Some weird things happened this week in the Big Ten. It will take a while to sort some of these things out.
#2 Ohio State Buckeyes (17-0, 4-0)
Ohio State survived a couple of scares this week, winning 67-64 over Minnesota at home on Sunday and 68-64 last night at Michigan. Many fans are concerned that they are not beating these teams by a wider margin, but they need to stop complaining because they are still undefeated. With these victories, Ohio State will move to #1 since Duke lost last night to Florida State. As long as that zero is in their record, everything is OK, as long as David Lighty stops neglecting to practice his free throw shooting.
#8 Purdue Boilermakers (15-1, 4-0)
You must commend the Boilermakers for being 15-1 at this point after demolishing Iowa 75-52 on Sunday. Many people, including myself, thought that Purdue would be horse crap after Robbie Hummel tore his ACL again in preseason practice. However, the team continues to show strong resolve. That ability to perservere will be tested again tonight at Minnesota and Sunday at West Virginia.
#16 Illinois Fighting Illini (13-4, 3-1)
Every team seems to have one team that they can never beat. For Illinois, that team is Penn State. Illinois lost at Penn State 57-55 on Tuesday. Their hot streak of shooting over 50% has also ended. Illinois will look to regain their touch because a tough week awaits them as they play at Wisconsin Saturday and are back home against Michigan State Tuesday.
Michigan State Spartans (11-5, 3-1)
It’s been quite a long time since Michigan State has been out of the Top 25. Nevertheless, that is what happened after the Spartans lost 66-62 at Penn State on Saturday. The sad thing is that the defense of the Spartans was very subpar in that game because they allowed a one-man team to have four players score in double figures. 10-20 at the free throw line is superbly atrocious. Hey Spartans, work on your free throws instead of launching bricks in practice because all of those bricks should be used to rebuild Haiti.
However, credit must be given to Michigan State because they bounced back from this loss to defeat Wisconsin at home Tuesday night 64-61 in overtime. Michigan State scored the last nine point in regulation to tie the score up to ensure that the game even went into overtime. Instead of quitting, the Spartans remain in the hunt for the regular season conference title. This win must give them momentum because they play Northwestern at home on Saturday and at Illinois on Tuesday.
Penn State Nittany Lions (10-6, 3-2)
Surprise, surprise. Nittany Lions coach Ed DeChellis saved his job this week as Penn State defeated Michigan State and Illinois this week after having a piss-poor showing in non-conference play. Nevertheless, the road does not get any easier as they play at Ohio State on Saturday and at Purdue on Wednesday.
#20 Wisconsin Badgers (12-4, 2-2)
Wisconsin blew a nine-point lead at the end of the second half and a five-point lead with a minute to play to lose 64-61 to Michigan State in overtime Tuesday night. The lead evaporated after Wisconsin made two key turnovers within 10 seconds in which the Spartans converted into five points. Once the momentum was lost, Wisconsin was unable to recover in halftime.
In the game, Jordan Taylor, Keaton Nankivil, and Jon Leuer scored 48 of the team’s 61 points. It will be tough for Wisconsin to win for the rest of the season because the opponent will know that the Badgers are playing 3 against 5 just about every night. They are still ranked because Bo Ryan is one of the best coaches in the NCAA and they play the game at a turtle’s pace, a pace that other teams are unaccustomed to. Wisconsin will look to avenge an earlier loss to Illinois at the Kohl Center on Saturday.
Northwestern Wildcats (11-4, 2-3)
Northwestern is back on the winning track after starting out conference play 0-3 by defeating Indiana 93-81 on Sunday and Iowa 90-71 last night. The Wildcats will look to keep the winning streak going this week as they play Michigan State on Saturday and Michigan on Tuesday.
Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-4, 1-3)
Minnesota is a train wreck right now. Minnesota was down 55-37 to Ohio State in the second half Sunday before they decided to start playing basketball. The furious comeback failed though as Minnesota lost 67-64. If they would have played with that same intensity for the entire game, then Minnesota would probably be undefeated. Or, if the entire team had the intensity of Trevor Mbakwe.
Mbakwe, the power forward for the Gophers, was arrested on Monday for sending a Facebook message to his ex-girlfriend. The only problem is that the ex-girlfriend had a restraining order against him. As a result, Mbakwe will come off of the bench for the rest of the season and is banned from using Facebook and Twitter. As I quote the great comedian Paul Mooney, “The Black man’s kryptonite is White women.” Leave your ex alone, there are plenty of dumb women out there that will open their legs for you; you play college basketball.
Coach Tubby Smith received the same criticism at Kentucky for having players that continued to have scuffles with the law. Can’t you find fifteen Black teenagers that play basketball and don’t commit crimes? That’s why it’s called recruiting, so that you don’t bring knuckleheads to the campus. Fortunately, we all get to see this train derail tonight against Purdue. If Minnesota wins tonight, then I will be shocked.
Michigan Wolverines (11-6, 1-3)
Michigan had two tough losses this week: a 67-60 OT loss to Kansas on Sunday and a 68-64 loss to Ohio State yesterday. Michigan continues to lose close games due to a lack of creativity on offense. Their entire offense is that the other four players watch Darius Morris dribble the ball until the shot clock almost expires. Plus, Michigan has not won a road game all season. N-I-T! N-I-T!
Indiana Hoosiers (9-8, 0-4)
Ouch! This was the year that Indiana was supposed to make some noise again in the Big Ten Conference. So far, the amount of racket made has been a whimper as Indiana is on a six game losing streak. Have everyone in Indiana forgot how to play basketball?
Iowa Hawkeyes (7-9, 0-4)
Everyone knew that this would be a tough year for the Hawkeyes as they continue to rebuild. However, letting Northwestern put up 90 points on you is absolutely atrocious because it’s so easy to guard against the Princeton-style offense. Guard the perimeter and watch for back-door cuts. Their lack of defense will ensure that they will remain in the cellar for the rest of this season.
