Ryan Dunn in the RTC correspondent for the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Current Standings

1. Campbell (12-5 A-Sun, 17-9)
2. Belmont (12-5 A-Sun, 17-10)
3. Jacksonville (12-5 A-Sun, 16-10)
4. Lipscomb (11-6 A-Sun, 14-12)
5. East Tennessee State (10-6 A-Sun, 14-13)
6. Mercer (10-7 A-Sun, 14-13)
7. North Florida (7-10 A-Sun, 12-15)
8. Kennesaw State (7-10 A-Sun, 12-16)
9. USC Upstate (5-12 A-Sun, 5-21)
10. Florida Gulf Coast (4-14 A-Sun, 7-20)
11. Stetson (4-14 A-Sun, 6-21)

Team News 

• Campbell has now won five straight and is closing a four-game homestand tonight against ETSU.  It is the final home game of the season and should be an electrifying atmosphere with it being Jonathan Rodriguez’s final career game in Buies Creek.  I expect the Camels to play with intensity and passion to finish out with a huge home win.  The Camels close the year at Jacksonville and at North Florida.
• Belmont continues to play well and they certainly have a scheduling advantage over the other top teams in the league.  The Bruins just defeated lowly Stetson last night and they travel to a struggling Florida Gulf Coast team tomorrow.  The Bruins close the season at home against Mercer and Kennesaw State.
• Jacksonville has gotten back on track with three straight victories after losing two straight before that.  They earned a nice road victory against Kennesaw State last night.  However, they still have games at Mercer, at home against Campbell, and at home against ETSU.  That will certainly be a tough test for the Dolphins down the stretch.  
• Lipscomb fell out of the top spot last week when they were knocked off by USC Upstate on the road.  Lipscomb is a tough team to figure out as they are perhaps the most talented team in the league with the best big man (Adnan Hodzic) and in my opinion the best combo guard (Josh Slater).  Lipscomb goes to Stetson before hosting Kennesaw State and Mercer to close out the year.
• East Tennessee State has a huge game tonight at Campbell with a chance to move right back in the mix at the top of the league.  After the trip to Campbell they host USC Upstate before traveling to North Florida and to Jacksonville.  They must win out to have a chance at a regular season title.
• Mercer is trying to move up in the league standings because they do have an advantage in that they are hosting the A-Sun tournament on their home floor.  The talent is certainly there with James Florence and company but the Bears have been a streaky team throughout the year.  However, they have an extremely tough three-game stretch to close the year as they host Jacksonville and travel to Belmont and Lipscomb.
• North Florida has been a pesky team all season long under new head coach Matthew Driscoll.  The Ospreys are still looking to improve their seed for the upcoming tournament.  They travel to Kennesaw State before hosting ETSU and Campbell. 
• Kennesaw State is a young and talented basketball team, but they are a team that looks to be running out of gas.  The Owls can still improve their seed against UNF, Belmont and Lipscomb.
• USC Upstate has been known to pull some upsets in conference play.  The Spartans just defeated Lipscomb last week and will be looking to win a couple more to end the season on a high note.  USC Upstate plays ETSU, FGCU, and Stetson to close the season and winning two of three is certainly possible.
• FGCU has fallen on hard times as they have dropped their last seven contests.  The Eagles will look to at least get a win down the stretch with games against Belmont and USC Upstate.
• Stetson has lost three straight and have struggled throughout the season though they have had some injury troubles.  The Hatters take on Lipscomb and USC Upstate to close out the season.

Key Upcoming Games

• ETSU @ Campbell (2/19) – Senior night for four Campbell seniors including all-everything Jonathan Rodriguez.  It should be a very good atmosphere and will be a battle between two good teams.
• Mercer @ Belmont (2/25) – If the Bruins win this game they have a great chance to win the A-Sun regular season crown.  Belmont controls the tiebreaker with Campbell.
• Campbell @ Jacksonville (2/25) – A battle with two teams at the top of the league standings.  The game could mean one team winning the league and one falling out of the top three.
• ETSU @ Jacksonville (2/27) – Both teams with tough tests to finish the year.  It could be a battle for first place by that point.

We know that Kentucky crossed the finish line first in the quest to reach the 2,000-win plateau back on December 21st, but the race for second has become pretty tight, as well.  Kansas started the season in third position in total wins with 1,970 victories and have added 25 so far this season.  North Carolina started the season with 1,984 wins, just four behind Kentucky, but have only added 14 this year.  We’re fairly sure you’ve already done the math on this, but we’ll go ahead and tell you that the score going into this weekend currently stands at UNC with 1,998 and Kansas with 1,995.

