Illinois was fairly even with first round opponent UNLV to start off the game.  After the Rebels took an early 9-8 lead, however, it was all Illini as Bruce Weber's team cruised to a 73-62 victory.  Frankly, the game was not as close as the score, as Illinois had around a 20-point cushion for most of the game. The turnovers played out as expected, with UNLV forcing a lot of them, while Illinois failed to do the same.  But when you shoot 62 percent on twos and 54 percent on threes, while holding the opponent to 47 percent and 29 percent, the turnover battle just isn't as important.  The Illini also limited UNLV's second chances, grabbing 79 percent of the available defensive rebounds.  Mike Davis was especially impressive with 22 points (13 shots), 9 rebounds,

Iowa scored the biggest upset of the season when it took down Purdue 67-65 in a 71 possession game.  The Hawkeyes dominated the glass, limiting the Boilermakers to grabbing just 25 percent of their misses.  Iowa also hounded Purdue on the perimeter, limiting the Boilers to a 5-25 performance from behind the arc.  E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson were both rather pedestrian as well, needing 34 shots to get to 33 points.  Purdue also didn’t help themselves with their 59 percent accuracy from the free throw line.  
 
But give the Hawkeyes credit.  They took down a top-10 team that was playing for a share of the conference crown.  Fran McCaffrey’s squad denied them that banner, and there’s Jarryd Cole to thank for that.  The

In the college coaching community, there's almost no idea that is more deeply ingrained than the following formula:

2 fouls + first half = bench

This is so commonly accepted as the correct move that any variance from its wisdom is certain to prompt TV commentators to focus intently on it, with terms like "rolling the dice" being the norm. But is this always the correct move, regardless of the player?

Take last night's 75-67 Purdue win over Illinois. Bruce Weber's team was on fire out of the gates, passing and cutting their way to easy looks against the normally stingy Purdue defense. After 18 possessions, the Illini held a 31-18 lead and had the Boilers back on their heels. This was the good Illinois offense that we haven't seen much of in conference play, and

Michigan has really thrown a wrench into the at-large picture in the Big Ten.  Just a week ago, I thought Minnesota was in relatively good shape.  Sure, the Gophers were sitting at 6-8 in conference play, but with 3 of the 4 remaining games at home--none of which against Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin, or Illinois--as well as a road game at Northwestern, 9 or 10 wins certainly seemed possible.  Well, two home losses later, now it looks like Minnesota has work to do in the Big Ten Tournament.  The latest loss came at the hands of a surging Michigan team, who prevailed 70-63 thanks to some hot outside shooting.  The Wolverines made 12 of 28 three pointers, and when Michigan makes their threes, they’re very difficult to stop.  Of course, if Michigan is making

Coming off their second loss in three games, the Ohio State Buckeyes took out some frustration on Illinois in an 89-70 shellacking. This was a magnificent offensive performance for Thad Matta's team, as they turned it over just three times in a 63 possession game for a Wisconsin-like 4.8 turnover rate. The Buckeyes used all those error-free trips to shoot 55 percent on twos and 47 percent on threes. The resulting 1.42 points per possession matches a lofty level they've reached only three times this season (previously against Tennessee-Martin and Florida). Offense doesn't get much better than this.

Still, even with the Buckeyes pouring in the points, Illinois scored with them for long stretches. In fact, the outcome of this game hinged on two big Ohio State runs: the first came

Well, it looks like we have a real title race, after Purdue knocked off Ohio State 76-63 in West Lafayette.  Defensively, the Boilermakers pressured OSU into committing a turnover on over a quarter of their possessions and an effective field goal percentage of 42.6, each the second-worst marks posted by the Buckeyes this season.  The resulting 0.93 points per possession was likewise the second-worst mark for Thad Matta’s team on the year.  Offensively, Matt Painter just made sure E’Twaun Moore ate his Wheaties.  The senior guard lit up the Buckeyes for a career-high 38 points (that’s half the team’s total, mind you), on just 18 shots.  Moore scored his points all over the place--21 were on threes, 12 on twos, and another 5 at the free throw