Big Ten Basketball: Week in Review 01/14/2010

The Big Ten is one of the most fiercely competed Conferences in College Basketball, every year there are multiple teams representing the Conference in March Madness keeping the Conference’s history of excellence. This article will give a weekly roundup of all the action and major stories surrounding the Big Ten Conference on a week-by-week basis, but first let’s analyze each team’s performance so far this season with the NCAA tournament just two months away.

Michigan State 14-3 (4-0 in Conference) AP Ranking #7

Coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans have picked up where they left off after reaching the final of last year’s tournament. Michigan State has lost just three times and is undefeated in the Conference; they rely on a strong board presence from a tall line-up and offensive contribution from a number of sources. Kalin Lucas is enjoying another excellent season averaging 15.5 PPG and 3.9 assists; Lucas is also a strong defensive presence. Durrell Summers has arguably been the disappointment of this roster, it was hoped that Summers would take a step forward this season, but he averages just 10.4 PPG and less than one APG.

The Spartans are virtually a certainty to make the March Madness tournament in two months time, but their development between now and then will be crucial to their success. It should be noted they are 1-2 against AP top 25 opponents losing to both Texas and North Carolina; Izzo will be looking for his team to dominate in the season’s second half, starting with a key fixture against Illinois this Saturday.

Illinois 12-5 (4-0)

The Fighting Illini have already given their fans a fair share of drama, eight of the team’s last 13 games have been decided by six points or less, including two overtime games. Illinois have also had to manufacture two second half comeback performances in their last two games to stay undefeated in the Big Ten. There is a lot of youth on this roster; they are led by two juniors with Demetri McCamey at guard and Mike Tisdale at center. Freshman Brandon Paul at guard has been a little disappointing after an excellent start, but he definitely has the potential to get on a role and finish the season strongly.

Coach Bruce Weber has the right to feel a little frustrated with his talented, but inconsistent young roster. However, these are expected growing pains for a relatively young line-up, the fact is that Illinois are in position to make an NCAA tournament bid, and depending upon their development in the second half, might even be able to cause an upset or two.

Wisconsin 14-3 (4-1) AP Ranking #13

The Badgers are a dangerous team and should not be taken lightly by anyone. They already have wins over Duke, Maryland, Arizona, Ohio State and Purdue, and they will be in the running for the Big Ten championship. Defeat to Michigan State is the only blemish on a 4-1 Conference record with Tevon Hughes and Jon Leuer leading the team with 15.8 and 15.4 PPG respectively. Sophomore guard Jordan Taylor is another player to keep an eye on; Taylor has seen increasing minutes as the season has gone on and he has averaged 12 PPG in his last seven games as opposed to his 9.3 season average.

Wisconsin are definitely a team to keep an eye on as the season progresses, they have the potential to challenge Michigan State for the Big Ten title and are also virtually a certainty to make the NCAA tournament. It should be noted that while an impressive 10-0 at home, the Badgers are a much less impressive 4-3 on the road, including a shock defeat against in-state rivals Green Bay.

Minnesota 12-5 (3-2)

The Golden Gophers are enjoying a pretty good season though recent defeats to Michigan State and Purdue illustrated the difference in quality between Minnesota and the best in the Big Ten. A talented guard duo in Blake Hoffarber and Lawrence Westbrook has been the key to the team’s success, but Hoffarber in particular has struggled to matchup against some of the Conference’s better defensive players. Potential for improvement in Minnesota may come in the form of their center position, sophomores Ralph Sampson III and Colton Iverson have been sharing time, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if Coach Tubby Smith fed one of the sophomores more playing time as the season progresses.

Minnesota is still very much in the hunt to make a NCAA tournament bid, but it will take a strong showing in the Big Ten over the next two months. Michigan State visits Minnesota for a re-match on Saturday 23 rd January, the Golden Gophers will be desperate for a measure of revenge and it could be crucial to their position in the standings.

Purdue 14-2 (2-2) AP Ranking #6

It feels strange to be talking about the Boilermakers as being placed fifth in the Big Ten Conference and currently on a two-game losing streak after their impressive 14-0 start. Purdue had set a school record with 14 straight victories, but Coach Matt Painter and his team must re-group after disappointing defeats to Wisconsin and Ohio State. The talent on this team is unquestionable with Robbie Hummel, JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore making for a formidable trio. There is a question mark over the depth scoring on this team though and the lack of a strong inside presence beyond Johnson.

Purdue’s bad run will probably end on Saturday afternoon against Northwestern, and they will be a dangerous team all season long with a combination of upper end offensive talent and a well-organised team defense. The Boilermakers should be in the Big Ten title race all season long with the key game possibly being a visit to Michigan State on February 9 th.

