It was another big week in NCAA Basketball, with many ranked teams losing. With Saturday being a loaded slate filled with key rivalry games, we got plenty of big results that’ll impact the next top-25 power rankings.
Here’s the latest update on the top teams in the country, looking at the results from the past week.
25. Illinois Fighting Illini - 14-7 (6-5 Big Ten)
After back-to-back losses in the last week to Maryland and Michigan State, this was an important couple of games to get Illinois back on track. But with starting center Tomislav Ivisic (Mono) still sick, they’ve remained shorthanded.
The Illini didn’t need him at home against Northwestern, where they got off to a dominant start, up 43-21 at halftime. The Wildcats did score 50+ points to make the final score more respectable but Illinois got the 83-74 win. Five players were in double figures, led by 17 points from Kylan Boswell. Freshman Kasparas Jakucionis was just three assists shy of a triple-double on the night,
But he and the Illini weren’t as lucky on Thursday when they fell on the road at Nebraska. They were trailing for most of the game, and to their credit, they forced overtime. Yet they still lost, 80-74, despite 18 points and 13 rebounds from Kasparas Jakucionis and 31 points combined off the bench from Will Riley and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn.
Illinois is back at home up next against Ohio State, a team that has been playing better as of late. After that is another improved team, Rutgers on the road. It’ll be a battle of some of the top freshmen in the country, a rare time when Illinois doesn’t have the best first-year guys.