12/29 Big Ten men’s basketball preview: Utah at Washington

Nine Big Ten teams are in action on Monday, but only one plays a fellow high-major. Here’s what to know about the slate.

Summarized by AI ⓘ

What is the story about?

With the holidays in the rearview mirror, the college basketball season is getting ramped back up. Kinda.

Just about every “big” non-conference game is in the past for everyone’s favorite conference. The only thing that lays between the bulk of the Big Ten and conference play is a slew of buy games that offer their own complications should any of them result in losses.

Let’s talk about it:

Utah Utes at Washington Huskies

Time/TV channel: 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PST on FS1
KenPom spread: Huskies by 8

Let’s play a guessing game: as of today, how many games is this Utah team projected to win in the Big 12, per KenPom?

Any guesses?

The answer: one. Against Colorado. And by 1 point.

Anyway, the Utes play some pretty solid offense but it’s bogged down by the face that the defense is, uhhhh, no good. They allow a lot of attempts from the 3-point line and plenty of passing. There’s no pressure in Salt Lake City.

Lucky for them, this Washington team has no real interest in taking 3s. The Huskies’ offense is fine and actually ranks in higher than Utah’s but yeah, no 3s. It’s like Mike Woodson never left the Big Ten. But the defense is good enough.

Washington should win. If it doesn’t? Uh.

Southern Jaguars at No. 20 Illinois Fighting Illini

Time/TV channel: 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT on BTN
KenPom spread: Illini by 28

This Southern team… doesn’t do anything well. Among those things is guarding the 3-point line, which Illinois loves to hang around.

I’d like to go longer on this but, truly, we know how these games typically go. Illinois excels at winning buy games by incredible margins and I expect that to remain true here.

UMass Lowell River Hawks at No. 25 Iowa Hawkeyes

Time/TV channel: 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT on BTN
KenPom spread: Hawkeyes by 28

Like Southern, UMass Lowell also doesn’t do anything particularly well and the defense is particularly poor.

That shouldn’t hold up against Iowa and Bennett Stirtz. At all.

McNeese Cowboys at No. 2 Michigan Wolverines

Time/TV channel: 7 p.m. ET on B1G+
KenPom spread: Wolverines by 21

McNeese has looked pretty good even after Will Wade left to take the NC State job. The Cowboys’ new head coach, Bill Armstrong, had a lengthy career as an SEC assistant including under Wade at LSU before working on Scott Drew’s Baylor staff. That brought him to Lake Charles.

The Cowboys lean a bit more defensive and force more turnovers than anyone else nationally, with a rate of 25.8%. They guard the rim exceptionally but are a bit susceptible to 3-point shooting.

Unfortunately for them, they are facing the best team in the country. There isn’t anything Michigan doesn’t do well and it’s a shame this game, which could be interesting, is on a streaming service. But I can’t pick against the Wolverines here.

Kent State Golden Flashes at No. 5 Purdue Boilermakers

Time/TV channel: 7 p.m. ET on B1G+
KenPom spread: Boilers by 23

Kent State actually went on a little 9-game winning streak before managing to lose to Portland. Somehow. The Golden Flashes then beat UMass which, uh, welcome to the MAC I guess.

The Flashes lean offensive, which I think hurts them here. Purdue can match that bucket for bucket, you aren’t gonna out-offense the Boilers. Kent State also does a poor job around the 3-point line defensively, which leaves Purdue the opportunity to get hot from distance.

Cornell Big Red at No. 9 Michigan State Spartans

Time/TV channel: 7 p.m. ET on FS1
KenPom spread: Spartans by 22

This one could get weird.

Cornell takes over half of their shots from the 3-point line and are hitting over 40% as a team. The problem? The defense is horrid, ranking wayyyy toward the bottom of the country. If Cornell gets hot? This gets interesting. If not? This gets pretty bad.

Delaware State Hornets at Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Time/TV channel: 7 p.m. ET on BTN
KenPom spread: Scarlet Knights by 17

Delaware State has a pretty poor offense, one of the least efficient in the country. This has to be a get-right opportunity for Rutgers, sinking ever lower in KenPom at 6-6 on the season.