Big Ten Basketball December 14 Recaps, Previews, and Open Thread

Yesterday's Games

Michigan State Spartans 78, Penn State Nittany Lions 72

MaximumSam: Sparty got all they wanted from the Nits but were saved by the divine intervention of Divine Ugochukwu, who dropped 23 on 5-5 shooting from three.

Kind of...: Sparty is currently choose-your-own adventure. They already have four Quad 1 wins! But they lost to the only team that looks Sweet 16 caliber or better. They're playing great D and hammering the boards like a vintage Izzo squad! But their offensive identity is a work in progress. Fortunately, if Tom Izzo is your coach, you usually don't mind waiting until March to see how the story turns out.

Northwestern Wildcats 93, Jackson State Tigers 53

BoilerUp89: Yawn

Kind of...: I am told a tree fell in the forest but that even Detective Martinelli doesn't think the matter merits further investigation.

Purdue Boilermakers 79, Marquette Golden Eagles 59

BoilerUp89: Purdue led by 30 before letting off the gas. Marquette couldn't make layups, Purdue controlled the glass and paint, and Braden Smith had another 10 assist game. Oscar Cluff had 22 points and 11 rebounds as Marquette had nobody who could stop him.

Kind of...: Purdue did what they were supposed to do. And Marquette is pretty bad. Not much to learn.

Nebraska Cornhuskers 83, Illinois Fighting Illini 80

BoilerUp89: Wow! What a game. Nebrasketball announced that they aren't merely content with being a solid team. Pryce Sandfort scored 32 points (26 in the first half). Nebraska made 12 of 26 three pointers and none were bigger than the game winner shot with the clock winding down and over the defender's outstretched arms by Jamarques Lawrence. Nebraska has their program best winning streak (15) and best start to a season ever (11-0).

For Illinois, they weren't able to take advantage of their rebounding advantage and missed 6 of their 20 free throw attempts. The Illini had a slow start to the game. Although they battled back, the defense has got to be better. Too many good looks for Nebraska.

Kind of...: Say it with me: NATION'S LONGEST WINNING STREAK!!! NATION'S LONGEST WINNING STREAK!!! NATION'S LONGEST WINNING STREAK!!! NATION'S LONGEST WINNING STREAK!!!

Huskers have a couple KenPom 300 games, then, on January 2, Sparty comes to town. They aren't likely to have the defensive lapses Illinois did. Win that, and it might be time for a serious talk.

Oregon Ducks 104, UC Davis Aggies 62

BoilerUp89: The bad news - Oregon gave up 46 points in the second half. The good news - they were up 36 points at the break so it didn't matter at all. The Ducks doubled up the Aggies on the glass.

Kind of...: Nice job climbing to .500 Ducks. Also, thanks for preventing Wisconsin from being the most disappointing team in the conference.

Washington Huskies 105, Southern Utah Thunderbirds 69

Kind of...: Hannes Steinbach had 14 points on 9 FG attempts, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and no turnovers. Not amazing, but efficient. Don't be stunned if he's the first B1G player taken in the 2026 draft.

Kentucky Wildcats 72, Indiana Hoosiers 60

MaximumSam: The Hoosiers battled foul trouble and the Ghost of Mike Woodson, who caused them to shoot 4-24 from three and then told them that it builds character.

Kind of...: Remember those inspirational messages you'd sometime see on the shirts of high school athletes? "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog." Or "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." Well...big dogs can have fight in them. And if talent DOES work hard, it will probably win. No reason to doubt Indiana's grit and determination. But Kentucky just has the way better rosters. And in the second half, the Wildcats decided it was worth demonstrating that fact.

Michigan Wolverines 101, Maryland Terrapins 83

MaximumSam: David Coit dropped 31 to make this interesting for a while, but the losses of Pharrel Payne (injury) and Solomon Washington (ejected) meant that Michigan eventually ran away with it again. Yaxel Rose was sensational with 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists.

Kind of...: Michigan is that a-hole on the turnpike in the fancy sports car. Really only needs the top gear intermittently to make you feel bad about your ride. And you really hope a cop catches them. Unfortunately, the cop is busy investigating all the many misdeeds being committed by the rest of the sports car owners family. (Metaphors are fun!)

Seton Hall Pirates 81, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 59

Kind of...: Rutgers is quickly approach the point where lazy New Jersey/mafia/garbage removal jokes become tempting.

The Ohio State Buckeyes 89, West Virginia Mountaineers 88 (2 OT)

Kind of...: Ohio State and Wisconsin are a combined 15-5 with both in the KenPom top 40. But neither has a win over a likely NCAA tournament team. And the NET Rankings for each (#50 for OSU; #70 (!) for Wisconsin) are concerning. It's too early to panic, but let's please not pretend that things are going to work themselves out. Either be doing important things differently soon, or be thinking about how your roster needs to look different next year.

MaximumSam: There is a stocky red line that separates Ohio State and Rutgers and his name is Bruce Thornton.

Gonzaga Bulldogs 82, UCLA Bruins 72

Kind of...: With Gonzaga, I am firmly on the "burn the Michigan tape, the Zags ARE a top-10 team" side. So, I'm going to see UCLA's glass as half full. They gave Gonzaga 30-plus minutes of scrap in an essentially road game. Thus, despite superficial similarities to OSU and Wisconsin (the Bruins are in the KenPom top 40, but #48 in NET), I think they're on the upswing. That said, they've basically run out of chances to register an impressive non-conference win. They're next two B1G games are @Iowa and @Wisconsin. Pretty consequential matchups all the way around for early January.

Today's Big Ten Games

#265 Texas Southern Tigers (1-6) at #98 Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-5)

1 ET, BTN

Kind of...: If you're not a CFB fan, then the rest of December (save for next Saturday) is going to feel pretty Orwellian: buy game after buy game stamping on your face. Or something. Interesting that Texas Southern has only played seven games so far, and only once since T'giving. Congrats on the 102-44 win over "Biblical Studies," though...

#244 Western Michigan Broncos (5-5) at #23 Iowa Hawkeyes (8-2)

3 ET, BTN

Kind of...: Good chance to hopefully grab a sizable lead and give Stirtz some rest, amirite? No reason to panic, but in Iowa's two losses, Stirtz has been pedestrian. I still think he's part of an NBA rotation (6'4" is part of that calculation, to be sure), but the next couple of months will be interesting to observe.

#175 Washington State Cougars (3-7) AT #33 USC Trojans (9-1)

7:30 ET, FS1

Kind of...: At this point, wouldn't it be MORE surprising is USC DIDN'T let Wazzu hang around all game before pulling out a 3 point win? All the same, the Trojans NET is 36, ahead of USC, OSU, and Wisconsin in the race to be Cannon fodder for Duke or Arizona in the second round.

Non-B1G Games Of Interest

#140 Troy Trojans (6-5) at #109 UAB Blazers (7-3), 3 ET, ESPN2
#28 Saint Mary's Gaels (9-1) at #39 Boise State Broncos (7-3), Idaho Falls, 6 ET

Kind of...: For real, Saint Mary's/Boise is a HUGE matchup. Despite an awful opening game loss to Hawaii Pacific, Boise is #44 in the NET. But they best win is...Butler. A win over the top 20 (in NET) Gaels would do wonders for the at-large resume. Saint Mary's doesn't have any eye-popping victories, either, but they're probably the only non-Gonzaga mid-major that can feel confident of an at-large bid as long as things don't entirely fall apart. Of course, good luck finding this game on TV. Thanks for nothing ESPN+.