The Peacock strikes again! We heard outrage from across the sports universe when the NFL made its Dolphins vs. Chiefs Playoff game exclusively available on NBC’s streaming service. Now, something similar is happening in Big Ten Basketball, and the conference should be embarrassed that the top game on its regular season schedule won’t be in front of as many viewers as possible. Before the Big Ten’s new media rights deal that went into affect this fall, Purdue vs. Illinois on Tuesday night would be on ESPN where every fan knows how to find it, and it would have been promoted all day long on ESPN’s many programs. The new deal might work for football because the Big Ten doesn’t need ESPN when it has games on three major networks all day, but with basketball NBC has made Peacock part of the deal, and that is a nightmare for ratings.
The worst part is that we are over a month away from WrestleMania, so a fan would need to subscribe for two months in order to get Purdue vs. Illinois as well as the Showcase of the Immortals. At least with the NFL sham, the Royal Rumble was included in the price of the football game. As a wrestling and Big Ten fanatic, I’ve been watching on Peacock all season, but for fans who are just getting into college basketball now, the stream exclusive is going to be a major turnoff. They’ll likely just stick with ESPN for Alabama vs. Florida and Kansas State vs. Kansas.
Those who do invest in Peacock should get a great game. Purdue and Illinois met earlier in the season on January 5, and the Boilermakers led comfortably for much of the game on the way to a 83-78 win. However, not only was that game at Mackey Arena where Purdue never loses, but Illinois’ star guard Terrence Shannon Jr. was suspended due to sexual assault allegations. The Illini held Zach Edey to 10 points, but they were burned by Trey Kaufman-Renn, who erupted for 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting. It will be interesting to see if Illinois head coach Brad Underwood employs a similar strategy tonight since Kaufman-Renn hasn’t approached that kind of scoring output in the last two months and hasn’t even scored 10 points in his last six games.
With the game shifting to Champaign’s State Farm Center and Shannon playing some of his best basketball, the Illini are favored by two and a half. It will be the first time Purdue is an underdog in Big Ten play this season and the first time it is an underdog at all since its clash with Arizona back in December. Both teams are riding three-game winning streaks, but Illinois’ schedule has been a little tougher lately with a game at Wisconsin and another against a hot Iowa team at home. Plus, the Illini have scored at least 85 points in their last six games. With Shannon finding his three-point shot and Marcus Domask being a master technician in the paint, this is a team that can come at you from everywhere, and I didn’t even mention Coleman Hawkins’ range at center or the rebounding ability of Quincy Guerrier and Ty Rodgers.
In other words, Illinois won’t be the only defense with its hands full tonight. On the other end, Zach Edey has been unstoppable lately. In Purdue’s last game against Michigan State on Saturday night, Spartan big man Mady Sissoko accumulated four personal fouls in just six minutes. Michigan State threw a bunch of bodies at Edey, but he still scored 32 points on 9-for-15 field goal shooting and 14-for-20 free throw shooting. Edey is too big to keep him from getting into scoring range, but he can be forced into turnovers if he has to put the ball on the floor. Turning a few Edey turnovers into fast-break scoring opportunities will be key for Illinois tonight. Scoring in transition helped the Illini put away Wisconsin on Saturday when Justin Harmon blocked Chucky Hepburn’s shot in the paint in the final two minutes. That led to a fast break and a layup for Shannon to give Illinois a 10-point lead.
Here’s what else happened in the Big Ten over the weekend.
Penn State collapsed against Minnesota for the second time this season
As if one collapse against Minnesota was not enough, Penn State went up by a whopping 23 points in the first half in Minneapolis only to lose 75-70. Hot three-point shooting by Puff Johnson and Ace Baldwin Jr. helped the Lions gain the early edge, but the Gophers whittled the lead down by 12 by halftime and overtook Penn State thanks to some big shots by Cam Christie (19 points) and a key steal by Elijah Hawkins (18 points, 8 assists) down the stretch.
Iowa got another huge win at Northwestern
The Hawkeyes are binging on Quad 1 wins lately, and they might have won five games in a row if not for the awesome offensive performance by Illinois two Saturdays ago. Northwestern is still without Ryan Langborg, but it still shot 54 percent from the field and 10-for-20 from beyond the arc thanks to Boo Buie’s 27 points and 6-for-7 three-point performance. Buie hit some monster shots to keep the Wildcats in the game throughout the second half, but Iowa was just a little better the whole way. The Hawkeyes won 87-80 with 25 assists on 33 made baskets. Tony Perkins had 14 of those assists, while Josh Dix remains as hot as liquid magma with 24 points on 4-for-5 three-point shooting. Payton Sandfort had another well-rounded game with 23 points, five rebounds, and six assists. Iowa is still projected to miss the NCAA Tournament, but it can change that with a win in its final regular season game against Illinois on Sunday.
Indiana might be back after a big second half comeback at Maryland
If Iowa is the potential seventh Big Ten team in the NCAA Tournament, could Indiana be the eighth? Probably not, but its insane fans are starting to talk themselves into it now that Mike Woodson’s team has won two straight over Wisconsin and Maryland. The Terps got a rare balanced performance on offense with four players in double figures and 48-percent field goal shooting. They led by 10 at halftime and by as many as 16 in the second half, but the Hoosiers stormed past them and won 83-78 thanks to some solid point guard play by Xavier Johnson off the bench (13 points, six assists), and Mackenzie Mgbako exploding for 24 points on 4-for-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
With Johnson healthy, Mgbako playing like a seasoned veteran, and Ware and Reneau dominating the paint, it’s not crazy to think that Indiana could win its final two regular season games against Minnesota and Michigan State. If it does that, the Hoosiers will be a hot pick to make a run in the Big Ten Tournament next week.
Nebraska completes perfect Big Ten home slate and Ohio State gets revenge on Michigan
It was not surprising to see Ohio State blow out Michigan 84-61 on Sunday since the teams are headed in opposite directions. The Buckeyes might have to consider making Jake Diebler the full-time head coach with the way he has led this program after Chris Holtmann was fired, but I’m guessing Ohio State has bigger fish in mind. Meanwhile, the Wolverines have to figure out if Juwan Howard is the man to turn their mess around after a very disappointing campaign.
In the final game of the weekend, Nebraska took care of business against Rutgers 67-56. The Huskers are 10-0 at home in Big Ten play and 1-8 on the road. They have a great chance to get a second conference road win a trip to Ann Arbor this Sunday, but it will still be very interesting to see which Nebraska team we get when the Big Ten Tournament tips off in neutral site Minneapolis. The Huskers have lots of scoring and shooting depth, so if they can bottle up the Pinnacle Bank Arena vibes, they are another dark horse to watch this month.
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