Illinois' Matthew Mayer returns to practice after 'caffeine poisoning'

The calendar has officially flipped to March, which means college basketball players across the country have been gearing up for the home stretch of the season. Well, most college basketball players.

Illinois swingman Matthew Mayer has some extra gearing up to do after missing multiple days of practice this week thanks to a bout of what he called "caffeine poisoning." Mayer suffered the ailment after he drank several energy drinks and stayed up playing video games after the Illini's loss to Ohio State on Saturday.

"I literally had six [energy drinks] the day of the [Ohio State] game," Mayer told local media after returning to practice Wednesday. "I had one before, but I have five hours because I had a caffeine-induced euphoria to play video games. I could barely get out of bed the next day. It was basically a caffeine hangover."

Illinois is currently slated to be a No. 7 seed as the 26th-best team in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament field per Mike DeCourcy's latest projections. Hopefully for Illinois fans, there won't be any more caffeine-fueled absences for the Illini as they fight for higher seeding in a competitive Big Ten.

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