Utah's men's basketball team had hoped they'd go into tonight's game against Illinois on a little bit of a roll. Instead it's feeling a little rolled over.

The Utes (2-2), who lost at home to Seattle 77-74 Tuesday, play No. 20 Illinois (4-0) tonight in the Las Vegas Invitational.

If they'd held onto their 11-point lead Tuesday instead of losing to the Redhawks, the Utes would have gone into the game against Illinois with a little confidence. But in place of that they have uncertainty, namely are they tough enough to handle the Illini?

They didn't look like it Tuesday when Seattle was bullying the Utes around the court. The Redhawks outrebounded the Utes 45-32 and had 24 second-chance points to the Utes' 11.

Utah coach Jim Boylen believes his team can take the lessons learned in that game and use them to its benefit tonight.

"Nothing has changed for me," he said. "We have another learning experience to watch on film. I'm disappointed but not discouraged. I like this group of guys, but we have to get better. I see some bright spots but we have to get tougher and better."

The Utes were also outrebounded by Idaho (40-34) and Utah State (38-27) -- a trend the Utes don't like.

Defense, aggressiveness and hustle were the way they were supposed to win games early in the season while the offense came together. So far, it isn't happening.

"We have to have that mentality that 'I'm going to get the ball no matter what happens,' " forward Carlon Brown said. "We need that toughness."