Big Ten Conference Notebook
What, you thought the Big Ten picture would be framed by now? The paint isn’t even drying yet.
A couple of finishing touches have been made, though, namely Wisconsin and Ohio State finishing in the top two conference spots. The rest of the ingredients are still mixing. The Badgers dominated Minnesota in their only contest of the week, cruising to a 68-45 win. Wisconsin held the visiting Gophers to 35 percent shooting on the afternoon and committed only nine turnovers. Alando Tucker led a balanced scoring attack with 14 points on just 6-of-17 shooting. Talk about a nice way to ease in to the conference season, especially with Tuesday’s looming match up against the Buckeyes.
Speaking of Ohio State, the Buckeyes also dominated Saturday, going into Champaign and crushing Illinois 62-44. The Buckeyes sped to a 16-point halftime lead and used Greg Oden’s presence to control the game from there. The Illini managed to limit the freshman phenom to seven points but couldn’t stop him on the boards, as he grabbed 15 rebounds. Adding Oden into the mix has transformed Thad Matta’s squad into a defensive juggernaut, a scary thought for future opponents. Illinois shot an anemic 24 percent from the field, including 3-of-23 from downtown. Yikes. Saturday’s win backed up a tough Tuesday victory vs. Indiana. The Buckeyes got a boost from reserve Othello Hunter, who provided a few key defensive stops down the stretch when Oden was in foul trouble.
Ohio State is joined at the top of the standings by Michigan, which handled Illinois and Northwestern this week. The Wolverines have several capable components but are having trouble finding consistency. And after embarrassing losses to Georgetown and UCLA, few thought the first week of the conference season would be this easy for coach Tommy Amaker and company. They still need to find an identity, however, and players that will be dependable. The inconsistent production from Courtney Sims, Lester Abram and Dion Harris is frustrating. The three combined for 55 points against Illinois, but only 24 against Northwestern. They’ll have a week to prepare for a road game at Purdue.
Iowa is the remaining conference unbeaten, albeit 1-0, but even fewer expected the Hawkeyes to start the Big Ten season with a win. They held off Michigan State 62-60 Thursday night and were sparked by Cyrus Tate, who had his best game as a Hawkeye. The sophomore forward posted career bests of 14 points and nine rebounds to offset Adam Haluska’s 4-of-15 shooting. They’ll ride a four-game winning streak into Tuesday night, when they’ll welcome a hungry Illinois team to Carver Arena.
Kelvin Sampson got his first Big Ten win Sunday as Indiana trounced Michigan State 73-51. D.J. White played like Hoosier fans expected him to, scoring 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting. The home win was crucial for the team’s and fans’ mentalities, especially after playing Ohio State to the wire Tuesday night. The bottom line in the Big Ten is this: if you can’t win at home, you’re done. Indiana protected its home court, and has winnable games against Purdue, Penn State and Iowa on the horizon.
Purdue, Minnesota and Penn State all finished the first week 1-1, helping each other do so along the way. Minnesota opened their conference season with a 65-59 home win against the Boilermakers Wednesday night. Jamal Abu-Shamala hit three monster three-pointers down the stretch for the Gophers ,who were 8-of-10 combined from deep. The biggest dagger came when Lawrence McKenzie drained a deep pull-up as interim coach Jim Molinari yelled in protest. He managed to crack a smile as the shot dropped in.
Penn State began their Big Ten journey by crushing Northwestern 83-57. Danny Morrissey buried six of the Nittany Lions’ 10 three-pointers along the way. Geary Claxton needed to be nothing more than average – 15 points, six rebounds – to fend off the less-than-pesky Wilcats. Penn State and Purdue hooked up Saturday, with Purdue earning a four-point home win. Carl Landry continues to look unstoppable, scoring 24 points and getting to the line 15 times in the win. The Boilers survived a late Penn State charge and six more Morrissey three-pointers to hang on for the win. Minnesota would be thrilled with a .500 final conference record, while preseason expectations and early-season surprises would make an even mark a disappointment for both Purdue and Penn State.
The hottest Big Ten team early on was Illinois, but their soft schedule didn’t prepare them for conference play. Granted, it’s difficult to win on the road in the Big Ten, and few teams can play with Ohio State right now, but 0-2 is not the start Bruce Weber was hoping for. Who needs to step up? Brian Randle. The senior leader, who is still recovering from a groin injury, scored only five points in each of the week’s two losses. They won’t win if he can’t be a double-digit scorer. Of his 11 field goal attempts, five came from beyond the arc. Not a good sign. They’ll have a good shot at earning their first win Tuesday night against Iowa.
Another surprising 0-2 team is Tom Izzo’s Michigan State club, which lost by 22 to Indiana Sunday afternoon after falling earlier in the week to Iowa. Drew Neitzel continues to be the Spartans’ top scorer, and a second scoring option has yet to emerge. Goran Suton has shown flashes, but he isn’t the answer. Raymar Morgan could be the answer. He returned to action Sunday but scored only three points in limited action. The Spartans allowed more than 65 points (73 to the Hoosiers) for the first time this season and were out-rebounded. Add 20 turnovers to the mix and you’ve got a concerned Izzo.
And then there’s Northwestern. We’ve been here before, haven’t we? After a fairly promising non-conference finish, the Wildcats fell back to their usual spot: the Big Ten cellar. They were worked over this week by Penn State and Michigan, and it’s hard to see a win on the horizon. How’s this for an upcoming schedule: at Michigan State, home vs. Wisconsin, at Ohio State, at Minnesota, and Ohio State again. Not much to be excited about in Evanston right now.
