NCAA Basketball: Purdue, Virginia falls, Marquette and Gonzaga rise in top 25 power rankings

18. Northwestern Wildcats – 20-8 (11-6 Big Ten)

There are few NCAA Basketball programs hotter than Northwestern at the moment, getting back-to-back home wins over Purdue and Indiana in the week prior to essentially clinching its bid to the NCAA Tournament. They continued that great play last Sunday, beating Iowa to get five straight wins.

The final score was 80-60, showing that the defense remains one of the best in the Big Ten. Boo Buie had 23 points and eight assists to lead the team, while Ty Berry had 16 and Brooks Barnhizer had 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench. But they couldn’t stay at home forever, traveling on the road for a Thursday matchup at Illinois. But they were up by 18 points at halftime, thanks to 22 points from Buie alone.

He ended up with a career-high 35 points for Northwestern but unfortunately, the rest of the team couldn’t help. It allowed Illinois to make a furious comeback and steal the game, with a 66-62 win over the Wildcats. Barnhizer was the only other player in double figures, scoring 11 off the bench.

The streak has ended for Northwestern but they’re still in second in the Big Ten standings. They look to continue to remain there, taking on Maryland on Sunday, followed by Penn State and Rutgers to end the regular season.