Busting Brackets
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Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Michigan makes big statement to start the season

By Austin Walther

WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - FEBRUARY 25: Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers reaches for the ball to keep it in bounds during the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Mackey Arena on February 25, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN - FEBRUARY 25: Carsen Edwards #3 of the Purdue Boilermakers reaches for the ball to keep it in bounds during the game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Mackey Arena on February 25, 2018 in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /
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LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 19: Giorgi Bezhanishvili #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini and Brandon Clarke #15 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs joust for position under the basket during a free throw attempt during the second half of the game at Lahaina Civic Center on November 19, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images)
LAHAINA, HI – NOVEMBER 19: Giorgi Bezhanishvili #15 of the Illinois Fighting Illini and Brandon Clarke #15 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs joust for position under the basket during a free throw attempt during the second half of the game at Lahaina Civic Center on November 19, 2018 in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Photo by Darryl Oumi/Getty Images) /

12. Illinois Fighting Illini (1-2)

Illinois has the worst record of all the Big Ten teams, but it hasn’t been all that terrible for the Illini. They came up one point short of scoring 100 in their first game. It’s impressive even though it was against Evansville. We got to see Ayo Dosunmu for the first time. That gave them hope that there’s production outside of Trent Frazier and Kipper Nichols. He scored even more against the Hoyas where he dropped 25 points.

Frazier was out against the Hoyas. That was a big loss for Illinois. It was a shootout. Some say ugly, but I’ll say it was a match up of two teams really trying to find their identities. In a good way. Both are decent basketball teams, but still young and hungry. Neither wanted to quit, but Georgetown picked up the road win.

Andres Feliz picked up the start when Frazier was hurt. He’s been doing a great job in his first year with Illinois. Feliz is averaging over 14 points per game, four boards and four assists. Aaron Jordan is the veteran senior and he shows sign of being the three-point specialist. He has over seven made so far this season and he can catch fire at anytime.

Illinois is in the middle of a loaded Maui Jim Maui. They drew Gonzaga to start things. Which means they played the night cap and by the time the game ended, it was almost one in the morning mentally. But this is going to be a good test for Brad Underwood in his second season with a really young team.

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