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One of Illinois coach John Groce's biggest, or at least most interesting, challenges next season will be how he goes about replacing Brandon Paul. The senior guard had an up and down career, to be sure, and while his senior season was no different (P...

CHICAGO -- Quick reaction to Indiana's 80-64 win over Illinois on Friday. Overview: When Indiana's offense is clicking, when it is breaking opponents down with spacing and fluid ball movement, there is no more entertaining and (for opposing defens...

CHICAGO -- Seriously: What's wrong with Minnesota? What is it, exactly, that allowed the Gophers to look like one of the best teams in the country for the first two months of the season, and utterly pedestrian for the final six weeks? Why can the ...

Saddle Up is our semi-daily preview of the night's best basketball action. It remains blown away by "Paperman," no pun intended. Illinois at No. 13 Michigan State, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN At this point, you know the Illinois drill. The Illini began ...

Saddle Up is our semi-daily preview of the night's best basketball action. It is super psyched about conference play. No. 8 Minnesota at No. 12 Illinois, 9 p.m. ET, BTN: I love this time of year. We're off and running with all-out conference play ...

Here are yours truly's 10 big thoughts from the first January hoops Saturday of the year: 1. C.J. McCollum's injury looks like a real bummer. Before we eulogize McCollum's season, it's important to note that we don't know exactly what injury cause...

The last time Brandon Paul played Ohio State at home, he didn't have just a career game -- he had anybody's career game. That night, Jan. 10, 2012, Paul scored 43 points on 15 shots, including 8 of 10 from beyond the arc. More than a few of those ...

With the conference season set to get under way, Eamonn Brennan takes a look at what's in store for the Big Ten.

New week, new Big Ten power rankings, new No. 1. Let's dig right in: 1. Michigan: Indiana's loss to Butler Saturday -- and the fashion in which it came -- prompted some legitimate near-term questions for the Hoosiers. But it's not like Michigan on...

In the preseason, Illinois was supposed to be mediocre at best, and Minnesota was supposed to be above average, and the Big Ten was still considered the obvious choice for best conference in the country. Now the Illini are 11-0 and ascendant, Minneso...

Saddle Up is our semi-daily preview of the night's best basketball action. It hopes you very much enjoy reuniting with your real best friends from high school tonight, even if that also means a few awkward interactions with people you thought you'd n...

As part of our Summer Shootaround series, here are the best- and worst-case scenarios for the Big Ten: Illinois Best-case: No one's expecting much from Illinois in 2012-13, and the reasons are obvious: With zero in the way of fresh blood enteri...

Saddle Up is our semi-daily preview of the night's best basketball action. It stayed up late working on Bubble Watch last night. If it could have any one superpower, it would be the power to never feel tired. Or maybe flight. Flight would be cool, to...

The Morning After is our semi-daily recap of the night's best basketball action. Political leanings aside, it found last night's debate utterly fascinating. Penn State 54, No. 25 Illinois 52: The last time we saw the Fighting Illini, they were at ...

Saddle Up is our semi-daily preview of the night's best basketball action. It laughed at this gif, and now it almost feels bad. Almost. No. 4 Baylor at No. 18 Kansas State, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN3: There's an interesting dynamic brewing around Baylor, e...

Spoiler alert! The answer to that question is "we'll see." Here's something a little more definitive, then: If Illinois doesn't turn its offense around by the time the Illini take the floor against Missouri tonight, they have very little chance of...