The Big Ten had a litany of games on Saturday, highlighted by a handful of marquee matchups for the league. The biggest was in Indianapolis, as Purdue and Auburn tangled.
Let’s take a look at what happened.
Game of the Night:
–No. 6 Purdue Boilermakers 88, No. 21 Auburn Tigers 60
The Boilers were favored heading into this one, but the team even outperformed those expectations, as Purdue scored a 28-point win over the Tigers. While the game was competitive in the first half, it turned into an absolute rout in the second half thanks to a quality defensive effort. Auburn finished with just 0.92 points per possession and never really got things going. Braden Smith led the way with 11 points and 14 assists. Trey Kaufman-Renn also had a nice performance with 18 points.
The win pushed Purdue to 11-1 overall and reaffirmed the Boilers’ position as a top contender in the league and nationally. Beating Auburn is one thing, but doing it by this kind of margin is going to turn some heads. It also continues a few encouraging trends for the team. To start, putting together three dominant wins after the Iowa State loss is a great sign. Great teams lose once in awhile, but they respond well. Purdue’s doing just that. Moreover, the team’s defense is starting to look much better, which is huge for March.
Purdue will now get a week off before returning to action against Kent State at home on December 29th. The Boilers should be solid favorites.
The Rest:
–Indiana Hoosiers 78, Chicago State Cougars 58
This game was over shortly after tip, as Indiana cruised to a 20-point win at home against a terrible Chicago State squad. Lamar Wilkerson led the way with 21 points, six assists, and four rebounds. The win pushed Indiana to 9-3 overall. The Hoosiers will return to action on Monday at home against Siena.
–Iowa Hawkeyes 94, Bucknell Bison 39
This wasn’t much of a game, as Iowa nearly scored a 60-point win over Bucknell in Des Moines. Tavion Banks led the way with 16 points and nine rebounds. Kael Combs also had 13 points. Iowa improved to 10-2 overall with the win. The Hawks will now prepare for UMass Lowell at home on December 29th.
–No. 23 Virginia Cavaliers 80, Maryland Terrapins 72
Maryland played better in this one than it did in its prior two outings, at least based on the final score, but it still wasn’t enough, as the Terps couldn’t secure a road win over a ranked Virginia squad. David Coit led the way in the effort, finishing with 15 points and six assists. Myles Rice also had 12 points.
The Terps fell to 6-6 overall with the loss. It was the team’s third straight loss and its fifth loss over the last six games. Unfortunately, it also means Maryland will enter 2026 with little on its resume. The Terps beat Marquette and UNLV, but neither is looking like a top 100 team right now. The team will try and bounce back in its next game at home against Old Dominion on December 28th.
-No. 9 Michigan State Spartans 79, Oakland Grizzlies 70
The Spartans entered this one as big favorites, but the team had to work for the win in the second half. The game was separated by just a single possession at halftime and was never really over until late. Coen Carr led the way with 22 points and seven rebounds. Carson Cooper also had 15 points.
Michigan State improved to 11-1 overall with the win. The team will now get a week off before returning to action on December 29th against Cornell at home. It’s expected to be a comfortable win for the Spartans.
–Butler Bulldogs 61, Northwestern Wildcats 58
This one looked relatively balanced heading into tip and played out that way, with the game going down to the final minutes. Notably, Nick Martinelli missed the game with a concussion, which very well could have been the difference in the game. Jayden Reid led the Wildcats with 14 points and six assists.
Northwestern fell to 7-5 overall with the loss. The team will now get a week off before returning to action on December 30th at home against Howard.
–No. 12 North Carolina Tar Heels 71, Ohio State Buckeyes 70
This figured to be an uphill battle for the Buckeyes, but the team came to play in this one in Atlanta, pushing things to the final seconds before the Tar Heels grabbed the win. While it took a comeback effort to get there, it was still a quality performance for Ohio State. Devil Royal led the way with 18 points and eight rebounds. However, Caleb Wilson proved to be too much, finishing with 20 points and 15 rebounds in the win.
The loss dropped Ohio State to 8-3 overall, as the team let a quality opportunity slip away. As a result, the team now remains winless against top 50 opponents. We’ll see if that can turn around next year when the Buckeyes reopen Big Ten play against Nebraska. The team will next return to action on Tuesday at home against Grambling State.
–Rutgers Scarlet Knights 70, Penn Quakers 69
This was a pretty rough one for the Scarlet Knights. While Rutgers got the win, it was by the narrowest of margins and took some late game heroics. Tariq Francis carried the team, finishing with 34 points in the near loss. The win left Rutgers sitting at 6-6 overall. The team will now prepare for Delaware State at home on December 29th.
