By its own lofty standards, the Big Ten has had a rather lousy basketball season. It’s hard to have much sympathy for a conference that practically prints money-and there are about 26 conferences that would love to have the problem of having possibly ‘only’ four NCAA bids-but one supposes the league deserved a night like Thursday for its troubles this year.
On the same night, the conference furnished a pair of games that might go down among the more memorable ones of all this season. One was not surprising, as Purdue and Michigan played their second ultra-competitive game this season and the Boilermakers trimmed the Maize and Blue 92-88 in another close one. The other definitely was, as Penn State earned a major road win at the buzzer at Ohio State 82-79.
Purdue won its 16th straight game, tying a school record set three times before (including the first time way back from 1902-04, so long ago that it took a couple seasons to play 16 games). It was hardly easy, though, as the host Boilermakers needed a quick 9-0 run late in the second half to gain the upper hand, then needed to continue to answer every Michigan threat in the final minutes.
The Boilermakers and Wolverines couldn’t miss, with both shooting better than 60% and also becoming the latest two teams to expose the college three-point distance as a farce, with both hitting better than 55% from beyond the arc and combining for 24 triples. (It becomes more obvious by the day that the line needs to be backed up several feet, unless people want hand-checking on the perimeter brought back). The game was such that Purdue had more assists (22) than rebounds (21). In the end, Vincent Edwards (30 points) and Isaac Haas (24) outdueled Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman (career-best 26), though the Wolverines no doubt earned some believers with their showing.
Penn State had Ohio State on the ropes for most of the second half in Columbus, but it appeared the Buckeyes just might escape and keep its perfect Big Ten record alive when Keita Bates-Diop hit a tying three-pointer with five seconds left. The Nittany Lions had the final word, though, as Tony Carr banked home a leaning 40-footer at the buzzer, getting PSU up to 14-8 overall and 4-5 in the Big Ten.
Carr scored a game-high 28 and is one of the most talented players-if relatively unknown-in the conference. As a team, though, Penn State has been something of a puzzle, oft struggling to win close games. In fact, before the season many might’ve picked the Nittany Lions as a better candidate to be this year’s Ohio State than the Buckeyes themselves. This result, at least, shows there’s still time for PSU to heat up yet.
Side Dishes:
- Arizona got all it could handle from Colorado again but held off the Buffaloes 80-71 in Tucson. Allonzo Trier (23) and DeAndre Ayton (20) combined for 43 points. The Wildcats finished with a 23-8 advantage in free throws, and they took ample advantage of the advantage, hitting 22 of 23 at the line.
- Also in the Pac-12, Utah won at Arizona State 80-77 in overtime. The Sun Devils have definitively cooled off from the floor and shot just 40% again in this one. That’s five conference losses already for ASU, and this looks like a much different team from the one that starting the season blazing.
- Saint Mary’s stretched it out a bit late to defeat BYU 75-62, tying a school record with its 15th straight victory. As we say our prayers at night, we’re thankful for Jock Landale keeping good old-fashioned low post play in style and providing the antidote to the ‘positionless’ buzzword. He continues to be terrific on a nightly basis-32 points, 14 rebounds in this one, and this time completely outplaying Yoeli Childs (14 points, one rebound, five fouls).
- Wichita State got back on track with an 81-62 win over Tacko Fall-less Central Florida. Gregg Marshall shuffled his lineup and the reserves outscored the starters-a total of 50 points, led by Shaq Morris with 19 points and six boards off the bench.
- Just when one wanted to write off Connecticut, the Huskies struck with a 63-52 win at home over SMU. UConn held the Mustangs to just four points over a nearly eight-minute span late in the game, rebounding nicely after a blowout loss to Villanova last weekend. For SMU, this one hurts the postseason hopes, and almost everyone struggled other than Shake Milton (18 points) and Jimmy Whitt (14).
- Montana continues to cruise in the Big Sky. The Grizzlies drilled Southern Utah 71-47, holding the Thunderbirds to 30.6% shooting in running their record to 8-0 in conference. Also in the Big Sky, Eastern Washington handled North Dakota 95-71 and Bogdan Bliznyuk became the all-time leading scorer in EWU history with his first three-pointer of the game, breaking the record of 1,803 points set three years earlier by the fantastically named Venky Jois. Bliznyuk is now at 1,830 points, and before Jois the record of 1,741 points by Ron Cox had stood for 38 years.
- Louisiana-Lafayette continued to roll with a 76-57 roll past South Alabama. The Ragin’ Cajuns have won eight straight since a loss at Clemson. Malik Marquetti scored 21 and Bryce Washington furnished a classic single-double: eight points, 16 rebounds.
- It was a wild night in the Colonial Athletic Association. Among the happenings: Northeastern is in first place at the halfway point. The unselfish Huskies won at Hofstra 81-67 with five players scoring in double figures, as Bill Coen is doing another terrific job again. Which should be a surprise to no one.
- Towson knocked William & Mary out of a tie for first with a 96-82 overtime win at home. The Tigers fought back from a 10-point halftime deficit and got 35 points from Zane Martin, outdueling Justin Pierce’s 27 points and 14 rebounds in defeat for the Tribe.
- Also, a pair of otherwise CAA benign games had some special individual performances. Drexel edged Elon 83-79 as Tremaine Isabell scored 40 points for the winners. It is the first time in 30 years a Dragons player scored 40 or more, since the great Michael Anderson did it in 1988. UNC Wilmington also topped James Madison 71-68 behind Devontae Cacok with 26 points and almost as many rebounds-24.
- Late in the night, UC Santa Barbara rallied from 14 points down for a big road win in the Big West, sneaking past Cal State Fullerton 70-65. The Gauchos continue to climb back up the conference standings after a pair of one-point losses early in league play. And this is one fun league this year.
Tonight’s Menu:
- The night on TV starts early with a happy hour contest from good ol’ Loretto, Pa., as Wagner plays at St. Francis (Pa.) in the Northeast Conference (5 p.m. Eastern, ESPNU). These two played three outstanding games last year, including one of the best conference tourney games you didn’t see when the Red Flash nipped the Seahawks on the road with a buzzer-beater in the NEC semis. Wagner is co-leader in the NEC, St. Francis just one game back. Highly recommend this one.
- Buffalo looks to keep rolling in the MAC when it takes on Ohio (6:30 p.m., CBSSN). The Bobcats are struggling this year but are stubborn enough to pull off an upset.
- Ancient rivals in the Ivy League meet for the 199th time as Harvard goes to Yale. Both have been somewhat disappointing this year but are still positioned to contend for the Ivy title.
- Rider is just a half game out of first in the Metro Atlantic and gets a TV showcase when it hosts St. Peter’s (7 p.m., ESPNU) in an all-New Jersey game and one featuring the pick-it-up Broncs and the slow-it-down Peacocks.
- In many years, Wisconsin at Michigan State would be a big game (8 p.m., FS1). This year, many will just hope the Badgers can hang around, keep within single digits and maybe put a scare into the Spartans late.
- Important game in the Horizon as Oakland is at co-leader Northern Kentucky (9 p.m., ESPNU). This is OU’s chance to get back in the league race, but the Norse already beat the Golden Grizzlies once on the road.
Have a superb Friday and a great weekend.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
Email: [email protected]
