Big Ten Basketball: Week 9 power rankings

This rank may come as a little bit of a surprise to some, especially after the Illini’s poor start to open up conference play. But, they really don’t have any bad losses (outside of maybe Wake Forest), and this is a team that has the potential to turn things around. Not to mention they have played 3 out of their first 4 conference games on the road so far.

After dropping their game last Wednesday at Minnesota, Illinois traveled to Ann Arbor to take on a very good Wolverines squad. Despite playing a very good first half, the Illini struggled to make shots in the second half, falling 79-69.

Kipper Nichols (8.7 ppg, 4.9 rpg) had 17 points for the Illini in the loss. This is a good sign, as he has struggled of late. Other players struggled, however, as the Illini committed 17 turnovers. They did force 15 Wolverine turnovers, but allowed them to shoot 64% from the field in the second half.

Guys like Leron Black (14.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg) and Michael Finke (10.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg) just couldn’t get anything going for the Illini this past weekend. They really need these two to step up in big games like this, and need bigger contributions from other guys. The good news is that this team has a ton of potential, and Brad Underwood generally improves his teams later in the season. The Illini should be a much better team when February rolls around.

Schedule for this week:

Iowa (9-9, 0-5) at Illinois on Jan. 10

Illinois at Nebraska (11-6, 2-2) on Jan. 15