Around the Big Ten: Week of January 16th
No. 25 Illinois (15-3, 4-1)
In their lone Big Ten game last week, the Fighting Illini made a huge splash by knocking off then fifth-ranked Ohio State in a 79-74 victory. Junior guard Brandon Paul had a career night while scoring 43 points, the highest single-game total by a Big Ten player since 1994. Illinois will look to continue their momentum as they travel to State College, PA on Thursday to take on the struggling Nittany Lions. On Sunday, the Illini will look to improve to 12-0 at Assembly Hall as they host the Wisconsin Badgers. A key to Illinois’ success this season has been a balanced scoring attack, as Paul, D.J. Richardson, and Meyers Leonard are all averaging 13-14 points per game. With two wins this week, the Illini could find themselves sitting atop the Big Ten standings.
No. 13 Indiana (15-3, 3-3)
Indiana’s magical undefeated run at Assembly Hall came to an end last week as they were stunned by Minnesota, who came into the game winless in conference play. The Hoosiers capped off the week with an 80-63 defeat at Ohio State. Indiana is a team that lives and dies by the three, and it hurt them last week as they shot just 28 percent from beyond the arc in their two losses. The good news for the Hoosiers is that their two opponents this week, Nebraska and Penn State, have a combined two Big Ten wins on the season. Indiana travels to Lincoln on Wednesday before hosting the Nittany Lions on Sunday. While both games seem like easy wins for the Hoosiers, they must not take either one lightly: Nebraska is a tough team to beat on the road and Penn State gave Indiana a scare in their last matchup, where the Hoosiers managed to squeak out an 88-82 victory.
Iowa (11-8, 3-3)
After being trounced at seventh-ranked Michigan State last week by 34, Iowa responded remarkably with a 75-59 home win over 13th-ranked Michigan. This Tuesday, the Hawkeyes head to Mackey Arena to take on Purdue. In their last matchup with the Boilermakers, Iowa lost 79-76 despite a strong effort from Melsahn Basabe, who had 14 points on 6/8 shooting, 8 rebounds, and 2 rejections. To beat Purdue this time around, Iowa will need a stronger shooting performance from their leading scorer Matt Gatens, who was just 3-for-9 from the floor in their last meeting. Despite a poor showing in nonconference play that included double digit home losses to Campbell and Clemson, Iowa's win over Michigan gives them three RPI Top 50 wins. A road win against the likes of Purdue could go a long way towards getting the Hawkeyes into the NCAA Tournament conversation.
No. 19 Michigan (14-4, 4-2)
The Wolverines are coming off a week they would like to forget, as they needed overtime to pull out a home win against Northwestern and then fell by 16 at Iowa, their first loss outside of the RPI Top 50. Michigan will need to rebound quickly, as they host in-state rival Michigan State on Tuesday before traveling to Arkansas on Saturday for a rare January nonconference game. At first glance, the matchup against the ninth-ranked Spartans looks like the tougher test, but Michigan may be able to feed off the energy of the home crowd to gain a slight advantage in what should be a nail-biter. Arkansas, however, has quietly compiled a 13-4 record, including a 13-1 mark at home. The Razorbacks really need this one to get into the tournament discussion, so it will be interesting to see if young leaders like Tim Hardaway, Jr. and Trey Burke will be able to fend off a hungry Arkansas team in a difficult environment.
No. 9 Michigan State (15-3, 4-1)
Michigan State started off last week with an easy win over Iowa but then had their 15-game win streak snapped at the hands of Northwestern. This week, the Spartans will look to avenge their two losses last season against Michigan as they travel to the Crisler Center on Tuesday, followed by a home match-up against Purdue this weekend. In the Michigan game, look for the Spartans to exploit their advantage on the glass, as they average 7 more rebounds per game than the Wolverines. Michigan State will need all-Big Ten caliber player Draymond Green to have a huge game if they are going to beat Michigan on the road. He is averaging a double-double on the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds per game. The Spartans also must come out strong early as they take on a talented, upset-minded Purdue team at an early start time on Saturday.
