Purdue’s top competition and the Big Ten’s most electric player

The Big Ten is a grind and almost every team will have its ups and downs. Just look and what happened in the Big Ten over the weekend. Purdue got a big win over Illinois, one of its top competitors for the conference title. Based on how the Boilers responded to that loss at Northwestern in January, I thought it was fair to wonder if Matt Painter’s team would lose another game this season. That was stupid. Purdue got hammered by Nebraska on Tuesday, and just a couple of days earlier, the Huskers were humbled by Wisconsin. I should really start to take into account that even the best teams are vulnerable on the road and even the worst teams (not Nebraska, who is looking like an NCAA Tournament team; I’m talking about someone else…) can topple giants at home. The same was apparent in the other Tuesday game with Indiana fresh off a big win over Ohio State in Bloomington and Rutgers reeling from getting crushed by Iowa. So what happened? With the game in Piscataway, Rutgers easily handled Indiana. Here is what else we learned about the Big Ten since last Friday, besides the fact that home court is important.

Austin Williams will be an important factor for Rutgers going forward

Offense is a major issue for Rutgers. Steve Pikiell has relied on stifling defense to win games since arriving in New Jersey seven years ago, but this season getting stops is especially important because the Scarlet Knights are one of the worst shooting teams in the country. Even in the win over Indiana on Tuesday night, Rutgers only shot 32 percent from the field and 23 percent from three-point range. You can play elite defense and still lose by a dozen if you shoot the ball like that. It turned out that the Hoosiers were even more incompetent with 18 turnovers and an unbelievable performance from the free throw line that saw them go 4-for-15. That is so bad that a random fan from the stands could have easily done better.

Anyway, Williams is an experienced guard who played two seasons at Marist and two at Hartford before this year. He has played sparingly for Rutgers, but over the last two games, he has been featured more and has given the team a lift by shooting 11-for-17 with 24 points. He’s not a superstar by any means, but someone needs to score consistently for the Knights, and fans have to be sick of seeing Noah Fernandes disappear in every other game while Derek Simpson chucks up shots that go “clank.”

Wisconsin looks like Purdue’s top competitor with Connor Essegian back in the fold

I might as well talk about Wisconsin now since I just talked about how the Big Ten makes teams look so different depending on whether they are playing at home and on the road. Well, the Badgers have won four straight with all those coming in the Kohl Center. Plus, the last time they played on the road, they were spanked by Arizona 98-73 on December 9. Wisconsin also was crushed at Providence back in November. However, Wisconsin did win its one Big Ten road game at Michigan State, so maybe there is hope that this team can give Purdue a run for its money. It helps that the Badgers are 3-0 in the league after stomping Nebraska over the weekend.

Another boost that Wisconsin gets is Connor Essegian, who was a big weapon last season when he scored 11.7 points per game as a freshman. This season, Essegian has barely played because of a back injury, but during the win over Nebraska, he finally looked like his old self with 12 points off the bench in just 12 minutes. The Badgers were doing fine with Essegian thanks to their usual efficient offense and stingy defense that doesn’t give away offensive rebounds. Plus, head coach Greg Gard brought back a ton of talent from a team that just missed the NCAA Tournament in 2023. With Essegian healthy again, Wisconsin can compete for the Big Ten Championship. Now please don’t lose to Ohio State tonight and make me look like an idiot.

Xavier Johnson coming back from injury is huge for Indiana

This Indiana team is way too talented to be on the NCAA Tournament bubble, but that’s where it is right now. That horrendous performance at Rutgers isn’t going to help matters, but the Hoosiers got a nice win at home against Ohio State on Saturday night, and there are plenty of opportunities to rack up wins. I think the return of Xavier Johnson from a foot injury will help a lot. He is a sixth-year super senior who Indiana does not have a legitimate replacement for at point guard. When Johnson missed all of December with the injury, Indiana was blown out by Auburn in Atlanta and dropped a close home game to Kansas that could have really boosted the IU resume. To Indiana’s credit, it won its two Big Ten games without Johnson, but those were against Michigan and Maryland, and we are about to talk about how much they suck.

