Big Ten Basketball February 3 Recaps, Previews, and Open Thread
It's not March, but it's a month close to March
Sunday's Games
Purdue Boilermakers 93, Maryland Terrapins 63
Kind of...: I realize a three game-losing streak can make one skeptical, and that blowing out Maryland doesn't necessarily mean Purdue is back. But it's certainly better than struggling to beat Maryland. Not knowing if you can be optimistic again certainly beats knowing you should be pessimistic.
HoustonBoiler: Purdue certainly won a game that they needed to win. They only committed 8 turnovers, won the rebounding battle (37-26), and shot the ball well (15 of 30 on 3 pointers). Look, Maryland is bad so we should not read too much into this.
Illinois Fighting Illini 78, Nebraska Cornhuskers 69
Kind of...: It now seems that the B1G regular season title is likely to be settled February 27 in Chambana when Michigan comes to visit. Michigan still has to go to Purdue, and Illinois to Michigan State, but both the Illini and Wolverines looked like the better team in their matchup. Nebraska has lost two straight. About 355 other teams in American would've gone 0-2 last week. This doesn't affect Nebraska's seeding situation at all. A B1G title doesn't seem to be in the offing, but a fully healthy 2-seed Huskers squad is certainly capable of a deep run.
AlmaOtter: Wooooooo I missed most of this game playing D&D but also wooooooooooo
Penn State Nittany Lions 77, Minnesota Golden Gophers 75
Kind of...: I think we all knew this was possible. Medved is a good enough coach to squeeze notable marginal improvement out of the Gophers. The three B1G wins are all of the Quad 1 variety. But the season is a grind. Minnesota has been banged up a bit, some regression may be happening, and it's just a tough, tough job. All that said, Minnesota should've beaten Penn State and I'm sure they're disappointed they didn't.
Congrats, Penn State. The last time a B1G team (Northwestern) went winless in league play (2000) was the last time the league produced a national champion. Way to ruin things, PSU.
BoilerUp89: Sorry for jinxing you Gophers.
Iowa Hawkeyes 84, Oregon Ducks 66
Kind of...: Bennett Stirtz had 32 points on 15 FGA, 7 assists and 0 turnovers. You have to take into account Oregon's struggles, but that was about as well-rounded of a performance as you could hope to see. The analytics/eye test gap with Iowa is still there, but the win @Indiana looks better and better. And while the loss at Minnesota isn't great, it's not horrible, and all the rest of the losses--Iowa State, Michigan State, Illinois, Purdue--are completely reasonable. Currently an 8 in bracketmatrix, but should be favored in their next three games (though @Washington is close to a tossup). After that, they host Purdue and Nebraska. If they could get a split, they'd just a big seed jump.
Tonight's Games
#149 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (9-13, 2-9) at #36 UCLA Bruins (15-7, 7-4)
9:30 ET, BTN
Kind of...: Rutgers was very frisky against USC and UCLA is coming off a wrenching 2 OT loss. Still, UCLA needs to make quick work of the Scarlet Knights. If they don't, Mick Cronin's wrath may reach upper-tier Frantrum levels.
#23 Indiana Hoosiers (15-7, 6-5) at #49 USC Trojans (16-6, 5-6)
10 ET, Peacock
Kind of...: Indiana has won three in a row, so they're either hot, or the tank is close to empty coming off of 2 OT on Saturday. USC really needs this win. This is a pretty damn important game if you can stay up for it.
HoustonBoiler: Both teams really need to win this game.
Non-B1G Games of Interest
#82 Miami Redhawks (22-0, 10-0) at #190 Buffalo Bulls (14-8, 4-6), 6:30 ET, ESPN+
#340 Canisius Golden Griffins (8-15, 3-9) at #348 Niagara Purple Eagles (5-17, 2-10), 6:30 ET, ESPN+
#141 Kent State Golden Flashes (16-6, 7-3) at #153 Toledo Rockets (12-10, 6-4), 7 ET, ESPN+
#122 UIC Flames (13-10, 8-4) at #113 Murray State Racers (16-7, 8-4), 8 ET, ESPN+
#21 Saint Louis Billikens (21-1, 9-0) at #102 Davidson Wildcats (13-8, 5-4), 9 ET, CBSSN
#206 Drake Bulldogs (12-11, 6-6) at #65 Belmont Bruins (20-3, 10-2), 9 ET, ESPN+
#25 NC State Wolfpack (16-6, 7-2) at #34 SMU Mustangs (15-6, 4-4), 9 ET, ESPN2
BoilerUp89: We've entered February so my games of interest list will be expanded to any that may define conference races, bubble hopes, or conference tournament cutoffs.
The Redhawks will be on the list as long as they remain undefeated and probably beyond that. Similar concepts for including St. Louis and Belmont. Yes, Belmont has plenty of work left to do and probably can't lose between now and the MVC tournament but that's why their games are interesting. All three of these teams have potential paths to getting an at-large bid but need to avoid pitfalls for the next month.
Canisius/Niagara is relevant only to true sickos like me (for more details, see yesterday's 365 to 1 Primer), but it's a head-to-head matchup that's close to must win for both teams. Kent State & Toledo appear to be the 3rd and 4th best teams in the MAC. I'm not sure that 3rd place gets either of them anything, but this also might just be the best non-B1G game of the night.
Murray State and UIC are in a three way tie for 2nd in the MVC but already trail Belmont by two games. A loss here likely ends hopes for a regular season title. NC State and SMU are two ACC bubblish teams. Both are likely relatively safe but the Wolfpack have a brutal closing ACC stretch and at .500 in conference play SMU can blow their bid fairly easily.
Kind of...: Belmont's two MVC losses were both by a point, otherwise they'd be 22-1/12-0. That said, they've had some close wins, too, so it's a fair record at this point. I think they're clearly better than Miami. Buffalo took Miami to OT on the road, so don't sleep on the Bulls winning tonight.
Saint Louis is way better than either and has second-weekend potential. Their only loss was in excruciating fashion, and only four of their wins have been by single-digits. In a just world, this is Josh Schertz's revenge tour for the committee's snub of Indiana State two years ago. (Then again, I don't know that Indiana State would view this happening at Saint Louis as part of any just world...)
HoustonBoiler: #340 versus #348 is a sickos dream matchup. If you're reading this, I know that you'll be watching. Otherwise, the Kent State at Toledo game could be a good one featuring two pretty evenly matched teams.
