Four items beat writer Matt Daniels picked up Monday from Lovie Smith’s afternoon news conference at Memorial Stadium:
1. Joe Spencer is listed atop the Illinois depth chart at center for the second consecutive week. The fifth-year senior and one of four Illinois captains missed the season opener against Murray State with a knee injury. “Joe was close to playing last week,” Smith said. “Hopefully we’ll have him this week ready to go. We’ll need all of the troops ready to go.”
If Spencer doesn’t play against the Tar Heels, expect Nick Allegretti to start at center again, with either Darta Lee or Jordan Fagan at the guard spot Allegretti would vacate.