>>Illini's Richardson Shares Award
Illinois senior guard D.J. Richardson shares this week's Big Ten Player of the Week award for his key role in the Illini's two season-changing wins over Top 25 opponents.
Richardson averaged 18 points a game and shot 50% from the field in Illinois' wins over Indiana and Minnesota. That included 23 points against Indiana and eight late in the game that fueled the Illini's comeback.
Richardson shares this week's honor with Wisconsin guard Ben Brust. He scored 14 in the Badgers' upset of Michigan.
This is the first Big Ten Player of the Week award for Richardson.
The last Illini to win the award was Brandon Paul in mid-December. Since then, the Illini had struggled and fallen out of the NCAA Tournament discussion. This week's wins changed that.
>>Thrilling Finishes, Upets Fueling Big Ten
The Big Ten could be the best league in the nation. It might also be the most fun to watch.
A week of thrilling upsets and stunning finishes has put the national focus back onto the Big Ten ahead of what should be a fascinating stretch run.
The Big Ten has three top 10 teams, five in the Top 25 and eight squads with at least 15 wins. All of that has led to a litany of high-profile matchups and a season as entertaining as any in recent memory.
The Big Ten Network says January was its highest-rated month ever in prime time, a bump the network credited largely to high-profile basketball games.
>>Big Ten ADs, Coaches Worry About Easing Recruiting Rules
Big Ten athletic directors and football coaches say they have reservations about loosened NCAA recruiting rules that would allow unlimited contact between recruiters and high school players.
The NCAA Board of Directors in January approved rulebook revisions that, among other things, remove limits on the number of phone calls and text messages to prospective recruits. The eased restrictions are set to begin July 1.
During their regularly scheduled meeting in Park Ridge, Ill., on Monday, athletic directors and coaches issued a statement expressing "serious concerns whether these proposals, as currently written, are in the best interest of high school student-athletes, their families and their coaches."
The ADs and coaches also said they "are also concerned about the adverse effect they would have on college coaches, administrators and university resources."
NCAA Top-25 Basketball ("USA Today" Rankings)
------
#13 Kansas Jayhawks 83, #11 Kansas State Wildcats 62
#15 Georgetown Hoyas 63, #20 Marquette Golden Eagles 55
