INDIANAPOLIS — About those high hopes for Illinois‘ men’s basketball team …
Not so fast, friends.
The Illini entered a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal matchup against No. 2 seed Maryland on a four-game winning streak that included total domination at Michigan, a gutsy comeback against Purdue and a 106-point binge against Iowa here Thursday. They’re also healthy and whole again — finally — and had started to seem mighty dangerous.
But now? After getting rag-dolled and dump-trucked by Maryland to the embarrassing tune of 88-65, one has to wonder if this Illini team is worth the fuss heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Talk about “Fear the Turtle” — the Terrapins (25-7) made the seventh-seeded Illini (21-12) quake in their sneakers. At least, it sure looked that way throughout.
The Illini started the game with back-to-back turnovers, went nearly four minutes without making a basket, went over 10 minutes without making a three-pointer and, midway through the half, were already as good as buried, down 29-10. The Terps’ Rodney Rice already had 14 points on his way to a game-high 26.
Don’t let the final score fool you, either — it was a 36-point game at 84-48 before Terps coach Kevin Willard called off the dogs. The Illini ended the game with a meaningless 8-0 run.
The first meeting between these teams — a 91-70 Illini loss in Champaign — was bad enough, but this was far worse. It’s March, after all, and hope just dimmed quite a bit.
Brad Underwood’s record against Maryland as Illini coach fell to 3-8.
Maryland will face third-seeded Michigan or sixth-seeded Purdue in a semifinal on Saturday.
THREE-DOT DASH
• THE ANALYTICS-BASED RANKINGS say Michigan State isn’t a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. On Selection Sunday, the 27-5 Spartans — who won the Big Ten regular-season title by three games — almost certainly will be on the 2 line, even if they’ve just cut down the nets here. OK, then, at least they know the score.
But can there really be four better teams out there right now? A 74-64 win against eighth-seeded Oregon was the Spartans’ eighth in a row, all against Quad 1 opponents. Jase Richardson, Jaden Akins, Jeremy Fears Jr., Tre Holloman, Coen Carr — good luck matching up with that perimeter.
“Some of these [rankings] — NET — I’m just not a big fan of these things,” coach Tom Izzo said. “What I’m a fan of is eyeball to eyeball.” …
• NO. 5 SEED WISCONSIN was close to perfect in an 86-70 blowout of fourth-seeded UCLA. The Badgers made 12 of their first 17 three-point attempts and finished with a tournament-record-tying 19. They had assists on 22 of their 30 baskets. And a wildly good stat: John Tonje scored 2.4 points per field goal attempt — he shot 9-for-10 overall and 6-for-6 from three — and added a pair of free throws to finish with 26 points. …
• SALTY MICK CRONIN is the best Mick Cronin. Also the only Mick Cronin.
When he isn’t complaining about Big Ten travel, the UCLA coach is lecturing press-conference moderators as he did Friday, ticked off because an entire 32 minutes elapsed from game’s end until the podium was able to receive him. Then he spent the next several minutes snapping at a Los Angeles beat writer.
“We got our ass kicked — that’s the headline,” he finally said.
That, they did. …
• IOWA FIRED COACH FRAN McCAFFERY a day after a 106-94 loss to Illinois in the second round of the tournament. McCaffery lasted 15 seasons in Iowa City and is the men’s program’s all-time leader in wins, with 297. His teams were known for playing good offense, but defense often appeared to be an afterthought. Meaningful wins in March were rare, too.
• MY LATEST AP TOP 25 BALLOT: 1. Houston, 2. Duke, 3. Florida, 4. Auburn, 5. St. John’s, 6. Michigan State, 7. Alabama, 8. Tennessee, 9. Texas Tech, 10. Clemson, 11. Maryland, 12. Louisville, 13. BYU, 14. Memphis, 15. Iowa State, 16. Wisconsin, 17. Kentucky, 18. Saint Mary’s, 19. Texas A&M, 20. Illinois, 21. Purdue, 22. UConn, 23. Oregon, 24. Arizona, 25. Drake.