The natural

Good morning! It’s another weekend where much of the country will get nasty weather. Sounds like you’ll be watching lots of college basketball.

Let's get to Thursday’s news.

1. Keaton Wagler continues stellar play in Illinois win

It wasn’t the same as his record-setting 46-point game on Saturday, but Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler was awesome just the same in a 75-66 win vs. Washington on Thursday night.

He scored a game-high 11 points in the first half, and finished with 22 points, five rebounds, and eight assists. Basically, he did it all.

No. 9 Illinois led for the final 33 minutes and got its 10th-straight win, its longest streak of the Brad Underwood era and longest since 2005-06. And it wasn’t just Wagler.

David Mirkovic produced 19 points and six rebounds, while Ben Humrichous had 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. It was his first double-digit scoring effort since Nov. 19, but Underwood was more pleased about Humrichous’ defensive effort. “Last year he could not guard anything. He probably would've allowed 20 points to Izzo's Mom,” Underwood said. “Tom is probably going to call me later and give me slack about this, but Ben truly is defending well this season.

The victory keeps Illinois (18-3, 9-1 Big Ten) in a four-way tie atop the league with a big game at No. 5 Nebraska looming on Sunday.

Washington (11-10, 3-7) was competitive, but after giving up the early lead, never truly threatened the Illini. It’s lost four of its last five games,

Freshman big man Hannes Steinbach went for 15 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks for the Huskies. Sophomore guard Zoom Diallo took the point guard role in this game, and finished with 12 points and 10 turnovers.

2. Memphis ‘just gave everybody space’

Turns out Memphis just needed some extended time away from home to figure things out. And to face a team without its two leading scorers.

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