9. Illinois (22-6)
The metrics don’t lie and Illinois boasts one of the most efficient offenses we’ve seen. That much was evident in wins at Purdue and Nebraska in recent weeks and still remains the case even after some recent close losses. Brad Underwood has his full complement of players back with Kylan Boswell healthy at last and the Fighting Illini have their eyes set on greater things.
Illinois was in action back on Sunday, getting 25 points from David Mirkovic in a great 71-51 home win against Indiana. The Illini then headed west and put on a show at USC, downing the Trojans 101-65 in another impressive offensive showing. Andrej Stojakovic had 22 points against the Trojans in a game where seven players scored in double figures. Unfortunately, they blew a huge early lead on Saturday and fell 95-94 in overtime against UCLA, falling on a last-second shot. Keaton Wagler had 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in the heartbreaking loss.
Between the emergence of Wagler, the return of Boswell, the attacking nature of Stojakovic, and the twin giants in the Ivisic’s, there’s plenty of action to go around for the Fighting Illini. Each of their three losses in February have come in overtime and they’ve shown that they can play hard and go down to the wire against any team. However, Underwood and this team must shake those sour feelings off pretty quickly because they host Michigan on Friday night.