Big Ten Basketball, February 8: The Basketball Game Sunday

Yesterday's Games

Indiana Hoosiers 78, Wisconsin Badgers 77 (OT)

MaximumSam: Big calls down the stretch, including an old fashioned charge called on Nick Boyd. I thought they got rid of charges, but nothing makes the ref the star of the show like a good charge call on the visiting team. They should make a calendar for it.

Kind of...: Deep inhale...10-15 years ago I would have been really angry about the way the game ended. Maybe Blackwell contacted Wilkerson a bit...but that so seemed like something that's not called 80% of the time; maybe Boyd extended his arm...but it was after Enright ran practically under him; why not call any of the Indiana fouls on Boyd as he was dribbling around prior to the "charge"? But...

1) I remember Brad Davison. Part of college basketball, as least since the first time Steve Wojciechowski slapped the court, is some try-hard--often white, usually at pains to look dorky--conning refs with moves that are alogrithmically designed to make the announcer use the work "heady." If felt like Davison was the perfection (perfect corruption?) of the form, taking the baton from legends like Chris Kramer and Aaron Craft. Time will tell if NIL–Enright bounced from Drake to DePaul to Indiana–causes a new explosion or if Enright is just a one-off.

2) What do you expect? Indiana couldn't hold a double-digit lead. Wisconsin couldn't hold a two possession lead in the final minute of regulation. These teams are part of the mushy middle of the B1G. When the bracket comes out, wherever USC, OSU, Indiana, and Wisconsin end up, you will probably be able to argue that they should be switched around relative to each other. Hell, if Wisconsin and Indiana secretly decided to switch opponents (assuming they both make the tournament) I'm not sure too many people would notice. It was a close, dumb game between two dumb teams. You can't complain too much when the dumb goes against you.

3) Greg Gard is a very good coach. If you draw 12 names at random, he'll get more out of that team than the vast majority of B1G coaches. And his stylistic adaptability is obvious. But he, like Bo Ryan, seems to have concluded that it's never a bad idea to trust your PG and forgo a timeout late. And, well, when Nick Boyd is your PG, it might be a bad idea. He's really fast and he wants you to know that. And you do. Against USC, you notice that he VERY QUICKLY dribbled himself into a bad end of game situation. And yesterday, you were like "WOW, THAT DUDE IS DRIBBLING AROUND SO FAST I BET HE DOESN'T NOTICE THAT HE HAS GOOD FT-SHOOTING TEAMMATES OUT THERE."

Purdue Boilermakers 68, Oregon Ducks 64

BoilerUp89: I didn't actually watch most of this game but I caught the tail end of it. 14 turnovers is way too many and 0 of 8 three point shooting by the Cox, Harris, Mayer trio is no good, but there are bigger issues beyond that with this team right now. I haven't been able to successfully diagnose them. I did find it interesting that Painter was sticking with Jacobsen over Cluff for the stretch run of this game. I can't blame him. Jacobsen went 3 of 3 from the field, committed zero turnovers, and outrebounded Cluff 4-2 in equal minutes.

Kind of...: I certainly don't know Purdue as well as BoilerUp89 does, but I'm reminded of the '22 Purdue team when Edey was a soph and Trevion Williams was a senior. Both were effectively offensively, but you really couldn't have both on the court as the same time. Purdue was a good team. They made the Sweet 16. But, especially with Jaden Ivey running things, and with your patented Purdue dudes who will hit the open 3 (Stefanovic and Gillis in this case), it really felt like they should have been better. And no, I don't mean that the loss to Saint Peter's was hilarious. Assume they beat the Peacocks. They almost certainly weren't beating 8-seed UNC. And they were a clearly better team than UNC on paper. Something was missing. Chemistry in lazy speak, but, yeah, something like that. Insert joke about engineering problems. But that's my comp.

HoustonBoiler: This was a game Purdue HAD to win and they did, just barely. Nat Bittle returned to the Oregon lineup and had a great game, contributing 23 points while drawing 11 fouls in almost 34 minutes of action. After 5 days off, Purdue seems to have reverted to the form that resulted in a three game losing streak. They had way too many turnovers (14), barely won the rebounding battle (32-28), outside of Fletcher Loyer (3 for 4 on 3-pointers) didn't shoot well (rest of the team shot 2 for 14 on 3-pointers - woof!), and Oscar Cluff (3 points and 2 rebounds in 20 minutes) seems to have disappeared. Continuing to play like this will result in a blow out loss for Purdue in Lincoln on Tuesday.

Nebraska Cornhuskers 80, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 68

Kind of...: Huskers break the two-game losing streak. Can complain too much. Purdue comes to town Tuesday. And despite all those words above, it feels like Nebraska is not the worst matchup for Purdue, so that could/should be a whale of a game.

