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

Yesterday's Games

Michigan State Spartans 81, Indiana Hoosiers 60

Kind of...: Sparty was generally sluggish and Indiana was only down 1 early in the second. Then MSU asserted itself and the Hoosiers had no response. The result seems fair. Izzo's crew looks to be a second weekend team and DeVries's charge are quickly feeling the proverbial wall behind them growing nearer. Saturday they host Iowa, who's in better shape NCAA profile-wise, but who could also really use a win. Huge game as it seems that at least one of them will end up playing on Wednesday at the BTT.

Wisconsin Badgers 78, Minnesota 75

Kind of...: In their last two games, Wisconsin has tried very had to give things away down the stretch (most notably last night going 1-4 from the line in the closing moments), but they've managed to escape with two road wins (including the best win in CBB this year). Plenty to work on, but it beats losing by 28 and 30 on the road. If the threes are falling, they can beat anybody. If not, they can lost by 30 again. What else is there to say? As for the Gophers, Medved is getting pretty much everything he can out of this team. (KP has them at 84, while 0-5 Northwestern is at 56, for example.) But that's two gut punch home losses back-to-back. And the next four include road games vs. Illinois, Ohio State, and Wisconsin and a visit from Nebraska. Been an impressive story so far, but the next chapter--How does Niko hold it together--could contain a plot twist.

BoilerUp89: Niko has accomplished the goal of year 1. Make Minnesota competitive and watchable. That should turn into better recruiting and improve fan support for a program thats been at the back of the conference in terms of fan support for far too long.

As for the game, it was an enjoyable watch as a neutral. Loved the complete lack of turnovers in the first half. But after Minnesota made the game tying three and Wisconsin waa driving up the floor with time running out I had a horrible moment of deja vu and I knew that if the Badgers got a shot off it would go in.

Nebraska Cornhuskers 90, Oregon Ducks 55

MaximumSam: Maximum Corn Cobbin' more like. Speaking of:

Kind of...: NATION'S LONGEST WINNING STREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Look, we all are aware of what's happening in Lincoln at this point, but let's drill in just a bit. Redshirt frosh Braden Frager, a hometown kid, is currently shooting 72% from 2. Yeah, he's only averaging fewer than 4 2pt attempts per game, but still. And last night he was 7-11 from 3. He takes care of the ball and has shown an ability to draw fouls. He's 6'7" but moves well, and is not rail thin. Nebraska is still good without him, but if you're like, "Wait, how did Nebraska get THIS good?" there's the first place you should look.

HoustonBoiler: The combines keep rolling as the Huskers take the Ducks to the woodshed ... errr ... corncrib.

USC Trojans 88, Maryland 71

MaximumSam: Diggy Coit scored 30 for Maryland and they still lost by 17.

Kind of...: USC's effort was perfunctory most of the game, but it was still more than enough. Maryland is really struggling.

HoustonBoiler: Lately, I haven't been hearing much buzz about Buzz.

Today's Games

#21 Iowa Hawkeyes (12-4, 2-3) at #5 Purdue Boilermakers (15-1, 5-0)

6:30 ET, BTN

Kind of...: Iowa has done a lot this year, but the losses to Minnesota and Illinois have shown there's pretty clearly a ceiling on this team. Purdue shouldn't have too much difficulty tonight, but this is still must watch for the PG battle alone. That said, Stirtz has battled foul trouble, so wouldn't surprise me if he didn't defend Smith.

HoustonBoiler: What a difference a year makes. Iowa plays defense and is pretty good at generating turnovers. However, Iowa does not have much in the way of size so they might have a problem against Purdue. Look for the Boilers to pound the ball inside to TKR and Oscar Cluff. I also expect that CJ Cox will tasked with trying to slow down Bennet Stirtz. Purdue needs to rebound and limit their turnovers while Iowa needs to make 3-pointers and generate turnovers.

BoilerUp89: Rebound, get the ball to the bigs, and play better defense than the last game. If Purdue does those things they will win this game.

#7 Illinois Fighting Illini (13-3, 4-1) at #58 Northwestern Wildcats (8-8, 0-5)

8:30 ET, BTN

MaximumSam: Maryland has an early lead on last place. But Northwestern and Penn State can tie them up tonight. I miss the Race to 15th, but it can live on in our hearts.

Kind of...: Rivals...throw out the records...whatever. If Illinois has an off night shooting, they might set the B1G record for offensive boards. Maybe Northwestern shoots the lights out and everything else goes right, too. But I'm not not seeing it.

#44 UCLA Bruins (11-5, 3-2) at #109 Penn State Nittany Lions (9-7, 0-5)

8:30 ET, FS1

Kind of...: UCLA can't afford to lose this game, but LA to State College is not a fun trip. PSU played Michigan tough here, so if you choose to watch Ill/NW, make sure you check the score on occasion.

