Last Night in College Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament Chaos

Men's college basketball, women's college basketball – there's no shortage of college ball, every night.

Don't worry, we're here to help you figure out what you missed but shouldn't have. Here are all the best moments from last night in college basketball.

The early Power Conference women’s tournaments are already delivering the drama — and upsets — you want out of March basketball. On Thursday, Illinois took on No. 18 Michigan State in a battle of the Big Ten’s 10-seed against its 7-seed, and the result was a W for the Fighting Illini. The gap between the two is (supposed to be) larger than that seeding implies: Michigan State is 16th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool and 15th in Wins Above Bubble, while Illinois sits at 32 and 35, respectively. That didn’t matter in the conference tourney, as Illinois snuck by, 71-69.

What’s most impressive about the dub is that Illinois managed it despite allowing sophomore guard Kennedy Blair to score 30 points for the Spartans. Blair wasn’t just firing off shots as much as possible, either: she earned that 30 with efficiency, hitting 11 of 18 from the field and 7 of 9 from the stripe. Blair also had 6 rebounds and 5 assists, but she also had little help, and made 7 of Michigan State’s 14 turnovers, as well. The turnovers would not have mattered so much if not for the first problem, but a whole lot was put at Blair’s feet in this one, fairly or not.

The Spartans’ bench played 34 minutes and scored a single bucket. It had 2 rebounds and an assist, with no steals and a single block. Throw in two starters scoring a combined 12 points, and it’s a lot easier to see why Blair going off for 30 merely brought Michigan State to the brink of a win instead of actually winning.

Illinois deserves a ton