Big Ten Basketball January 9 Recaps, Previews, and Open Thread
The most important Big Ten game of the night is USC/Minnesota in men's basketball
Yesterday's Games
Michigan State Spartans 76, Northwestern Wildcats 66
MaximumSam: The Cats were competitive - the Detective dropped 28 an they were up 7 in the second half, but they couldn't quite keep it together.
Kind of...: KenPom has Northwestern #57 and Minnesota #85, but I'm choosing to go with the old eye test on this one. The Wildcats aren't one of the three worst teams in the league, and the should end up avoiding the 15/18, 16/17 games on Tuesday at the BTT. But if they lost @ Rutgers over the weekend, then look out.
Illinois Fighting Illini 81, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 55
MaximumSam: Rutgers was just a bit outside of getting their second straight win.
Kind of...: Just think how strong the B1G would look as a conference this year if we cut the Maps commercial to 21 seconds?
The Ohio State Buckeyes 72, Oregon Ducks 62
MaximumSam: Oregon without Jackson Shelstad might be the worst team in the conference, as they lost to Rutgers and gave up a 21-0 run in the second half to make this game a laugher. At least the Buckeyes played a game that didn't end in the final possession.
BoilerUp89: When you have two good players and one of them is hurt, your team is stinky. OSU is 3-0 on the road in conference play and 0-2 at home. A lot of that is who they've played where (Rutgers, Northwestern, and Oregon on the road; Illinois & Nebraska at home), but its an interesting home/road split.
Kind of...: Oregon w/o Shelstad is not good, but they did beat Maryland. In this feud, I'll take the West Coast. Maryland/PSU/Rutgers are a triumverate of suck this year. But, yeah, Oregon is no bueno, and Dana Altman is getting too old for this shit.
Tonight's Game
#56 USC Trojans (12-3, 1-3) at #67 Minnesota Golden Gophers (10-5, 3-1)
8:30 ET, BTN
BoilerUp89: I can't imagine watching a different sporting event during this one. USC tries to pick up the 2nd win for the 4Pac east of the Rocky Mountains in B1G play. Medved's Gophers try to move to 4-1. Did Ben Johnson ever win four Big Ten games in a season?
Kind of...: KenPom currently predicts the Gophers to go 9-11, but has USC -1 tonight. Minnesota has exactly one season at .500 or better in B1G play the last 15 years. Don't sleep on the Gophers. They're winning tonight.
Non-B1G Games of Interest
#101 Miami Ohio Redhawks (16-0, 4-0) at #161 Toledo Rockets (9-6, 3-0), 6 ET, CBSSN
#250 Merrimack Warriors (9-7, 5-0) at 179 Siena Saints (10-5, 3-1), 7 ET, ESPN+
#66 Akron Zips (11-4, 2-1) at #109 Bowling Green Falcons (11-5, 2-2), 8 ET, CBSSN
#143 UNLV Running Rebels (7-7, 2-1) at #92 Colorado State Rams (10-5, 1-3), 10 ET, CBSSN
BoilerUp89:
Kind of...: Yes, most eyes will be on Oregon/Indiana tonight I assume. But Miami (OH) vs. Toledo is a pretty good appetizer. Both teams like to get up and down the court. Give it a look.
