Big Ten Basketball November 20 Recaps, Previews, and Open Thread

Feast week sorta, kinda begins as we kick off two MTEs tonight.

All numbers via Torvik. All predictions not financial advice.

Last Night's Games

Michigan Wolverines 86, Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders 61

MaximumSam: Locutus of Lendeborg powered this blowout with 25 and 12. Or should he be Yaxel Rose? We need a poll here.

Penn State Nittany Lions 84, Harvard Crimson 80

MaximumSam: Tommy Amaker is still bouncing around Harvard, and they gave the Nits all sorts of trouble. But no one expects the Nits to be any good this year so probably won't be the first time a group of poindexters gives them trouble.

BoilerUp89: Well PSU won... so that's the good news. Schedule ramps up shortly.

Maryland Terrapins 95, Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers 90 (OT)

MaximumSam: No Payne and big problems for the Terps, who were down 5 with 30 seconds left in regulation and needed 41 from David Coit to survive Mount St. Mary's. But survive they did, and they got a commitment from five star forward Baba Oladotun for next season, so everything is coming up Buzz.

Alabama Crimson Tide 90, Illinois Fighting Illini 86

MaximumSam: The Illini couldn't quite close the gap on Bama, and the Tide making exactly four more foul shots proved the difference. Mihailo Petrovic made his debut, and dished five assists in just 12 minutes. Tomislav Ivisic also returned from injury and also played limited minutes. We'll see what the Orange Army looks like at full strength.

BoilerUp89: A lane violation by the Illini on the front end of a 1 and 1 provided two extra points for the Tide and made it so the Illini were trying to play catchup down the stretch. Illinois didnt have much of an answer for Philon and only outrebounded the Tide by 2. Boswell had an inefficient 22 points on 18 field goal attempts for Illinois. Still, it very much looks like the Illini are a national contender despite the setback in this one.

AlmaOtter: I'll defer to Coach Underwood for my analysis.

Thursday's Big Ten Games

#77 Memphis Tigers (1-2) v. #7 Purdue Boilermakers (4-0)

Baha Mar Championship - Semifinal
6 ET, CBSSN

MaximumSam: Penny Hardaway loves the portal, so look out for some Old Friends. Former Wolverine Dug McDaniel runs the point and has been a turnover machine. Former Buckeye Aaron Bradshaw comes off the bench and has scored 11 points on the season. I can't believe we were excited about him last year.

BoilerUp89: Memphis has had a rough start to the season but anytime you play in a convention center weird things can happen. It will be interesting to see how shooting numbers look in these games.

AO: Is Dug eligible to play this year, or does he need to get back to the books?

#292 Lindenwood Lions (2-3) at #26 Indiana Hoosiers (4-0)

6 ET, BTN

#92 New Mexico Lobos (3-1) v #40 Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-0)

Hall of Fame Classic - Semifinal
7 ET, Peacock

MaximumSam: Xavier poached Richard Pitino from New Mexico, who in turn poached Eric Olen from UC San Diego after they went 30-5 last year. Leading them in minutes is freshman Jake Hall out of San Diego, and leading them in rebounds is "freshman" Tomislav Buljan, who is 23 and out of the Croatian professional league. He cleans the glass and sells cigarettes out of the back of his truck: a true two way player.

#318 Chicago State Cougars (0-5) at #27 Iowa Hawkeyes (4-0)

7 ET, B1G+

BoilerUp89: Didn't we just see these guys? Will they ever win a game this season? I mean probably - they are in the Northeast Conference - but still...

#257 Western Michigan Broncos (2-3) at #24 THE Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0)

8 ET, BTN

MaximumSam: Name Watch is looking out for freshman Carson Vis, who sounds like someone gave up halfway through writing his name. The Broncos have already dropped a game to Division II Northwood, so let's hope they weren't saving something for the Buckeyes.

#118 Troy Trojans (4-2) at #22 USC Trojans (3-0)

10 ET, BTN

MaximumSam: Trojan Fest 2025. Winner gets the Magnums.

AO: Hey, at least Troy has a better claim to the Trojan nickname than USC!

The USC Trojans Have the Dumbest Mascot Origin Story in the Big Ten

No, for real. It’s even sillier than the Wisconsin Badgers story.

Off Tackle RepublicAlmaOtter

Today's Non-Big Ten Games of Interest

Hall of Fame Classic

#47 Mississippi State Bulldogs v. #78 Kansas State Wildcats, 9:30 ET, Peacock

Baha Mar

#33 Texas Tech Red Raiders v. #72 Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 8:30 ET, CBSSN

Legends Classic

#178 Incarnate Word Cardinals v. #315 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles, 12:30 ET
#160 Illinois Chicago Flames v. #91 High Point, 2:30 ET
#76 Pittsburgh Panthers v. #82 UCF Knights, 7 ET, ESPN2

Other

#217 Colgate Raiders at #176 Cornell Big Red, 7 ET, ESPN+
#172 Pacific Waves at #150 FAU Owls, 7 ET, ESPN+
#83 Arizona State Sun Devils at #99 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, Midnight ET, ESPN+