Big Ten Basketball heats up as Illinois colllide with Minnesota
Minnesota will attempt to bounce back from a disheartening loss at Wisconsin on
Sunday. The Gophers led by a point with five minutes remaining, but Badger foul shooting was Minnesota’s undoing down the stretch en route to an 80-74 defeat. Illinois still has a chance at capture at least a share of the Big Ten title trailing Ohio State by one game entering this week’s play.
Minnesota is 3-5 against ranked teams this season. The Gophers have defeated three straight ranked opponents at home after starting the season 0-5 versus ranked teams. Illinois leads the all-time series 97-57 (not including vacated games). Minnesota leads the series in Minneapolis, 40-37. Illinois has won 14 straight in the series and this season’s earlier meeting in Champaign, 77-53. The last Gopher win in the series was Feb. 3, 1999 (75-63 in Williams Arena).
With one week left in the Big Ten regular season absolutely nothing has been decided. The conference title and higher seeding in the Big Ten Tournament are all at stake this week. It will be the final game at The Barn for five Gopher seniors. Adam Boone, Vincent Grier, Maurice Hargrow, Zach Puchtel and J’son Stamper will be honored after the game.
What’s wrong with Illinois? At this time last year, they hadn’t lost a game. This season they’ve lost five! With a week remaining, Illinois still has a chance to capture at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title. It would be head coach Bruce Weber’s third in as many years at the helm of the Illini program.
Illinois’ senior day Saturday was a great moment for the conference. According to NCAA rules, seniors Dee Brown and James Augustine have no eligibility remaining after this season. Great news for the rest of the Big Ten. Brown is averaging 14.6 points and 5.7 assists and Augustine is averaging 13.5 points and 9.2 rebounds per contest.
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