The Big Ten had one its best slates of the season over the weekend, with multiple ranked matchups, challenging road games for conference favorites, and intriguing non-con battles. It ended with some incredible results from top to bottom.
Let’s take a look at what happened.
Game of the Night:
–No. 23 Nebraska Cornhuskers 83, No. 13 Illinois Fighting Illini 80
In many ways, this projected as the most consequential game of the day and it played out that way, with Nebraska going into Champaign and shocking Illinois. While the Huskers entered the matchup with an unblemished 10-0 record, most thought
it was a bit of a mirage against a weak schedule and Illinois would come out on top, especially at home.
Those projections proved false.
Nebraska not only won the game, but controlled it for most of the afternoon. The Huskers jumped out to a double-digit lead early on and Illinois was the team playing catchup. The star of the show was Pryce Sandfort, who finished with 32 points and a 158 offensive rating. Rienk Mast also had another quality performance with 17 points and seven rebounds. The Huskers finished with a blistering 1.32 points per possession.
The win pushed Nebraska to 11-0 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play. At this point, the Huskers have to be viewed as a legitimate contender in the league and for much more than just a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Following Saturday’s win, Nebraska now has seven wins against top 125 opponents, six against top 80 teams, three against top 50 teams, and a road win at a top 15 opponent in Illinois. That’s an incredible resume through just 11 games and more than enough to get the Huskers in the national conversation.
For Illinois, Saturday will sting, but there’s nothing to panic about. The team lost a competitive game at home against a quality opponent. Fans were certainly hoping for more through 11 games, but an 8-3 start is nothing to overlook, especially with one of the nation’s tougher slates.
Nebraska improved to 11-0 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play with the win, while Illinois fell to 8-3 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play with the loss. The Huskers will now prepare for North Dakota at home next Sunday. Illinois will get Missouri in St. Louis on December 22nd.
The Rest:
–Kentucky Wildcats 72, Indiana Hoosiers 60
Hoosier fans have waited years for this game. Unfortunately, after Saturday’s result, they might be regretting their wish to see this series resumed, or at least a little bit. While Indiana had a better start than it did against Louisville a week earlier, the result was roughly the same, with the Hoosiers falling short by double-digits at the final buzzer. Indiana’s offense limped to just 0.90 points per possession in the loss and nobody had a great night outside of Lamar Wilkerson, who finished with 15 points.
Indiana fell to 8-3 overall with the loss. The team will now get a week off before facing Chicago State at home on Saturday.
–Iowa Hawkeyes 91, Western Michigan Broncos 51
There wasn’t much carryover from Iowa’s hard fought loss to Iowa State on Thursday, as the Hawks cruised to an easy win over Western Michigan on Sunday. Bennett Stirtz led the way with 13 points and six assists. Alvaro Folgueiras also had 13 points off the bench. The win pushed Iowa to 9-2 overall. The team will return to action on Saturday in Des Moines against Bucknell.
–No. 2 Michigan Wolverines 101, Maryland Terrapins 83
For about a half, it looked like somebody might be able to push the Wolverines. David Coit was red hot en route to 31 points on the night and Maryland was red hot from three-point range. However, Michigan turned up the heat in the second half and eventually grabbed an 18-point road win. Yaxel Lendeborg impressed in the win, finishing with 29 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. The Wolverines also finished with a ridiculous 1.44 points per possession.
Michigan improved to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play with the win, while Maryland fell to 6-5 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play with the loss. The Wolverines will now be off until Sunday, when they return to action at home against La Salle. Maryland will get Virginia on the road on Saturday.
–No. 9 Michigan State Spartans 76, Penn State Nittany Lions 72
This was a sneaky good game on Saturday that easily could have gone either way in the closing minutes. Fortunately for Spartan fans, Michigan State got just enough from Divine Ugochukwu to get the win, as the guard finished with 23 points. Penn State got a great bench game from Freddie Dilione. It just wasn’t enough thanks to a lackluster performance from much of the starting lineup.