Michigan 8-7 (2-2)

An amazing 10 members of Michigan’s 14-man roster are sophomores and freshman; realistically their inconsistency should therefore not be a surprise. Junior guard Manny Harris has not quite lived up to expectations in leading this team despite some useful numbers averaging 19.7 PPG and 4.7 APG; he is also second on the team with 6.9 rebounds per game. Senior forward DeShawn Sims has also posted up some good numbers with 17.3 PPG and 7.0 RPG. There is no doubting that there is talent on this roster, but there is a danger that their inexperience could hamper them as they try and live up to a good second round performance in March Madness last year.

The Wolverines have already suffered defeats at the hands of Indiana and Northwestern in Big Ten play. They desperately need to pick up their play if they want to return to the NCAA tournament, starting with two tough road games against Wisconsin and Purdue next week.

Ohio State 12-5 (2-3)

The Buckeyes have been a tricky team to work out so far this season, so far in the Big Ten Conference, they have suffered disappointing losses against Michigan and Minnesota, but they also secured an impressive upset on the road against #6 ranked Purdue. Evan Turner’s return from injury has undoubtedly been a boost, Turner notched up 32 points against Purdue. Turner is one of the most talented scorers in the Big Ten and leads Ohio State in points, rebounds and assists among other categories.

The Buckeyes have had a poor start to Conference play, but if Turner can stay healthy then they do have the depth to compete with any team in the Big Ten. They have been a hard team to project so far this season, but a matchup at home against Wisconsin on Saturday should be an intriguing one.

Indiana 7-8 (1-2)

Freshmen Christian Watford, Maurice Creek and sophomore Verdell Jones III lead this inexperienced Hoosiers squad. Realistically their 7-8 record is a fair representation of their experience, even though they are talented. Creek leads the team with 16.4 PPG, Jones averages 13.1 PPG and Watford contributes 5.5 RPG to go with 12.6 PPG. Bad news did hit the team two weeks ago when it was announced that Creek is likely to miss the rest of the season due to injury, Creek will almost certainly make it to the NBA one day and had been a positive note for Indiana this season.

So long as he can avoid further injuries, Creek should be a stud for the Hoosiers for years to come. This is very much a team in re-development, as their young players gain experience they could enjoy better results in the second half of the Big Ten schedule, but an NCAA tournament appearance is probably unlikely this year.

Northwestern 12-4 (1-3)

After reeling off nine straight wins, Northwestern has hit somewhat of a wall in Big Ten Conference play. Losses to Illinois, Michigan State and Wisconsin have only strengthened the doubts over whether the Wildcats can keep up with the best in the Conference. Nevertheless, they are still enjoying a strong season in terms of their overall record and still have plenty of time to turn things around in the Big Ten. Rebounding has been the team’s biggest problem in their losses against higher-ranked opposition, and the team probably doesn’t have the tools to rectify this weakness other than ensuring that they bring a maximum compete level. Freshman Drew Crawford has been very impressive and has been earning playing time. Freshman typically experience ups and downs during the course of a season, but Crawford has shown improvement reaching double digits in points in seven of his last nine games, he reached that mark only once in his first seven.

Northwestern will once again be vying for a low-seeding NCAA tournament appearance. The Wildcats will be disappointed with their showings against the ‘better’ teams so far, games against Purdue and Ohio State this week will be a good test of this team’s character.

Penn State 8-8 (0-4)

The Nittany Lions were only just edged out 54-53 by Illinois in their most recent game, but still remain winless in the Big Ten. They surrendered a 16-point first half lead in their previous contest against Michigan and it is fair to say that this season just hasn’t quite got rolling for this Penn State team without a senior on it. Taylor Battle leads the team with 17.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 3.6 APG, but it is obvious that Penn State simply relies upon him too much against better opposition with better teams able to shut the talented junior down.

Penn State are not likely to figure in too heavily on the action in the Big Ten this season, but don’t rule out their ability to cause an upset. Experience will make this team stronger and by March the Nittany Lions may just be a pretty tough game. Their next game against Iowa is an ideal opportunity to get their first win in the Big Ten this season.

Iowa 6-11 (0-4)

The Hawkeyes are struggling and it’s hard to see a way out of it for them this season. They managed to break a four-game losing streak with a tight win over a 4-11 Tennessee State squad. This is an extremely young roster and like many young rosters in the NCAA, their lack of experience is hurting them. Matt Gatens leads the team with 12.8 PPG; however there is a real lack of scoring throughout this line-up, which is not helped by some mediocre rebounding probably due to inexperience on the inside.

This is not likely to be Iowa’s season and a last-place finish in the Big Ten is very possible, their upcoming fixture against Penn State will an opportunity to help avoid that dubious honour, but Hawkeye fans may need to wait for a couple of seasons before their team is ready to seriously compete.

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