HoustonBoiler: PSU also played Purdue tough so UCLA might be on upset alert.

BoilerUp89: The 4Pac have just two conference road victories against teams east of the Rockies. One over a terribad Maryland team. And USC on the third game of a three game road trip in OT. I might actually be surprised if UCLA wins in their first trip to the Mausoleum.

#1 Michigan Wolverines (14-1, 4-1) at #54 Washington Huskies (10-6, 2-3)

MaximumSam: The Wolverines nearly lost to Penn State and did lose to Wisconsin. Can the Huskies give them a swirlie at home? Frank Kepnang should be good for tossing Aday Mara into the stands once or twice.

Kind of...: Hannes Steinbach is probably the best frosh in the league (though, see above, Frager is gaining) and is projected to be a first round pick. But defense is not his strong suit. I know Michigan struggled in Happy Valley, but unless they've been totally exposed recently, I would expect a beatdown.

HoustonBoiler: I expected Michigan to bounce back after their struggles in State College. Not only did that not happen, Michigan lost to wisconsin. At home. Michigan really needs a win. Washington has some good players, particularly Steinbach, so they might give Michigan a game.

BoilerUp89: Im interested to watch the matchup between Steinbach and the Michigan post players.

Non-B1G Games of Interest

#79 High Point Panthers (16-3, 4-0) at #187 Winthrop Eagles (11-8, 3-1), 6:30 ET, ESPN+
#245 Saint Peter's Peacocks (8-6, 5-1) at #125 Quinnipiac Bobcats (12-5, 5-1), 7 ET, ESPN+
#195 Southern Miss Golden Eagles (11-7, 5-1) at #122 Troy Trojans (11-6, 4-1), 7 ET, ESPN+
#160 Missouri State Bears (10-6, 4-1) at #168 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (10-6, 3-2), 7:30 ET, ESPN+
#146 Temple Owls (11-5, 3-0) at #85 Memphis Tigers (7-8, 2-1), 8 ET, ESPN+
#3 Vanderbilt Commodores (16-0, 3-0) at #146 Texas Longhorns (10-6, 1-2), 9 ET, ESPN2
#27 North Carolina Tarheels (14-2, 2-1) at #63 Stanford Cardinal (13-4, 2-2), 9 ET, ACCN
#61 Virginia Tech Hokies (13-4, 2-2) at #29 SMU Mustangs (12-4, 1-2), 9 ET, ESPNU
#70 Nevada Wolf Pack (12-4, 4-1) at #26 Utah State Aggies (14-1, 5-0), 10 ET, CBSSN
#42 TCU Horned Frogs (11-5, 1-2) at #17 BYU Cougars (15-1, 3-0), 11 ET, ESPN2

BoilerUp89: There's also plenty of mid-pack SEC and bottom of the pack Big 12 games but I really don't care about power conference teams that either aren't making the tournament or are and are fighting for seeds between 7 and 10. High Point/Winthrop is the low major game of the day. Nevada/Utah State & Temple/Memphis are big games for conference pecking order in the MWC and American.

Kind of...: The at-large pool in the MWC is probably down to three if Nevada can't get the road upset tonight. Give that one a look if you’re up late and, if it’s not close, give TCU/BYU some love. Dybantsa is for real and BYU is sitting there at 12 in KP, 9 in NET arguing that the Big 12 is a four-team race. Duke, UConn, and Florida will all have something to say. And maybe you think Vandy or Gonzaga is for real. But 9 of the top 13 teams in NET right now are either B1G or Big 12. If you haven’t paid attention to the Big 12, good time to do so.

Thursday

#184 Charleston Cougars (11-6, 4-0) at #226 Towson Tigers (9-9, 1-4), 8 ET, CBSSN
#127 Arkansas State Redwolves (12-3, 4-1) at #218 South Alabama Jaguars (12-3, 3-2), 8 ET, ESPN+

BoilerUp89: Is something else going on Thursday? No Big Ten games and not many games of interest. In yesterday's game thread I speculated this was due to MLK Day. That's because my reading comprehension is low. Thursday is MLKs birthday. MLK day is Monday. Apparently its just the B1G resetting their schedule moving forward post college football season.

HoustonBoiler: Huh. I was led to believe that there needed to be B1G basketball on TV all evening, every evening.

Friday

#170 Toledo Rockets (10-7, 4-1) at #137 Kent State Golden Flashes (13-4, 4-1), 6:30 ET, CBSSN
#48 Baylor Bears (T1-5, 1-3) at #14 Kansas Jayhawks (12-5, 2-2), 8 ET, FOX

BoilerUp89: Also no games on Friday. Will see you guys on Saturday.