Big Ten Basketball November 10 Recaps, Previews, and Open Thread
Hoosier fans may self-combust in excitement. Rutger, USC, and UCLA in action tonight.
The three pointer decides games and seasons. Indiana made a bunch of threes and won easily. Washington missed a bunch of threes and lost. Sometimes the game is as simple as which team puts the orange ball in the basket.
Tonight: three buy games.
All numbers via Torvik. All predictions not financial advice.
Sunday's Games
Indiana Hoosiers 100, Marquette Golden Eagles 77
BoilerUp89: Great game by Indiana. Tucker DeVries took over the first half with 24 first half points. The Hoosiers were 50% from three and got there by sharing the basketball (24 assists). Marquette meanwhile had a 10:15 assist/turnover ratio. We talked about this during the season preview, but Indiana will look really good in games they hit their three point shots. Bank the win and celebrate it.
MaximumSam: Everything is coming up Hoosier these days.
Kind of...: I mentioned in the comments that Connor Enright isn't a B1G PG, but let's not bury the lede. Indiana has looked great so far. They've vaulted from 40 to 21 in the KenPom rankings, which puts them fifth in the conference (ahead of UCLA). Is that sustainable? Maybe. Maybe not. But Darian DeVries won an MVC regular-season title and an NCAA tournament game before his son was on campus. He's a good coach.
USC Trojans 114, Manhattan Jaspers 83
BoilerUp89: Chad Baker-Mazara had a career high of 26 points and did it in just 23 minutes. This was a game played at break neck speed. USC attempted 81 field goals.
Baylor Bears 78, Washington Huskies 69
BoilerUp89: Washington outrebounded Baylor by 9 and won points in the paint 42-28. Unfortunately for them, they also couldn't buy a three pointer (15% on 20 attempts) and Baylor took care of the ball (just 9 turnovers).
MaximumSam: Still no Desmond Claude for the Huskies.
Kind of...: Yeah, more of a missed opportunity than any sort of judgment on Washington overall. I continue to love Steinbach's game. Will be interesting to see how the rest of the non-conference goes for Washington. 10-1 would still be an at-large bid-worthy performance.
Today's Big Ten Games
#312 Maine Black Bears (0-2) at #95 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (1-0)
6:30 ET, BTN
BoilerUp89: Cooper Flagg's twin brother plays for the Black Bears who have never made the tournament. Maine has started the season with double digit road losses at George Washington and Stony Brook.
AlmaOtter: I have no analysis of this game, but Mainer accent v Jersey accent is an all-time matchup.
#240 Cleveland State Vikings (1-1) at #60 Northwestern Wildcats (2-0)
8:30 ET, BTN
BoilerUp89: I'm not sure what to make of Cleveland State this season. They lost to Loyola Chicago on a late three pointer but then barely scraped by Division III Capital University by 1. At the very least they've got experience playing in close games.
#358 West Georgia Wolves (1-1) at #18 UCLA Bruins (2-0)
10 ET, B1G+
BoilerUp89: Why is this game happening? How can Mick Cronin sit there and bitch about cross-country travel and then schedule this game? On a side note, I'm curious whether the cancelled flights between Atlanta and Los Angeles this weekend affected West Georgia's travel?
Monday's Non-Big Ten Games of Interest
#126 UNC Wilmington Seahawks at #131 Kent State Golden Flashes, 7 ET, ESPN+
#151 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers at #139 Eastern Kentucky Colonels, 7 ET, ESPN+
#38 Mississippi State Bulldogs v. #16 Iowa State Cyclones, 8 ET, ESPNU
#138 Little Rock Trojans at #206 Milwaukee Panthers, 8 ET, ESPN+
#91 Santa Clara Broncos at #84 Xavier Musketeers, 8:30 ET, FS1
#143 St. Thomas Tommies at #181 Washington State Cougars, 9:30 ET, ESPN+
BoilerUp89: I wonder if I can get cheap tickets to the Xavier game tonight? I fully expect Santa Clara to win.
MaximumSam: I checked Stubhub and you can get in for four dollars. Cheap enough?
BoilerUp89: Really debated it but ultimately decided against. Too much going on this week.
Kind of...: Mississippi State/Iowa State is sneaky good. I mean it's going to be an ugly, defensively-oriented rock fight. But could be as compelling as those get.
AO: WKU v EKU in the Battle of the Bluegrass could be fun.