Michigan State improved to 9-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play with the win, while Penn State fell to 8-3 overall and 0-2 in Big Ten play with the loss. The Spartans will now prepare for Toledo at home on Tuesday. Penn State will get Pitt on Sunday in Hershey, which should be a fun rivalry matchup.
–Minnesota Golden Gophers 89, Texas Southern Tigers 53
The Gophers bounced back after the team’s loss to Purdue earlier in the week by taking care of business against Texas Southern on Sunday. Cade Tyson led the way with 38 points and 11 rebounds. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson also had 14 points. The win pushed Minnesota to 6-5 overall. The team will now prepare for Campbell at home on Sunday.
–Northwestern Wildcats 93, Jackson State Tigers 53
The Wildcats cruised to an easy win in this one. Nick Martinelli led the way with 22 points and faive rebounds. Angelo Ciaravino also had 13 points. The win pushed Northwestern to 6-4 overall. The team will now prepare for Valparaiso at home on Tuesday.
–Ohio State Buckeyes 89, West Virginia Mountaineers 88 (2OT)
What a game. While most projections thought this would be a close one, it surpassed even those expectations, as the game went to double overtime before the Buckeyes pulled out a win. Bruce Thornton led the way in the game, finishing with 21 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Amare Bynum also had a great showing off the bench with 17 points and eight rebounds.
The win pushed Ohio State to 8-2 overall. The team will now prepare for another marquee neutral site game next Saturday against North Carolina.
–Oregon Ducks 104, UC Davis Aggies 62
UC Davis actually entered this one with a respectable profile for a mid-major team, but found themselves on the short end of an absolutely blowout, as Oregon rolled. Jackson Shelstad led the way with 21 points, nine assists, and four rebounds. The win pushed Oregon to 5-5 overall. The Ducks will now prepare for Portland at home on Wednesday.
–No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers 79, Marquette Golden Eagles 59
After last week’s loss to Iowa State, Boilermaker fans were wondering what version of Purdue fans would get to see in this one. Fortunately, Purdue showed up and cruised to a 20-point win at home. Oscar Cluff led the way with 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Boilers improved to 10-1 overall with the win. The team will now prepare for a massive showdown with Auburn in Indy on Saturday.
–Seton Hall Musketeers 81, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 59
Scarlet Knight fans were hoping for a December surprise for the team in this one. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, as Rutgers got run off the court on the road against rival Seton Hall. While freshman Harun Zrno finished with 15 points, the team limped to just 0.87 points per possession. The loss dropped Rutgers to 5-6 overall. At this point, the season’s on life support.
–No. 8 Gonzaga Bulldogs 82, No. 25 UCLA Bruins 72
The Bruins have been all over the place so far this season, playing up and down to competition at a varying clip. The good news is UCLA largely played “up” on Saturday. The bad news is that it still wasn’t enough against a loaded Gonzaga squad. The game was competitive into the second half thanks to 24 points from Tyler Bilodeau, but UCLA’s defense simply couldn’t get enough stops. The Bruins fell to 7-3 overall with the loss. The team will now prepare for Arizona State at home on Wednesday.
–USC Trojans 68, Washington State Cougars 61
USC challenged itself on Sunday against former Pac 12 foe Washington State. And while the Cougars aren’t a great team, they’re competent and put up a fight against the Trojans. USC controlled for the afternoon, but it was definitely competitive in the closing 10 minutes of action. Ultimately, Jacob Cofie was too much for the Cougars, as he finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Chad Baker-Mazara also had 19 points.
USC improved to 10-1 overall with the win. The team will return to action on Wednesday at home against UTSA. Expect a blowout win.
–Washington Huskies 105, Southern Utah Thunderbirds 69
There isn’t much to be said about this one — Washington hosted a terrible mid-major team and rolled it at home. Hannes Steinbach led the way with 14 points, six rebounds, and three assists. The win pushed Washington to 7-3 overall. The Huskies will now prepare for Seattle on Friday.