Minnesota (14-5, 2-4)
With an 0-4 start in Big Ten play and star forward Trevor Mbakwe out for the season, Minnesota’s NCAA Tournament hopes seemed to be on life support. However, the Golden Gophers’ roller coaster season took a sharp swing upward last week as they shocked the nation by beating Indiana on the road, 77-74, and followed up by avoiding a letdown and defeating Penn State on the road, 80-66. Minnesota has a week off between games before hosting Northwestern on Sunday in what is shaping up to be a crucial bubble game. When Mbakwe went down, Minnesota knew they would need other players to step up to make up for his lost production and, last week, they were able to do just that. Austin Hollins scored a career-high 18 points in the Indiana game, and Joe Coleman netted a career-best 23 against Penn State. If Minnesota is to make March Madness this year, they will likely need big man Ralph Sampson III to produce more on the offensive end, as he scored just 4 points against the Hoosiers and Nittany Lions.
Nebraska (9-8, 1-5)
Nebraska picked up their first Big Ten win of the season last week when they defeated Penn State at home 70-58. The Cornhuskers then lost at Wisconsin in a 50-45 defensive struggle. Nebraska is tied for last place in the conference, and things won’t get any easier for them this week, as they host 13th-ranked Indiana on Wednesday sixth-ranked Ohio State on Saturday. Nebraska may have a chance to upset Indiana if the Hoosiers’ shooting slump from long distance continues and the Huskers are able to slow the tempo and control the pace of the game. Nebraska must be more effective offensively, however, as they average just 61 points per game, which is 305th in the nation. The Huskers certainly look to be overmatched in the Ohio State game, which was shown in their earlier meeting with the Buckeyes, a 71-40 win for OSU.
Northwestern (12-5, 2-3)
Needing a marquee win to add to their resume of numerous victories over inferior opponents, the Wildcats came up just short at Michigan, falling 66-64 in overtime. However, back in the friendly confines of Welsh-Ryan Arena, Northwestern finally broke through, defeating seventh-ranked Michigan State by seven. If Northwestern’s name is announced on Selection Sunday for the first time ever, they can probably point to the victory over Michigan State as the reason for it, but the Wildcats have plenty of work to do in the meantime. This week, Northwestern has two road tests, at Wisconsin on Wednesday and at Minnesota on Sunday. They are just 1-3 in true road games this year and may need at least one win to stay on the right side of the bubble. While the Wildcats will likely be underdogs in both games, both are winnable, as Wisconsin no longer seems to be invincible at home, and Minnesota has been very inconsistent. With the talented scoring duo of John Shurna and Drew Crawford, NW should be able to compete with every opponent they encounter during the rest of the season.
No. 6 Ohio State (16-3, 4-2)
While last week didn’t start as planned for the Buckeyes with a road loss to Illinois, they did respond well by easily defeating Indiana at home, 80-63, avenging a loss to the Hoosiers just two weeks before. Lenzelle Smith, Jr., who came into the game averaging just 5.2 points per game, had the game of his life with 28 points and 7 rebounds. After some time off, Ohio State will head to the Devaney Sports Center on Saturday to take on the struggling Nebraska Cornhuskers. Ohio State had no problems with Nebraska in their last meeting, as they outrebounded the Huskers 42-18 and held Nebraska to 16-for-52 shooting. Ohio State still has a good shot at a 1-seed in the tournament, but they have many difficult games left, including a home and home with both Michigan and Michigan State.
Purdue (13-5, 3-2)
In their only game last week, Purdue lost their first game of the year at Mackey Arena, a 67-62 defeat against Wisconsin. With four RPI Top 50 wins this season, Purdue looks like a tournament team at this point in time, but they need to defend their home court on Tuesday against an Iowa team who is gaining confidence after an upset of Michigan. The Boilermakers have a difficult game on Saturday at Michigan State, although they have actually won their last two games in East Lansing. Free throw shooting is usually one of Purdue’s strengths, but they are shooting just 61 percent from the line this season. They will need to fix that problem quickly, as the Boilers will need every point they can get against a very talented Spartans team.
Wisconsin (14-5, 3-3)
Facing a surprising 1-3 start in Big Ten play, the Badgers traveled to West Lafayette, where Purdue hadn’t lost since February 28, 2010, desperately needing a win. They delivered. Six players scored in double figures as the Badgers came away with 67-62 victory. After another 5 point win against Nebraska, the Badgers look like they could be back on track as they are set to host Northwestern on Wednesday and visit Illinois on Sunday. Wisconsin will be favored in the Northwestern game, but beating Illinois in Champaign is a task that no team has accomplished this season. Wisconsin’s best player, Jordan Taylor, has seen a 4 PPG decrease this year despite becoming his team’s clear-cut number one option on offense. He will need to be more dominant if Wisconsin is going to make it back into the Top 25.
Bradford Conners is a freshman majoring in Broadcast Journalism. To contact him, email btc5082@psu.edu.