Michigan State Spartans 85, Illinois Fighting Illini 82 (OT)

MaximumSam: Jeremy Fears had 26 points, 15 assists, and held Keaton Wagler to 2-16 from the field. Plus he only had one play of shenanigans that I remember.

Kind of...: I understand Underwood's challenge, but it had the predictable effect of galvanizing MSU and letting them--and the fans--seize the victimhood narrative. Izzo can somehow simultaneously claim that he was considering benching Fears for last night's game (he wasn't) while also criticizing Dusty May and playing the "they're all out to get us" card. It's kind of gross--especially from the guy who coached Draymond Green--but it does seem effective.

Anyway, Illinois is mortal but terrifying. Wagler was 2-16 last night and Illinois's offensive performance, extrapolated over the season as a whole, still would've been top 25% in KenPom. Given Wisconsin's flakiness, the Illini could beat them by 40.

Michigan State is a tough-minded Sweet 16th/Elite 8 team. No Jase Richardson this year. Coen Carr just isn't developing any sort of array of moves on offense. His "% of points that rely on superior athleticism" rating is the highest I've seen since Toby Bailey, I think.

BoilerUp89: MSU won by three. They made a three on a play where Fears tripped an Illini and didnt get called for anything.

UCLA Bruins 77, Washington Huskies 73

Kind of...: Commented on this last week, too, but because of how the schedule line up, nobody treats the Huskies as part of the B1G's mushy middle. But KenPom has them favored in each of their last seven game, and predicted to go 5-2, finishing 9-11. They're not a tournament team, but other than the purple, they're actually pretty close to interchangeable with USC, OSU, Wisconsin, and Indiana. If Steinbach doesn't have one of his worst games, they probably get the road upset.

UCLA is the flip side of Washington. They're 9-4 in conference play, but the closeness of last night's game was no accident. The Bruins still have Michigan and Michigan State on the road, and Nebraska and Illinois at home. I don't think they'll finish 2-5, but it wouldn't be a terrible surprise, either.

Today's Games

#46 USC Trojans (17-6, 6-6) at #127 Penn State Nittany Lions (10-13, 1-11)

12 ET, BTN

BoilerUp89: It's effectively a 9 am game for USC so don't rule out something weird happening here.

Kind of...: Agreed. Penn State beat Minnesota then got eviscerated by Michigan. They'll probably be feisty.

#1 Michigan Wolverines (21-1, 11-1) at #38 The Ohio State Buckeyes (15-7, 7-5)

1 ET, CBS

BoilerUp89: Hey, OSU. We don't talk much, but I just want to let you know you can secure your tourney bid today. We are all counting on you.

MaximumSam: The NIT is also a tourney.

Kind of...: Three of the next four are at home for the Buckeyes, and the fourth is...in Nashville against Virginia? Okay. Well, that could be a good win. And USC and Wisconsin SHOULD both be wins in Columbus, except nobody fully understanding the mushy middle of the conference. Any combination that gets Ohio State 3-1 is tournament-enhancing. Today is house money.

#138 Maryland Terrapins (8-14, 1-10) at #50 Minnesota Golden Gophers (11-12, 4-8)

2 ET, BTN

Kind of...: There aren't that many two-foot putts in conference play. Do NOT mess this up, Gophers.

#74 Northwestern Wildcats (10-13, 2-10) at #18 Iowa Hawkeyes (17-5, 7-4)

3 ET, FS1

MaximumSam: The Detective takes on late stage alcoholism.

Kind of...: Lot of talk about Iowa's metrics vs. the quality of their victories. But I think things are coming into focus and I think they favor team metrics. Iowa lost to Minnesota a month ago. Not great (but not horrible). Otherwise the losses are Iowa State, Michigan State, Illinois, and Purdue. Against the mushy middle? 4-0. UCLA and USC at home (the latter got nervy), and road wins against Indiana and Washington. Yeah, they still have to play Nebraska x2, Michigan, and Purdue again. But it seems clear they'll beat Ohio State in Iowa City, and, frankly, I don't see Wisconsin being consistent enough to beat them in Madison, either. So, you're looking at 22-9/12-8 at worst. Any home win over Nebraska/Purdue/Michigan just enhances things from there.

Iowa looks unremarkable in some ways. But there's plenty to be said for having a high floor.

HoustonBoiler: To add to Kind Of...'s excellent points, it's almost as if Iowa wants to climb out of the crab bucket. Will they? Stay tuned.

Non-B1G Games of Interest

#55 Tulsa Golden Hurricane (20-3, 8-2) at #73 USF Bulls (15-8, 7-3), Noon ET, ESPNU
#16 Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-6, 6-3) at #56 West Virginia Mountaineers (15-8, 6-4), 1 ET, FOX

Kind of...: Yeah, not too much given the Super Bowl. But Tulsa/USF could easily be a preview of the American title game. USF pushes the pace. Should be a lot of fun.