Riding a three game shooting slump, Illinois (19-5, 7-4) regained its footing this weekend with a combination of defense and blue collar effort in a 66-48 beating of Purdue (17-6, 6-4) in Champaign.  For its part, Matt Painter’s Boilermakers ended a rough week that saw it lose twice on the road and succumb to the reality of playing without a healthy Robbie Hummel for the foreseeable future.  Consequently, its season hangs in the balance. (more…)

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At 15-2, Illinois is set to play Michigan State, the heir apparent to the Conference title in the Breslin Center on Saturday.  It’s a tall order for any team but expect Illinois to show up and make it a game.  With the series split with Michigan and a huge road win against Purdue in their back pocket, Illinois’ only other loss is to undefeated and #9 Clemson by two points (a game they should’ve won).  The Illini coulda, shoulda been 16-1. (more…)

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It means little and it all might end tonight when Michigan plays Duke, but through ten days of hoops and 27 games, the Big Ten is undefeated.  In Michigan’s win over Ben Howland’s young but talent-laden 4th ranked UCLA Bruins 55-52 last night in Madison Square Garden and in Illinois’ 69-63 win over Vanderbilt in Nashville, two Big Ten coaches served notice that last year’s numerous losses didn’t disguise impressive seasons of growth by their programs. (more…)

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The drift of Eric Gordon from peerless national regard and King Hoosier to passive, disconsolate underachiever, a trend that had a sad culmination last night in Raleigh, was one of the most disheartening Big Ten stories of the year. The player that the Hoosier nation considered a recruiting holy grail who would inevitably lead their program back to national prominence will exit Bloomington as a victim of hype and the coach who failed him. (more…)

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The Gophers overcame a referee corps that did everything in its power to get the home state Hoosiers to Saturday, the continued absence of Spencer Tollackson, and another monstrous double-double from D.J. White in notching what constitutes the first signature win of the Tubby era in the Twin Minny. (more…)

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