THIS IS A WEEKLY BIG TEN PLAYER OF THE YEAR WATCH, by Luke Maiers.

What did we learn in the Big Ten this week? Iowa can win convincingly without Peter Jok, Melo Trimble and Maryland are running away with the conference, and maybe Indiana isn’t as good as everyone thought early on in the season. It’s been an interesting journey through the Big Ten so far this year, so let’s see who is in the top five this week.

Watch List:

5. Peter Jok- Jok was sidelined on Saturday against Ohio State, and something really showed in that game for this young Iowa team. They can win without their All Big Ten player. With that being said, this team will need Jok’s offensive production back as they have a tough stretch of games to end the season.

4. Thomas Bryant- Talk about a miserable week if you are a Hoosier. IU dropped their only two games this week and they weren’t even really close. Bryant performed alright in these two games, but he struggled mightily on the glass. If Indiana wants to have a good post season push, Bryant will have to defend and rebound better.

3. Melo Trimble- Talk about an impressive week. On Tuesday Trimble had 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, but how does he follow that performance? By almost dropping a triple-double on Sunday at Minnesota. Maryland is off to their best start in a real long time, and both the Terrapins and Trimble are under appreciated nationally.

2. Ethan Haap- Wisconsin had one good performance this week and one bad performance, but they both resulted in wins. One consistent in those two wins was Haap. On Saturday, Haap had 32 points and 3 assists which means that he accounted for 62% of the Badgers’ total offense in that game. And considering everyone else on the team decided to take the day off, his presence was huge.

1. Caleb Swanigan– Nothing to see here aside from the two more double-doubles Swanigan threw up this week. That makes it 18 on the season and the efficien cy he is doing this with is unreal. He makes his free throws and jump shots at a high percentage, and his level of improvement from last season is really big. Swanigan is still number one, but there are some serious contenders chasing him.

Banging Team Performance of the Week:

The Michigan Wolverines get the selection this week for their performance over the Hoosiers on Thursday. Michigan shot 63% from the field and 55% from deep. Some nights it is just impossible to stop a team who is banging threes at will. All that you can do is just shrug your shoulders and keep playing defense. You can’t stop someone when they have hit a different level.