Well guys, here we are again, another insane week of Big Ten Basketball, am I right or am I right? I said in last week’s article that I thought last week was pretty crazy? Well, this week was in my opinion just as ridiculous, and some people may even say it was even crazier!!! Instead of sitting here typing words into my intro to make it longer, (I would never do that….okay, maybe I would) let’s get right to this week’s action and see what happened.
Games of the Week
Tuesday, February 7th
Since every team was off on Monday, both me and the teams got a little break. Getting back to work on Tuesday, there were only featured three featured games, but my god two of them fantastic! The first one wasn’t that big of an upset, but it was still a huge one if you see the two teams. The first game on Tuesday saw the Fighting Illini of Illinois visit their instate rivals, the Northwestern Wildcats, who are having one of their best seasons in program history. With little aside from in-state pride at stake for the Illini, the scales seemed poised to lean towards the Wildcats, who found themselves in striking distance of several program milestones. Instead, Illinois grabbed their first road win of the season, pulling out a late 68-61 victory over the swiftly stumbling Wildcats. Northwestern was led by Bryant McIntosh, who finished with 21 points, shot 40% from the field, and dished out four assists, but it wasn’t enough to get the win. Illinois was able to pull away late thanks to great play from senior guard Malcolm Hill who tallied 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 steals.
The next game was even better as it featured the #21 ranked team in the nation Maryland Terrapins visiting the always pesky Penn State Nittany Lions. This game saw Penn State’s star player Lamar Stevens completely take control of the game and never look back. Stevens scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half and helped PSU keep one of the B1G’s most lethal offenses out of sync all game. Maryland tried to climb back into the game and was led by Justin Jackson who recorded 14 points on 4-11 from the field and 9 rebounds, but came up just short. Penn State was able to pull off the upset and its fourth win over a Top 25 opponent since last February.
Wednesday, February 8th
The next game wasn’t nearly as good as the previous two I wrote about above but it was still a barn burner down to the final buzzer regardless! This matchup saw the Rutgers Scarlet Knights visit Columbus, Ohio and take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. Like I just stated all the way down to the final seconds this was a great game, at half time OSU was up 33-27 which saw both teams trade leads back and forth. But I will get right down to the heart and soul of where the game really turned, with about over a minute to go with the score tied 62-62, Kam Williams of the Buckeyes took a pass in the corner and drained a three and in the process got fouled and went to the line for the four-point play. He sunk the FT and put the Buckeyes up 66-62 and stole the momentum back from the Scarlet Knights, who had battled back from a 12-point deficit. Rutgers wouldn’t go away and scored a tip-in with 29 seconds left to cut the lead to two points at 66-64, but Rutgers ran out of time and had to start fouling, leading to a 70-64 victory for Ohio State. Rutgers was led by Corey Sanders who scored 17 points on 5-13 shooting and 4 assists as well as three other players scoring over 10 points. But Kam Williams of Ohio State was too much with his career high 23 points on 8-15 shooting, including 3-5 from three-point range, and three rebounds as well as big help from Trevor Thompson and his 15 points and 13 rebounds.
Thursday, February 9th
Just as there were two fantastic games on Tuesday, Wednesday followed suit with two more of its own. The first one was another in-state rivalry with the schools only being separated by a two-hour drive. The Indiana Hoosiers hosted the #16th ranked Purdue Boilermakers, looking to come away with an upset and put a dent into Purdue’s B1G title hopes. Indiana took a 36-32 lead into half time after a solid half of both offense and defense from both teams. But let’s cut right to the heart of the game and what happened. Indiana led 57-55 after Josh Newkirk’s 3-pointer with just under five minutes to go, but the Boilermakers retook the lead with six straight points , then making it 64-59 on a three-point play. Purdue was then able to seal it from the free-throw line for their third straight win. Indiana did everything they could, especially Thomas Bryant, who put in 23 points on 8-12 shooting, 3-4 from behind the arc, and three boards. Purdue’s Vince Edwards ended up being too much to handle with his 26 points, 8-11 shooting, 3-5 shooting, and 8 rebounds, as well as Caleb Swanigan, who added a solid 16 points and 14 boards, putting up yet another double-double.
