Purdue finally wins at Rutgers and Michigan enters the abyss

Purdue vs. Rutgers was a great game to put on television before the football on Sunday. I figured it would be physical, intense, and have a final score that reminded me of a football score. That is just how Rutgers games at the arena formerly known as the RAC have been this season. The Scarlet Knights have one of the worst offenses and best defenses in Division I, and when they play at home, they tend to drag opponents down to their level. I knew that Rutgers +10.5 was a lock, but I couldn’t make money off of it because New Jersey is a fascist state that doesn’t allow citizens to bet on colleges within the state.

It also didn’t hurt that Purdue had lost three in a row at Rutgers and that Jersey Mike’s Arena was the only Big Ten venue in which Zach Edey had never won a game. Sure enough, even though Rutgers fell behind by 13 points at halftime, it clawed back to within two points thanks to some key buckets by freshmen Gavin Griffiths and Jamichael Davis. The Boilers had the answer each time and never surrendered the lead with Braden Smith scoring 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting to support Zach Edey’s 26 points and 12 rebounds. The Knights as usual did not shoot the ball very well, but they grabbed 15 offensive rebounds (Purdue only had six even though Edey had five himself) and might have pulled off the upset if not for a terrific defensive effort from Lance Jones. He only scored four points on 1-for-10 shooting, but he gave Rutgers’ guards fits and his five steals accounted for half of Rutgers’ 10 turnovers.

Purdue held on to win 68-60 with Rutgers covering the spread just like I foresaw. Please change the law, New Jersey.

Michigan keeps sinking

Now let’s talk about all the things I was wrong about this weekend. I really thought the Wolverines would get a home win over Iowa since they already won in Iowa City this season. Well, the game was close throughout, but Payton Sandfort picked a great time to pull out of his scoring slump and he helped the Hawkeyes pull away in the final 10 minutes. Sandfort was red hot from beyond the arc, and he finished with 26 points on 10-for-14 shooting. Iowa needs more games like that from him if it is going to make an NCAA Tournament push. Tony Perkins is upholding his end of the bargain with a third straight 20-point game. Michigan got balanced scoring with four starters in double figures, but its suspect defense let it down again. This is a nightmare season for Michigan and the schedule is not getting any easier up ahead.

Iowa, on the other hand, has a great chance to make a run with its next four games against Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, and Minnesota. Those might be the four worst teams in the league besides Michigan right now. If Iowa can get Sandfort and Ben Krikke going on offense alongside Perkins, Fran McCaffery’s team has a big chance to rack up some dubs.

Penn State and Ohio State are also trash

I was perplexed at the line of the Ohio State vs. Northwestern game with the Wildcats only being favored by three and a half. Northwestern was playing good ball, particularly at home, while Ohio State’s only wins this month were against Penn State and Rutgers in Columbus. The Buckeyes hadn’t won a road game all season and they still haven’t won a road game all season since Northwestern boat-raced them and cashed the easiest bet of the year. The game was never in question as the Wildcats clicked on offense with Boo Buie going for his typical 19 points, five rebounds, and five assists while Nick Martinelli and Luke Hunger combined for 23 points off the bench. Marcus Thornton and Roddy Gayle Jr. were fine for Ohio State, but this team is not very scary when Jamison Battle isn’t knocking down triples, and he has hit a dry spell recently. Battle has fewer than two three-point shots made in three of his last four games after hitting at least four of them in five straight games. I don’t think Ohio State is as hopeless as Michigan, but the Buckeyes obviously have to start winning game soon to get in the bubble conversation. Tonight against Illinois would be a great start.

Speaking of hopeless, Penn State lost to Minnesota in State College after leading by 14 at halftime. It did not even take the Gophers long to get back into the game, as they opened the second half on a 25-7 run that lasted seven minutes. Penn State’s defense has been horrible all season long, and it is very hard for this team to get stops when the opponent takes care of the ball. Minnesota had lost four straight coming in, but Dawson Garcia decided it was time for the steak to end and Penn State could do anything about it. Garcia had one of his best shooting nights of the season and scored 22 points in the 83-74 Minnesota win. A great first half should have been the start of a fun evening, but Penn State came out flat after the break and I am left wondering how many wins are left on the schedule.

Maryland finally gets some bench scoring

All season we’ve talked about how Maryland stinks because it has no shooting and no depth. Against Nebraska on Saturday, the Terps got both of those things and came away with a big blowout win. Jamie Kaiser Jr. and Jahari Long combined for 25 points and 7-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc with most of it coming in Maryland’s explosive 44-point first half. The Terps led by 17 points at the break despite falling behind 12-2 in the first four minutes. Yeah, my Nebraska +5.5 pick was looking pretty good until Maryland completely ran away with the game with a 16-2 run in the last seven minutes of the first half. The Cornhuskers still haven’t won a Big Ten road game and they aren’t going to get one if their entire starting lineup is held under 10 points like it was in College Park.

Indiana falls short of a major upset

You have to hand it to Indiana. It looked like Illinois was going to pull away when it rallied to take an eight-point lead on Coleman Hawkins’ layup in the final minute of the first half. Even without Kel’el Ware, who was out with an ankle injury, the Hoosiers battled the heavily favored Illini all the way through. It looked like Indiana might get out of Champaign with a win when Mackenzie Mgbako knocked down a 17-foot jumper to tie the score at 62-62 with 1:29 to play, but Illinois closed out the game with six Terrence Shannon Jr. free throws and a clutch runner by Justin Harmon to win 70-62.

Indiana got a nice 14-point performance from the inconsistent Xavier Johnson and Malik Reneau was nearly unstoppable in the post with 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting. The Hoosiers probably would have won this game if not for their 0-for-9 three-point shooting and dreadful 12-for-22 free throw showing. If this season wasn’t already frustrating enough for Indiana fans, this game probably sent them over the edge. Indiana isn’t the worst team in the Big Ten, but it is for sure the most disappointing. Maybe if Ware gets healthy, Mike Woodson’s team can turn the season around, but it has got to start with a win over Iowa at home.

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