The Big Ten picture became clearer over the last week as much of the conference participated in high-profile matchups. Illinois missed a chance for a big win at home, falling in overtime to the No.24 Arizona Wildcats.
The Michigan Wolverines became the second Big Ten team to get blown out in Cameron Indoor, finishing 28 points behind Duke. No Big Ten squad could manage more than one victory in the past week as Purdue lost in Missouri after beating Ball State, and Iowa failed to dominate its own state, following a win over Northern Iowa with a loss to Iowa State.
The Buckeyes struggled against 3-7 Coppin State, scoring only 47 points. OSU was outrebounded 29 to 19 despite facing a team whose tallest rotation player is 6’7’’. Kosta Koufos, the Buckeyes highly regarded 7-foot center, could not manage to grab a single board in 24 minutes.
Teams of the Week: Indiana and Michigan State
The Conference’s lone win over a ranked team came in Salt Lake City where the No. 10 Spartans staged a furious rally to knock off No. 22 Brigham Young. The Cougars beat Louisville earlier in the season and had a 14-point edge on MSU late in the first half.
Senior point guard Drew Neitzel tallied 13 second half points to lead his team back. The inside work of junior center Goran Suton and sophomore forward Raymar Morgan’s 17 points were also key in the Spartans’ 21 point swing that led to the 68-61 victory.
The Hoosiers continued Billy Gillispie’s first-season nightmare by defeating Kentucky by 19 points. The game saw a sibling rivalry, as Kentucky’s senior Joe Crawford faced his freshman brother Jordan, who was coming off a three-game suspension. Jordan doubled up his brother in points 20-10, and D.J. White chipped in 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Both MSU and Indiana are beginning to separate themselves from the rest of the conference. After those two, only one other team has fewer than two losses and three have records better than 5-3.
Player of the week:
Dan Coleman
Minnesota’s big forward came up big against Colorado State, pouring in 22 points and snagging 11 boards. He is leading the Gophers in scoring and rebounding. Tubby Smith’s squad is off to a surprising 6-1 start on the season and sits alone at third in the Big Ten.
Upcoming matchups
No. 20 Louisville at Purdue, Wisconsin at UW-Milwaukee
Rick Pitino’s Cardinals will be a tough opponent for a Boilermaker team that has yet to find itself a frontline scorer to replace the departed Carl Landry. Louisville is coming off of a five-point loss to Dayton, which knocked them down nine spots in the ESPN/USA Today poll.
The Badgers will get the chance to face another in-state rival, but not one quite as powerful as Marquette. The Panthers are reeling in Rob Jeter’s second season with a 3-6 record that includes a 35-point drubbing at the hands of those Golden Eagles.
