CHAMPAIGN - Better now than later.

That's what Bruce Weber has to be thinking as his University of Illinois basketball team enters tonight's exhibition game against Quincy with a rash of injuries and illness.

At least one player who started the exhibition opener against Illinois Wesleyan is not even expected to be in uniform. Warren Carter has undergone surgery for a broken nose suffered in practice Saturday when he took a blow from Brian Randle's elbow after Randle executed a slam dunk.

"He had surgery (Monday)," Weber said. "He was gone about two hours, then came back to the building a little groggy. They put something in there to keep it stable. Stints? I'm not sure. He has two sticks in his nose.

"He told me he wanted to practice today but (trainer Al Martindale) said it would probably be a couple of days before he'd let him get going. We'll try to fit him with a mask by the end of the week. We think he should be back in practice by the weekend and should be ready to go next week.

"The mask - that's up to him. Some deal with it better than others."

With Carter out, Weber said Shaun Pruitt will move into the starting lineup.

Even though the team received flu shots on Friday, two players already have been hit with the flu.

James Augustine missed practice Saturday. "His was a lot stronger case than we anticipated," Weber said. "He had a pretty high fever, lost six or seven pounds and was pretty weak. We held him out which, in the long run, should help his ankle and foot. But he had a good practice yesterday and went the whole time."

Weber said Randle also turned up with the flu on Monday. "And Chester (Frazier) went down with a bad fall and bruised his butt," Weber said.

"I was looking for something positive, some continuity in practice. Luckily we had a couple of walkons trying out so we could go five-on-five because we were down to about nine guys."

McBride has returned to practice after resting his sore feet Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday and should be good to go tonight.

Weber said he expects a good test from Quincy.

"We exchanged tapes of our scrimmages, and we'll do a little scouting report today. They are an experienced team. Their coach, Marty Bell, was an assistant at Drake when I was in the (Missouri) Valley Conference. I know him fairly well and he has kind of brought (Drake's) system with him to Quincy.

"They should be a quality team. They're probably a step up from Illinois Wesleyan athletically. They may press us a little bit and that would be good for us. These guys will try to go up and down a little."

One player - Ryan Walker - was with Weber at Southern Illinois University but transferred to Quincy when Weber left. "He's a very good shooter and had some games last year with six or seven 3s."

This is Illinois' final dress rehearsal before the regular season begins on Friday, Nov. 18 against South Dakota State.

TICKET UPDATE

Tickets for the game Dec. 3 against Xavier at the United Center in Chicago are nearly sold out. As of Tuesday, only a few single tickets and standing room only tickets remained.

There were still 1,000 tickets available for the Nov. 22 game against Texas Southern, making it easily the best bet for fans still hoping to catch a game at the Assembly Hall. Call 1-866-ILLINI-1 for ticket information.

Mark Tupper can be reached at mtupper@herald-review.com or at 421-7983.