiting the Illini, who appeared one by one to wild applause before entering the arena to visit with friends and family. Weber hopes they took some lessons from the arena.

“I told them afterward, now use this as a momentum builder to go somewhere,” he said. “That’s the key. What do you do with it?”

He’ll find out Sunday at Indiana.