CHICAGO — Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said after Tuesday's game against North Carolina that Illinois needed more of a post presence.

Saturday he got it.

The big men for No. 11 Illinois came together to put together a collective effort of 34 points and 22 rebounds. They showed they would be a force for the Illini during the team's 84-61 win against Arkansas in the United Center.

Junior center Nick Smith and sophomore forward James Augustine took control of the game from the opening tip. The duo combined for six of the Illini's first eight points. Smith, who went 0-for-11 during the last two games, came out and hit his first shot, an 18-footer 50 seconds into the game.

Smith said it was good to hit his first shot after his shooting struggles. He ended the game with 10 points off 5-for-7 shooting.

"Coach is giving him a little more confidence than he has had in the past couple of years," Augustine said. "So I think he is getting out of (struggles) a little."

Augustine had another solid performance for the Illini. He recorded his fifth double-double of his career, 12 points and 12 rebounds. Augustine's presence was seen on the defensive end as he blocked five shots, tying a career high.

Augustine says screening is the reason for the big men's performance.

"The bigs were screening well," Augustine said. "We focused a lot on screening yesterday so that opened us up a little bit."

Aaron Spears and Jack Ingram came off the bench and planted themselves in the post in the second half. Both were able to get the ball down low and scored by using post moves, something that was lacking against North Carolina. Spears scored eight points in his best game of the season. Ingram added four points and four rebounds.

"Aaron wet his feet a little bit and I think Jack Ingram has been very solid for us," Weber said. "We can come at people with a lot of different looks."

Razorbacks Rebounding Rampage

Arkansas was able to crash the offensive glass, grabbing 21 offensive rebounds. While Weber was happy Illinois was able to keep Arkansas shooting 33 percent with all the second change shots, he wants his guards to help out more with the rebounding.

"We had three guys — one was shaking hands with me, one's going to Gucci Row and the other one is on the other end," Weber said. "All of a sudden Nick and James are fighting five guys and it's not going to happen."

U-C Dominance

The win against Arkansas is the ninth win in a row at the United Center for Illinois. Illinois is 22-6 all-time there and has won 14 of their last 16 in the United Center.