Big Ten Basketball, February 10: Mustelid v Mustelid, Trains v Corn

Last Night's Game

Indiana Hoosiers 92, Oregon Ducks 74

MaximumSam: The Ducks with their tenth straight loss. I'd say that's impressive, but Mississippi Valley State hasn't won since ince November. Aim higher.

Kind of...: Impressive win for the Hoosiers given how Oregon looked vs. Purdue. Bittle had an off night. Wilkerson...did not.

Tonight's Games

#9 Purdue Boilermakers (19-4, 9-3) at #10 Nebraska Cornhuskers (21-2, 10-2)

7 ET, FS1

BoilerUp89: Oh joy. Purdue has struggled to guard centers that stretch the floor and step out to shoot threes. Mast should have a field day.

MaximumSam: Also interested in Braden Smith verses Sam Hoiberg. Hoiberg has quietly developed into a very good point guard, keeping him out of the lane will be job number one for Smith. Well Smith has a lot of jobs, but that is definitely one of them.

Kind of...: For all the Sturm und Drang, the sense of crisis around Purdue is mostly because of preseason expectations (especially playing Nebraska). But, well, yeah, those do matter, and the narrow escape against Oregon doesn't help. Games like this make for dumb assessments: "Whoever shoots threes better will win." "Whoever establishes their tempo will win."

To me, the two keys are 1) how well Purdue's guards, um, guard. Loyer has to be on somebody, and both Lawrence and Hoiberg, in their own ways, can make life hard on him on the defensive end, and 2) if Purdue's bigs can establish any sort of rebounding advantage. TKR has had 11 boards each of the last two games; Cluff has had five, total.

HoustonBoiler: Dang it, Kind Of... has figured me and my dumb assessments out. However, I will make continue to make them because I know no one will read them. Nebraska is very good at forcing turnovers while not turning the ball over. While anyone, even me, can take a lot of 3-point shots, all five Huskers on the floor can make 3-pointers. This allows them to spread the floor, opening opposing teams up for cuts to the basket. The Huskers seem to frequently back-door opponents.

As the underdog, Purdue will have more than their hands full tonight. As usual, Purdue will need to rebound, limit their turnovers, and contain the dribble. Making some shots would also help. This is the first of a five game stretch (@Nebraska, @Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, and Michigan State) that could break their season. Purdue really needs to elevate their play to have an opportunity at a win tonight and over the following four games.

#36 Wisconsin Badgers (16-7, 8-4) at #5 Illinois Fighting Illini (20-4, 11-2)

8 ET, Peacock

BoilerUp89: The Badgers have been a fiesty squad at times this season. I don't love the matchup for them, but they've surprised at times.

MaximumSam: Big stretch for the Illini. Wiscy, Indiana, USC, UCLA, and then Michigan. They are one game behind the Wolverines for first place, so any sort of loss would be suboptimal.

Kind of...: I applaud BoilerUp89's understatement. Unless you get pretty much maximal variance in favor of the Badgers in terms of 3 point shooting, this is going to get ugly. Wisconsin just hasn't shown the ability to defend well enough to stop Illinois from getting a lot of open threes, quality interior looks, or both. Wisconsin's closing stretch is brutal, but most any game seems more winnable than this one.

Non-B1G Games of Interest

#26 UNC Tarheels (19-4, 7-3) at #45 Miami Hurricanes (18-5, 7-3), 7 ET, ESPN
#12 Vanderbilt Commodores (19-4, 6-4) at #30 Auburn Tigers (14-9, 5-5), 7 ET, SECN
#321 Eastern Illinois Panthers (10-15, 6-8) at #363 Western Illinois Leathernecks (4-21, 0-14), 8:30 ET, ESPN+

BoilerUp89: UNC and Miami jockey for position in the ACC standings. Auburn and nepo-coach Steven Pearl try to avoid collecting more losses. Western Illinois are on elimination watch. It's not over until it's mathematically over.

Kind of...: Iowa State visits TCU at 9:00, so I might be checking that out if the Badgers are down 20 at halftime. At 11:00, any night owls can give Wazzu/Gonzaga a look if they're curious about a team that can't beat Portland (and I mean Gonzaga; Wazzu swept them).