The Big Ten had three games on Saturday and one on Sunday. The best result of the weekend likely came from Northwestern.
Let’s take a look at what happened.
Game of the Night:
–Northwestern Wildcats 79, South Carolina Gamecocks 77
The Wildcats concluded their trip to West Virginia
on Sunday against South Carolina. It was a game with moderate pressure after Northwestern couldn’t pull off a win against Virginia on Friday. However, the team did just enough to avoid a late game collapse against the Gamecocks and scored a 79-77 victory. Nick Martinelli led the way with 25 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Max Green also had a great showing off the bench, finishing with 13 points in just 11 minutes of action.
The win pushed Northwestern to 5-1 overall. It was easily the team’s best victory of the season. While South Carolina isn’t expected to be a power, the Gamecocks entered the game in the top 90 on KenPom and project as a wildcard in this year’s SEC. It was also nice to get the bounce back win after falling short against Virginia on Friday. Good teams may drop games, but rarely multiple in a row.
Northwestern will now get a few days off before facing Oklahoma State in the United Center on Thanksgiving. It figures to be another resume-building opportunity for the Wildcats.
The Rest:
–No. 8 Illinois Fighting Illini 98, Long Island University Sharks 58
There isn’t much to take away from this one. Illinois entered as a substantial favorite and eventually cruised to a 40-point win at home against an overmatched LIU squad. Andrej Stojakovic led the way with 20 points and four rebounds. Keaton Wagler also had 19 points. The win pushed Illinois to 5-1 on the season. The team will prepare for another tuneup game against UT Rio Grande Valley at home on Monday.
–San Francisco Dons 77, Minnesota Golden Gophers 65
The Gophers haven’t looked great to start this season and that proved true in Saturday’s matchup against San Francisco as well. While Minnesota’s offense was generally effective enough to win, its defense had trouble slowing down the Dons, who finished at 1.22 points per possession. Big man Nehemiah Turner also only played nine minutes of action and Jaylen Crocker-Johnson was in major foul trouble, so that only made things harder on an already struggling Gopher squad.
Minnesota fell to 4-2 overall with the loss. If the team is going to turn things around and make something out of this season, it feels like that effort needs to come soon. Gopher fans will hope to see that when the team returns to action on Thursday in Palm Springs against Stanford.
–Providence Friars 77, Penn State Nittany Lions 65
This presented as Penn State’s toughest test of the season to date and it played out that way, as Penn State fell by 12 in Connecticut to what looked like a better Providence squad. Freddie Dilione V had a nice game with 22 points off the bench, but Penn State’s youthful lineup looked inexperienced. In fact, four of the five starters were held to single-digits and none had an offensive rating above 96. That isn’t going to cut it against real teams.
Penn State fell to 5-1 overall with the loss. The team will hope to bounce back at home against Boston University on Tuesday. KenPom has the Nittany Lions as big favorites.
