Wisconsin is the only undefeated basketball team in the Big Ten

The other day I wondered if Wisconsin could build on its two impressive home wins that it opened the January portion of Big Ten play with. If the Badgers could beat Ohio State on the road, it would prove they have what it takes to compete for the Big Ten title. Well, what do you know? Greg Gard’s team came through for me and made me look like I know ball. I would later find out on Thursday night that I don’t really know ball, but I’ll take my wins where I can get them. Wisconsin and Ohio State went back and forth throughout the evening, but the Badgers pulled ahead at the end thanks to the unlikely heroics of Max Klesmit! He erupted for 18 points, all in the second half, and he helped Wisconsin close the game on a 19-4 run.

This is what happens when you have a team as deep and talented as Wisconsin’s. Your top players don’t need to be at their best all the time if you’re going to win. Just look at Maryland. If Jahmir Young doesn’t score 30 points every night, the Terps are going to lose (unless Donta Scott goes nuts like he did to kill my Michigan spread bet). With the Badgers, they don’t need Chucky Hepburn or Tyler Wahl to carry the load all the time. It’s okay that Steven Crowl is banged up with a knee contusion. Someone like Klesmit or Connor Essegian can take over for a while and lift the team to victory. By the way, shout out to Jamison Battle of Ohio State, who continues to be the hottest shooter in the conference. He went 4-for-5 from deep for 18 points in a losing effort.

Penn State is back to frustrating me

If Penn State is not overcoming double-digit second half deficits in the Big Ten, it is giving up double-digit second half leads. That is what it seems like these days. Both of our conference wins featured big comebacks, while the Maryland loss was painful because of how many chances Penn State had to put the Terps away. Now we get to the Northwestern loss. It was a game that Penn State needed to have if I was going to entertain the notion of a winning conference campaign. With Purdue coming up, the Lions are likely to be below .500 the rest of the way because they blew a 10-point lead in the second half. The Wildcats went on a 19-2 run that was mostly due to two themes.

First, Penn State could not hit a three-point shot all night. The team shot 3-for-17 from beyond the arc with two of the makes coming from D’Marco Dunn, who still does not play enough. He played 23 minutes, while Zach Hicks went 0-for-6 from deep in his 25 minutes. Those guys don’t play the same position, but Penn State should just go small since its defense stinks anyway. That brings us to the second reason for Northwestern’s run. Penn State cannot get a stop without a turnover. The Lions did a good job forcing 18 of them in this game, but they couldn’t stop the Wildcats from hitting 61 percent of their field goals. Boo Buie got wherever he wanted on the court, and when he was cut off, he found Ty Berry for a three-point shot or Brooks Barnhizer for a layup. The one good thing Penn State did was rebound the ball with 21 on defense compared to just two on offense for Northwestern. But it didn’t matter much when so many Northwestern shots were going in the bucket.

My Thursday night bets were a disaster

Michigan +6.5 and Illinois -3.5 each missed by half a point. And Michigan was leading for a good portion of the game while covering for the entire game until Maryland’s free throws in the final seconds. I found out before the game that Dug McDaniel had been suspended for the next six road games, but I still thought that the Wolverines would come through. It sure looked that way when Olivier Nkamhoua cut Michigan’s deficit to one with two and a half minutes left, but those were the last points his team would score and the Terps iced the game at the charity stripe.

I talk all the time about how Jahmir Young doesn’t get any help. Well, someone else finally stepped up while Young scored just 12 points on 3-for-11 shooting. Donta Scott scored 22 points with 20 of them coming the second half while Maryland outscored Michigan 43-24 to erase the 12-point lead that the Wolverines held at halftime. That is now two straight games in which Michigan has lost to one of the worst teams in the conference after leading by double digits at the half. It is a good thing that Michigan won that football title or its fans would be teetering on the edge of insanity. I am going to go out on a limb and say that McDaniel could have made a difference in this one since backup point guard Jaelin Llewellyn went 3-for-11 from the field with nine points while his backcourt mate Nimari Burnett was 2-for-9 with seven points.

The Michigan State vs. Illinois game was at least more entertaining. I was not counting on Michigan State playing so well on the road after it dropped its last two away games to Nebraska and Northwestern. Sparty still came up short in this one, but it looked more like an NCAA Tournament team this time around as it played with heart and fire throughout. A.J. Hoggard missed a three-point shot that could have tied the game in the final seconds, and then Jaden Akins grabbed the rebound and threw up a meaningless two-point shot so that Michigan State couldn’t foul one more time.

Oh, and right before Hoggard’s game-tying attempt, Illinois’ Luke Goode missed the front end of a one-and-one that would have covered the spread. Betting is fun. Also, it turns out that Michigan State is pretty good when Tyson Walker gets some support and doesn’t have to be Superman. Malik Hall in particular made some plays for the Spartans and finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds, and three assists after being a total no-show against Northwestern. Michigan State didn’t shoot the three well (5-for-19), and that turned out to be the difference in a game that went back and forth in the second half.

Illinois, meanwhile, got another Swiss Army Knife performance from Coleman Hawkins. He went 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked four shots. Hawkins is one of the most versatile players in the college game, and he’ll be at least a useful player in the NBA due to his wide variety of skills. I was also impressed by Ty Rodgers, who is perpetually invisible on offense. However, in this game he found his way into the paint and scored 15 points while carrying Illinois’ offense in the early going. This Illini squad is a force to be reckoned with and if Terrence Shannon Jr. ever has his suspension lifted, it could make a run for the national title.

2
0

0 Comments