Yes: After losing seven Big Ten contests by single digits, Rutgers can use the IL win as a springboard.
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Jones then had assists on guard Kristen Confroy’s third three-pointer of the game and guard Kaila Charles’s layup, leading to a timeout from Purdue Coach Sharon Versyp. MSU won the league’s automatic NCAA tournament berth in 2014 and past year, falling to Wisconsin in 2015 before going on a Final Four run afterward.
Kansas (28-3) holds on to the top spot in both polls, followed by Villanova (28-3) and UCLA (28-3).
The sixth-seeded Hoosiers open Big Ten tournament play at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, when they face seventh-seeded Iowa on ESPN2.
The University of Wisconsin women’s basketball team delivered an enthralling first-half performance before hitting a wall in the second. Destiny Slocum added 14 points and seven assists as the Terrapins shot 51.8 percent, marking the seventh time in eight games they have shot at least that well from the field.
Lynch led the league in blocks in overall games (3.5) and conference games only (3.7).
The Big Ten conference might have a claim to being one of the most unpredictable in the country this season.
While the missed opportunity to pick up a big win on the road may have carried more weight had MI not picked up wins against Wisconsin or Purdue earlier in the second half of the season, the Wolverines did.
IL is slotted as the No. 9 seed and they will be taking on the No. 8 seed Michigan Wolverines. The Wolverines split their two meetings this year.
Game 7: Illinois-Michigan victor vs. Maryland is 2-3 against the Buckeyes, including a loss in this year’s regular season. Instead, Melo Trimble did what he does best, put the team on his back.
It was very IL of Illinois to take a four-game winning streak into Rutgers and then lose when Deshawn Freeman made just his fifth three-pointer of the season with seven seconds left. In about an hour he will very likely be named the Big Ten Player of the Year during the conference’s postseason awards show.
As for MSU’s fate, the Spartans would eventually go on to play MI and then conference champion Maryland in the semifinals. The Badgers ended up losing that home game, 59-57.
Tracy Abrams, whose offense was almost non-existent throughout a lengthy stretch of the season, has hit over 50 percent of his shots from deep over the past three games.
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How MSU (18-13, 10-8 Big Ten) performs after its bye in the five-day league tournament can solidify a 20th-straight NCAA Tournament berth and potentially improve seeding with a strong run.
