Dylan Harper appears to finally be back back for Rutgers, and it didn't take him long to make an effect on a desperate, .500 Rutgers team.

Rutgers took down Illinois, 82-73.


On a night where Harper looked like everything he was supposed to be scoring 28 points, grabbing 6 rebounds, and dishing 5 assists, Illinois' star seemed to vanish.

Kasparas Jakucionis had just 5 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 27 minutes.

The only Illinois player that seemed game was Will Riley who did his best Ace Bailey impersonation, scoring 20 points while shooting without abandon.

Remember last week, I declared Illinois out of the Big Ten race, but even this freefall seems a bit dramatic. Illinois is now just 2-4 in its last six games. Illinois is shooting 27% from three in conference play, and that might be the best part of their offense over the last few games.

Illinois has way too much talent on the offensive end to continuously play this poorly. The offense lacks all cohesion, and Jakucionis has either hit a wall or the keys have been taken away from him.

Illinois hasn't just lost the Big Ten, it's bordering on losing its entire season. Brad Underwood got a lot of love for Illinois' hot start. That heat might be transferring if Illinois keeps looking this discombobulated.

Illinois' bad play aside, it's probably worth looking at Rutgers like a real threat to top teams in the Big Ten and in the B10 Tournament. If Harper can stay healthy, its defense picks back up, and Bailey stays hot, this is a team that can beat absolutely anyone on any night.

Speaking of losing your season.

Apologies to Northwestern and Iowa fans, players, and coaches. Two of the better players from the bottom of the Big Ten will be out for the rest of the season with Northwestern's Brooks Barnhizer and Iowa's Own Freeman both being declared out in the last week.

Both teams responded well in its first game without their go to players, but hard to imagine either will be able to hold up under the weight of the rest of the season after struggling wtih their best players.

Congrats headed out towards Jey Uso. If you listen closely, you can probably still hear all the yeeting in downtown Indianapolis after the WWE took over for the Royal Rumble 2025 in Lucas Oil.

Speaking of things thrown away - yikes, Michigan State isn't going to be buying any property out west any time soon.

When the weekend started, the Spartans were sat on top of the Big Ten with a two game buffer and no B10 losses. Then the state of California happened to Michigan State. USC knocked off the Spartans and then UCLA completely wiped out Izzo's lead in the conference that it'd held for most the season.

Which means that three Big Ten teams sit with two losses, with Purdue a half game over the Spartans and Wolverines because of games played.

If you watched the end of MSU-UCLA, you watched two really good defensive teams. You also watched two teams that lack any kind of go to guy on the offensive end.

On the same night, you watched Purdue show its wealth of go to options. For a team that has a national narrative of 'not enough scorers', it's pretty crazy that Purdue might have two of the best handful of late game scorers in the country. Certainly two of the best offensive players in the Big Ten.

Now that the Big Ten is so bunched together at the top, every close, grind it out game is going to matter even more between Michigan, Michigan State, and Purdue.

Michigan has a high turnover, but dangerous seven footer in Danny Wolf.

Michigan State has... well... it has... well... when they turn you over, they're pretty fast taking the ball the other way, but that Michigan State-UCLA game was a spotlight on where Michigan State lacks in shot making. There just aren't good options in the half court for Izzo.

That's fine when your toughest games are at Northwestern, but it's no coincidence that as soon as Michigan State went somewhere and got uncomfortable, it's lost both matchups.

It's how Michigan State had to settle for Jaxon Kohler post ups in do or die time against UCLA.

And then you have Purdue, the hottest team in the Big Ten with the best guard in the country and the best post scorer in the conference with Braden Smith and Trey Kaufman-Renn. Throw in Fletcher Loyer's big game cajones, and Purdue is rich with clutch time reps.

If you're looking for a tiebreaker in the Big Ten, guessing that's gonna come up a few times down the stretch.

Michigan - or better yet, Roddy Gayle - tried to give the game to Oregon, but the Ducks just wouldn't take it. Both teams shot 50% from two, made 9 of its 27 three-point attempts, and Michigan actually lost the turnover battle, 15-12, but the Wolverines outscored Oregon on the free throw line 17-9.

That's enough to cover the difference as both teams varied between playing fast, playing dumb, and occasionally rising to the occasion.

Danny Wolf's half spin, step back three was worth the price of admission alone though. Wolf remains tied to a team that if his guards had half his game, would probably run away with the conference.

Oregon remains a physically talented, bizarre offensive team that shoots itself in the foot more than a team that's actually good can afford to do.

Washington had a big lead early, but Nebraska came back in the second half, assisted by a Franck Kepnang flagrant one foul on Andrew Morgan that looked more like a finishing move in a karate fight than a basketball play. Honestly, the foul didn't help much. Morgan ended up missing both free throws - but he was probably having flashbacks to that time he almost had his neck snapped in a basketball game.

Nebraska won 86-72 at Washington.

Washington has all but locked up the bottom spot in the Big Ten. It appears the one safe team to not make the B10 Tournament at the end of the regular season.

#18 Maryland will head to Ohio State in what should be a really, really good game. Maryland has been red hot and Ohio State is coming off a near win against Illinois. Instead, at 13-9, the Buckeyes need to get going if it's going to make the NCAA Tournament.