Johnson looked very rusty in his return to action at Nebraska in a game that the Hoosiers lost, but against Ohio State, he was a major factor with 18 points while knocking down both of his three-point attempts and going 8-for-11 from the free throw line. That is the kind of production that Indiana needs from Johnson and if he plays like that, IU could jump into the upper tier of the league. Unfortunately, during the Rutgers game, Johnson had five turnovers compared to just two points and he got ejected for grabbing an opponent’s ball sack. Indiana fans would like to see more of the good Johnson during crucial upcoming home games against Minnesota and Purdue.

Michigan and Maryland will battle for who is the biggest disappointment in the Big Ten

Oh boy do these guys stink. I really thought Michigan was going to get hot in January with a favorable schedule, but instead it lost to Minnesota at home and to my Nittany Lions in Philadelphia. Michigan’s offense is very good thanks to Olivier Nkamhoua (“Cum-Hwah”) and his ability to stretch out the defense while scoring from multiple spots. Point guard Dug McDaniel has looked like a star at times, but he has not shot the ball well lately and has totaled just 20 points in Michigan’s last two games. The Wolverines also need to stop turning the ball over. They did so 19 times against Penn State and that helped them blow a 10-point halftime lead to a team they are more talented than. Michigan also turned the ball over 15 times in a surprising home loss to McNeese State while only forcing the Cowboys into four turnovers. Losing the turnover battle by 10 or more makes it hard to win games. It’s science.

If Michigan can get its head out of its ass, maybe it can earn a much-needed road win against Maryland this Thursday night. The Terps have a better record than Michigan, but at least Michigan can say it beat somebody. All of Maryland’s nine wins come against teams outside of the KenPom top 100, and only Penn State and UCLA are inside the top 200. Back in December, the road win over UCLA looked pretty decent, but the Bruins are playing like garbage with seven losses in their last eight.

Maryland’ defense has been good this year, and it held Purdue and Minnesota under 70 points, but the Terps have been shooting like Rutgers, and that should not happen when you have someone like Julian Reese who can score close to the basket. When Reese isn’t scoring his points in the post, way too much falls on the shoulders of Jahmir Young. That was apparent in the Purdue game, when Young scored 26 points, but that turned out to be just under half of Maryland’s total because Reese got shut out. The Terps had a chance to get right against Minnesota, and they led 29-22 at halftime, but 17 turnovers and a poor shooting night from Young (5-for-17) wasted solid effort from Reese and Donta Scott, who both scored 14 points. The Gophers won 65-62.

Keisei Tominaga is the Big Ten’s most electric player

Speaking of Minnesota, and before I get to Tominaga, let’s give a shout out to Elijah Hawkins, who has come out of nowhere to be one of the top point guards in the Big Ten. And by “come out of nowhere,” I mean he transferred from Howard, so that is almost literally accurate. You’d think that Hawkins would take some time to adjust to the higher level of play, but he has looked like a Big Ten veteran by the way he sees the court and knows when to call his own number. Hawkins is second in the country with 7.8 assists per game, and he totaled 16 assists in recent wins over Michigan and Maryland. Plus, he’s connecting on 39 percent of his three-point shots, so opponents cannot just stand back and cover the passing lanes. Minnesota’s non-conference schedule was super soft, but with Hawkins and Dawson Garcia, this team has the talent to make a run towards the NCAA Tournament.

Now it is time to acknowledge the real king of the Big Ten. Keisei Tominaga has unlimited range and he showed on Tuesday night against Purdue that it doesn’t matter if you get a hand in his face. The man is just a walking and talking bucket who you have to base your whole defense around. In three Big Ten games since the calendar turned, Tominaga has totaled 64 points while shooting 12-for-25 from beyond the arc. Nebraska did not do much during non-conference play to build a resume, but it already has wins over Michigan State and Purdue at home, and that is enough to put it in the NCAA Tournament conversation. Now we get to see if Tominaga can hit daggers with opposing fans screaming at him because his next two games are at Iowa and at Rutgers. I would love to see the guy become a massive heel by celebrating in road arenas like he did against Purdue in Lincoln.

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