Big Ten Basketball: Week 7 power rankings for the conference

The Illinois Fighting Illini move up to the No. 8 spot, which is the highest they’ve been in the power rankings this season. The Illini finally got that quality win that they were desperately looking for.

This win came in the Braggin’ Rights game at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Dec. 23. The Illini used a 42-22 halftime lead to defeat Missouri 70-64 in the much-anticipated matchup. This was a huge win for the Illini, who have lost their five games by a combined 23 points. Prior to this matchup, the Tigers were ranked No. 3 in the RPI rankings. This was an impressive win by Brad Underwood’s team.

The Illini were led by Leron Black (20 points, 7 rebounds) and freshman Trent Frazier (22 points). Frazier, who has averaged 17.8 points per game in his last 4 contests, was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after Saturday’s performance.

Not only this but New Mexico State, who beat the Illini in Chicago the previous Saturday, defeated undefeated and 8th-ranked Miami this past weekend. This shows that the Aggies are no pushover team. Things are starting to look up for the Illini after a tough start to the season.

Outside of Black (14.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Frazier (9.2 ppg), two other guys continue to score in double figures for the Illini in Michael Finke (11.6 ppg, 6.0 rpg) and Aaron Jordan (11.3 ppg, 60% 3P%). Although they don’t have a guy who is a take-over the game scorer so far, their depth and balance of scoring will be beneficial once conference play starts back up.

Schedule for this week:

Grand Canyon (10-4) at Illinois on Dec. 30