The next game of the night was even better and saw the Cornhuskers of Nebraska hosting the Big Ten powerhouse and 7th ranked Wisconsin Badgers. This game was always back and forth from everything I saw of it and I loved every second of it. With just 9.5 seconds left, Nebraska was down by three and needed to get a shot off, nothing was happening as time was still winding down. Well, Nebraska’s Michael Jacobson got the pass, put up a high-arching three, and forced overtime with .1 left on the clock, tying the game at 58-all. Badger Nigel Hayes had only just made an awful four of his previous 20 3-point attempts, and, in fact, hadn’t even attempted one against Nebraska before his time came Thursday night, but, when it came down to it, Hayes hit the go-ahead 3 with 18.4 seconds left in OT and Ethan Happ blocked Tai Webster’s shot on Nebraska’s last shot, giving No. 7 Wisconsin a 70-69 victory. Nebraska was led by Tai Webster’s 19 points on 6-18 shots and Wisconsin was led by Mr. Clutch Nigel Hayes and his 20 points on 6-9 from the field and 1-1 from deep.
Sunday, February 12th
Next, we skip all the way to Sunday, where there was two games, with the best matchup coming between #7 Wisconsin (once again) at home and the Northwestern Wildcats, who were just coming off of a tough loss. The first half ended with the Wildcats leading 31-22 after almost a surprisingly dominant 20 minutes. The Badgers could only get as close as five points at 60-55 with about one minute left in the game, but Northwestern wouldn’t give up and never let them get any closer than that. The Badgers were led by Nigel Hayes with only 13 points on 5-11 shooting from the field with 7 rebounds, while star forward Ethan Happ was only held to 9 points. Northwestern was led by star guard Bryant McIntosh, who poured in 25 points on 10-23 shooting, 1-2 from three-point range, 7 boards, and 7 assists. In upsetting No. 7 Wisconsin 66-59 on last night, Northwestern secured an important win for the school’s bid to make its first-ever NCAA Tournament in program history.
Clutch Shot of the Week
This week clutch shot of the week goes to Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes who completely went full Kyrie Irving mode with this shot. With only 18 seconds left in their game against Nebraska, the Badgers were down two points 69-67 with both the shot clock and the time clock running out. Wisconsin needed to do something quickly so they looked to one of their many star players. Hayes got the pass at the top of the three-point line and immediately fired up his shot without any regret whatsoever in the defender’s face. He sank the shot so smoothly to put the Badgers up 70-69 and that shot eventually ended up being the game-winning shot, so well done Nigel!
Player of the Week
My pick for player of the week has to be Lamar Stevens of Penn State for both of his dominating performances this past week. His first game, against a very good (#21) Maryland team, Stevens dropped 25 points, going 8-13 from the field, 1-3 from behind the arc, 8-12 from the free throw line, 7 rebounds, and three steals in a very hard-fought upset victory over the Terrapins. In his next game against the Fighting Illini of Illinois, he put up 21 points, on 8-15 shooting, 1-2 from three-point range, 4-5 from the charity stripe, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in a solid win over the Illini. In three out of his past five games, Stevens has scored over 20 points. He is clearly emerging as their go-to player and a force in the B1G.
Game to Keep your Eyes On
Ohio State at Michigan State- Tuesday, February 14th
The main reason I put this as a game to watch is because the last time they played, Ohio State was able to squeak out with a 5 point win at 72-67. That game was in Columbus and Ohio State usually plays very well at home, but this time around is in East Lansing, so everyone knows that MSU will be out for revenge against the Buckeyes.
#23 Maryland at #11 Wisconsin- Sunday, February 19th
This game, if I had to predict it right now, will be a barn burner right down to the wire. Just from covering these teams before and watching them, I know it’s going to be a close one. Just four days before this showdown with the Badgers, Maryland has to go on the road to Northwestern, who won’t go down easy, and I wouldn’t be surprised if NW wins. So it’s possible that Maryland could be tired for their matchup with the Badgers. Meanwhile, Wisconsin has to go to Michigan before the Maryland game and play a disappointing Wolverines team, but it’s always tough to win on the road in college basketball. Both teams are going to be run-down going into the game, but it still should be a great one to watch.