Big Ten Basketball: March 5

Last Night's Games

Purdue Boilermakers 70, Northwestern Wildcats 66

BoilerUp89: Purdue won!

MaximumSam: Purdue did win, in the only game that wasn't a complete whomping. The Cats had the lead until late in the second half, but never quite thought about defending C.J. Cox, who dropped 27. The box score says he missed three shots, but I don't remember them.

Kind of...: Boy did Purdue fans got through all the emotions last night. Damn was reviewing the comment thread, umm, an...interesting experience. Feel like we should probably put a couple of hotline numbers at the top of game threads going forward.

Indiana Hoosiers 77, Minnesota Golden Gophers 47

Kind of...: Indiana knew what they had to do. And, dammit, they did it. It's not a win that really helps an at-large profile. But, this time of year, not hurting your profile IS helping it. Bracketmatrix says they're the first team out, but they have a Quad 1 shot @Ohio State. Then, if they avoid a bid-killing loss on Wednesday, they would have another quite winnable Quad 1 opportunity (probably Iowa, UCLA, or OSU) at the BTT. It's all on their plate. They'll get a bit if they're good enough. I just don't think they are.

Ohio State Buckeyes 94, Penn State Nittany Lions 62

MaximumSam: Buckeyes didn't collapse on themselves, and now host Indiana on Saturday for a very Bubbletastic game.

Kind of...: Ohio State seems to be in better position than Indiana, but not so much better that 40 bad minutes on Saturday couldn't change that. A win would be big on its own terms, but would also almost certainly clinch the 8-seed and a double bye, meaning they'd avoid a no-upside game against one of the bottom four on Wednesday. Honestly, the 7-10 and 8-9 games on Thursday could be really high tension stuff.

Wisconsin Badgers 78, Maryland Terrapins 45

Kind of...: That WAS a great moment. And, considering Wisconsin has made a habit of befuddling Senior Day losses to bad teams recently, it was a cathartic performance. But, unfortunately, the biggest news is Nolan Winter's ankle injury. It looked bad in real time. Subsequent reports are encouraging. I wouldn't expect him against Purdue, but if he's back next week, then consider it a bullet dodged.

BoilerUp89: Im not crying, you're crying.

Washington Huskies 91, USC Trojans 72

MaximumSam: Hannes Steinbach might be buried out on the West Coast, but he's still plenty good. He dropped 22 and grabbed 24(!) rebounds as USC tourney hopes are likely dead. We'll see if they can pull together enough Starbucks money to keep him out of the draft.

Kind of...: Been banging the drum RE: Steinbach since the preview articles. He's not going to be all-NBA or anything, but he's a fine, fine player. And, he's not just buried on the West Coast, he's buried on a mediocre team. But they're still clearly better than a Baker-Mazara-less USC. Trojans could fall all the way to the 13-seed.

Tonight's Games

#2 Michigan Wolverines (27-2, 17-1) at #25 Iowa Hawkeyes (20-9, 10-8)

8 pm, Peacock

MaximumSam: The Hawkeyes weren't on the bubble, but a loss to Penn State wasn't expected. Now they host Michigan and visit Nebraska to end the season, and may find themselves in rough shape.

Kind of...: Currently they're they top 9-seed at Bracketmatrix and a couple of Quad 1 losses won't knock them out of the field. But nobody's really treating them like a Sweet 16 dark horse, either. They might just be out of energy. McCollum is intense, but this isn't NW Missouri State (or the MVC).

#137 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (12-17, 5-13) at #10 Michigan State Spartans (24-5, 14-4)

8 pm, FS1

Kind of...: Yes, Rutgers DID give Sparty all they could handle in their first matchup this year. No, that doesn't mean a damn thing tonight.

Non-B1G Games of Interest

Arch Madness - 1st Round
9 Drake Bulldogs v. 8 Southern Illinois Salukis, 4:30 ET, ESPN+
10 Indiana State Sycamores v. 7 Valparaiso Beacons, 7 ET, ESPN+
11 Evansville Purple Aces v. 6 Northern Iowa Panthers, 9:30 ET, ESPN+\

Kind of...: I have several MVC connections and will actually be at Arch Madness this year (as I have been for the last few). Hot take: SIU beat Belmont by a point and lost by 5 this year. The Salukis will have a game in hand and the first game of the day is always a crapshoot. Don't be stunned if the 1-8 affair is quite competitive.

Northern Iowa lost their last two home games by a bucket each and cost themselves the first round bye. But I like the winner of them and Illinois State to beat 2-seed Bradley in the semis. Smart money is on Belmont, but I'd take the field.

Sun Belt - 3rd Round
9 James Madison Dukes v 8 Southern Miss Golden Eagles, 6 ET, ESPN+
10 Georgia Southern Eagles v. 7 Arkansas State Red Wolves, 8:30 ET, ESPN+

BoilerUp89: This is your reminder that Arkansas State tied for 2nd place in this conference. Go Red Wolves!

MAAC - 1st Round
9 Sacred Heart Pioneers v. 8 Iona Gaels, 6 ET, ESPN+
10 Manhattan Jaspers v. 7 Fairfield Stags, 8:30 ET, ESPN+

Summit League - Quarterfinals, Day 1
8 Oral Roberts Golden Eagles v. 1 North Dakota State Bison, 7 ET, MidCo Sports/Summit League Network
7 South Dakota State Jackrabbits v. 2 St. Thomas Tommies, 9:30 ET, MidCo Sports/SUmmit League Network

Patriot League - Quarterfinals
8 Bucknell Bison at 1 Navy Midshipmen, 7 ET, ESPN+
10 Holy Cross Crusaders at 2 Lehigh Mountain Hawks, 7 ET, ESPN+
6 Loyola Maryland Greyhounds at 3 Colgate Raiders, 7 ET, ESPN+
5 American Eagles at 4 Boston Terriers, 7 ET, ESPN+

OVC - "Quarterfinals"
8 Eastern Illinois Panthers v. 4 UT Martin Skyhawks, 7 ET, ESPN+
6 Lindenwood Lions v. 3 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks, 9:30 ET, ESPN+

WCC - 1st Round
12 Pepperdine Waves v. 9 Portland Pilots, 9 ET, ESPN+
11 San Diego Toreros v. 10 Loyola Marymount Lions, 11:30 ET, ESPN+