Monday, February 20th

Illinois Fighting Illini 78, Minnesota Gophers 69

MaximumSam: A big yawner of a game - Illinois lead throughout but never made it to laugher territory or were particularly threatened. Still no Terrence Shannon, but the Illini did have five guys in double figures. Jamison Battle dropped 31 for the Gophers in his best game of the season. If you score 31 and no one saw it, does it really count?

misdreavus79: Minnesota getting some key pieces back in Dawson Garcia and Braeden Carrington means they won’t roll over and die like they had been for most of January/early February. They’ll still lose, but teams will have to try a little harder. We saw that in play both on Saturday against Penn State, and on Monday against Illinois.

Tuesday, February 21st

#28 Indiana Hoosiers (19-8, 10-6) at #29 Michigan State Spartans (16-10, 8-7), 8 pm, ESPN

MaximumSam: The Hoosiers are within striking distance of the conference championship, but they probably can’t afford to lose another game. A trip to East Lansing isn’t great for that, as Sparty only has losses to Purdue and Northwestern at home. Who doesn’t lose to Northwestern these days? Indiana took the first game fairly comfortably, though MSU was without Malik Hall. Speaking of injuries, it sounds like Xavier Johnson could return for the Hoosiers any day now. Torvik goes Michigan State, 69-66.

misdreavus79: Please Indiana, for the love of God, stay a Quad 1 win for Penn State. Do whatever you need to, just stay in the top 30.

BoilerUp89: As much as I would to see PSU make the tournament, I'd be fine with Indiana losing out. This should be an interesting game as IU is trying to stay in the conference running and MSU is trying to secure their at large bid.