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NCAA Basketball: Florida, Kansas, Michigan rise in latest top 25 power rankings

Jan 7, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators guard Will Richard (5) makes a layup against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
Jan 7, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Florida Gators guard Will Richard (5) makes a layup against the Tennessee Volunteers during the first half at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images
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16. Illinois (12-4)

All things considered, this Illinois team is exceeding expectations with a bevy of new faces, though that didn’t stop this past week from being a disappointment. Brad Underwood’s squad is leaning heavily on young talent, but losing star freshman Kasparas Jakucionis this week clearly had an effect on this entire team as we saw this weekend.

He did play last Sunday, factoring into Illinois’s close call in an 81-77 win at Washington with an 18-point performance on the road. His first game missed was a few days later, though the Illini handled Penn State in a 91-52 blowout. Ben Humrichous led with 21 points and 9 rebounds while both Tre White and Morez Johnson Jr. each added 20 points. The issues came Saturday, as the Illini lacked cohesion in the second half en route to an 82-72 home loss to USC on a rough shooting day from outside the arc.

Getting Jakucionis back into this lineup will go a long way to curing this Illinois rotation, though clearly this team isn’t perfect and is still working some kinks out of their system. They have the talent and potential to win the Big Ten, but now sit just 4-2 with some regrettable performances early on. As if their recent rough shooting wasn’t enough, Illinois heads to Indiana and Michigan State next week for two more difficult road tests.