Chicago ? Just hours after his mother died following heart surgery, Illinois coach Bruce Weber decided to direct the top-ranked Illini in today’s Big Ten tournament semifinal game.

Dawn Weber, 81, died about 6 p.m. Friday after undergoing surgery for a torn descending aorta. She was taken to Rush University Medical Center in Chicago after complaining of chest pains before the Illini beat Northwestern earlier in the day.

Weber was at the hospital when his mother died, said Kent Brown, Illinois’ sports information director.

“This has been a great loss to our family,” Weber said in a statement. “My mother has been very influential in my life and career, and that is why I have decided to coach the team (today), because that is what she would have wanted.”

Mrs. Weber, a widow who lived in Milwaukee, was stricken Friday morning after arriving at the United Center to pick up tickets for Illinois’ game. She was attended to by the arena’s medical staff and taken to the hospital.

Weber was not told of his mother’s illness until after the Illini defeated Northwestern, 68-51.