It was not a night where the biggest stars led their team to big wins; instead, players like Tyler Bilodeau and Keaton Wagler both had nights they would have wanted to forget. Within those two stars struggling, their teams still got huge wins, and in the case of UCLA, they got their biggest win of the season due to some underrated stars shining instead.
Here are the scores and the rest of my analysis from the midweek games in Big Ten basketball, played on Tuesday:
UCLA 72-52 vs No. 9 Nebraska
The Bruins put together their best performance of the season for the most important stretch of the season. The Bruins started this game, only missing two shots in the first half, and got off to a double-digit lead immediately. Nebraska was the coldest they have been all season. The Cornhuskers shot 20 percent from 3 and 38.8% from the field. While UCLA was 46% from the field and 34.5% from 3. The Cornhuskers’ top scorer of the night, Sam Hoiberg, managed to put up 12 points, and UCLA had one of their top scorers, Trent Perry, carry the squad in this one. Tyler Bilodeau had an off night, but UCLA still took care of business as they got their biggest win of the season. Very concerning loss for Nebraska as they got embarrassed, and UCLA is now riding high.
No. 11 Illinois 80-54 vs Oregon
The Fighting Illini set their seniors on their way with a 30-point victory over a tough Oregon Ducks team. Oregon has been playing well recently, but against top 25 teams, it remains winless. The Fighting Illini had two guys step up in the absence of an efficient Keaton Wagler night. David Mirkovic had 19 points, and Andrej Stojakovic had a game-high 21 points off the bench. Illinois’s bench was a big story of this game as a whole, with the Fighting Illini outscoring the Ducks 40-14 on the bench. The Ducks’ top scorers, Nate Bittle and Kwame Evans, could not provide enough juice to combat the Fighting Illini’s hot shooting day. Both Ducks only made 1 3-pointer on a combined 13 attempts. Illinois gets a huge win that shows just how deep and dangerous they can be when the shots are falling, while this loss just completely deflates the Ducks’ recent growing confidence.
Top performers
Andrej Stojakovic leads Illinois to a blowout victory over the Ducks with his 21-point, 12-rebound performance. This was a huge bounce-back performance for the junior guard as he is coming off a 2 game shooting slump. He looked great, and he looked in rhythm, and his 21-point night should be a great confidence booster for him to be lights out in this upcoming stretch of meaningful basketball.
Trent Perry for the Bruins was the star, and he got his moment to shine vs. a highly ranked Big Ten foe, the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Perry dropped 20 points, shooting 8-15 from the field, and knocking down 3 3-point shots. Perry also chipped in a meaningful 7 rebounds and 4 assists to go along with his great shooting night. The Bruins are riding high with great vibes as the season closes, but Perry will be a huge factor for this team’s postseason success.
Overview
UCLA and Illinois both have high-scoring and efficient nights. Nebraska and Oregon both failed to show up last night, and that is concerning for different reasons for both teams. This is the wrong time for Nebraska to suffer a blowout loss while Oregon just lost the little bit of momentum they had all season long. UCLA gets a win that could create a dangerous type of momentum moving forward, while Illinois has some of their x-factors heating up at the right time.
What’s next
There are many games in today’s slate that look like they can end up in lopsided victories, but in the Big Ten, you have to expect the unexpected. Indiana is losing momentum and grip on the season, and Minnesota will look to add to that by handing them an upset loss. Ohio State is coming off a big win vs. Purdue, but this time they are looking to get two in a row instead of losing momentum once again vs Penn State. Wisconsin should handle businesses at home vs Maryland and continue their momentum, but just like Ohio State, they could resort back to their frisky pattern after a win. Today’s slate closes with two potential intriguing matchups between Purdue and a hot Northwestern and USC vs Washington. I think the Nick Martinelli legend will continue, and Purdue could be on upset alert.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: Big Ten men’s basketball news, March 3 – Nebraska and Oregon fall
Reporting by Micah Huff, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
