The only thing fluid about the balding Lucas Johnson is his sweat. His scoring average (4.4) reads like a Humvee’s mpg sticker. Kids who don’t sleep in class have higher GPAs than he has rebounds per game (2.9).

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So why did Illinois, an Elite Eight team in ’01, struggle so much when the senior sat out the first 18 games this season? And why are the Illini surging now that he’s back from off-season ACL surgery? Johnson is a human skidmark, a floor burn waiting to happen. He’s 6'8" of chippy. He’s 230 pounds of annoying. Without him, the Illini are as soft as the manure pile at the school’s South Farm ag complex. With him, they’re a team you don’t want in your bracket. "We’re starting to get that toughness again," LJ says.

Since his return on Jan. 23, Illinois has overcome a 13-point deficit at Michigan and an 18-point hole against Purdue, and held on for a big W at Michigan State. Of course, come Tourney time, when everyone brings it a little harder, the Illini will need more than Johnson’s sweat stains. They’ll need PF Brian Cook to put two halves together, F/C Robert Archibald to stay healthy and PG Frank Williams to break out of his funk. They’ll need a team full of tough. But as countless Big Ten foes can attest, LJ has a way of rubbing off on you.

This article appears in the March 18 issue of ESPN The Magazine.