Each team’s remaining regular season games are as follows:

No, Coach W. You only need two.

North Carolina

• Tomorrow 2/20 @ Boston College
• Wednesday 2/24 vs Florida State
• Saturday 2/27 @ Wake Forest
• Tuesday 3/2 vs Miami (FL)
• Saturday 3/6 @ Duke

It's now down to five, Coach.

Kansas

• Tomorrow 2/20 vs Colorado
• Monday 2/22 vs Oklahoma
• Saturday 2/27 @ Oklahoma State
• Wednesday 3/3 vs Kansas State
• Saturday 3/6 @ Missouri

It’s true that the Duke/North Carolina rivalry produces amazing games no matter what the teams are ranked, but one would have to admit that UNC’s chances in Cameron Indoor in the regular season finale is not likely to work out for them, so that leaves four games to win two.  KenPom has a grim outlook for the Tar Heels, though.  His calculations predict that UNC will win only that game against Miami on 3/2 and finish the regular season with 1,999 wins, meaning that they’d have to pick up a game in the ACC Tournament to get to 2,000 victories this season.

Whether they’re second or third, Kansas has the chance for a truly memorable close to the regular season, as you can see.  If they win out — and that’s even tougher than it looks, with that schedule — they’d be celebrating win #2,000 in that final game against Missouri.  KenPom’s Kansas page predicts the Jayhawks will win all five of them, with their toughest challenge obviously coming in the last game (predicted 63% chance of winning) against Missouri.  What a wave of momentum to launch Kansas into the post-season, though, if they can pull it off:  the #1 ranking, a win on senior night against rival K-State, and then the program’s 2,000th win to finish it against another huge rival at Missouri.

Both programs have some bigger issues on their minds right now, but what do you think?  Kentucky’s already taken the Win, but as far as the the Place and Show positions in the Race For 2,000 — will Kansas win five games before North Carolina wins two?

We’ve had this idea banging around in the cobwebs of the dome for some time now, but it really hit home for us last week.  On an evening where most of the nation was still snowed in and wanting something good to watch on television besides the Olympic Opening Ceremony FAIL (seriously, how long can you enjoy the procession of competing nations before losing interest around Finland?), we were treated to what might have been the absolute best college basketball game of the entire season:  A triple-overtime thriller between Pitt and West Virginia in the return game of their bitter Backyard Brawl rivalry.  It was 55 minutes of pulsating basketball with more swings than a John Mark Karr fantasy camp.  And yet, all we could keep thinking was…  why don’t we get this pleasure every Friday night?

More of These Games on Friday Night, Please.

Tonight, as part of Bracketbusters, we’ll get another interesting game between #24 Northern Iowa and Old Dominion on ESPN2, but in general Friday night college basketball after conference play begins is a vast wasteland relegated to the Ivy League, Big Sky, MAAC and a few others, with hardly any televised presence to speak of.  When you consider that on an average Saturday during league play, there are over 140 games with more than two dozen televised in some national platform, wouldn’t it make a teeny bit of sense to put a couple of those marquee matchups on one of the ESPNs each Friday night?  So with a tip of the hat to ESPN programming director Dave Brown, here’s our case for Friday Night Hoops.

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As the season winds closer to a conclusion and Selection Sunday approaches, a bracket snapshot each Monday just doesn’t quite seem adequate. From now until the end of the year, we’ll be providing a Friday seed update that outlines where each team inside and just outside the field of 65 currently stands along with reasoning why certain teams changed seed number since the previous Monday. Enjoy our first edition:

(Note: each of the four teams in one seed grouping is listed in pecking order in terms of who is closer to moving up a seed line. This is used to determine game location and matchups similar to Joe Lunardi’s S-Curve listing).

#1 Seeds: Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, Purdue

#2 Seeds: Villanova, Duke, Kansas State, West Virginia

#3 Seeds: Michigan State, Georgetown, New Mexico, Vanderbilt

#4 Seeds: Pittsburgh, Ohio State, Wisconsin, BYU

#5 Seeds: Temple, Gonzaga, Wake Forest, Texas A&M

#6 Seeds: Tennessee, Texas, Baylor, Butler

#7 Seeds: Northern Iowa, Richmond, Xavier, UNLV

#8 Seeds: Maryland, Missouri, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech

#9 Seeds: Florida State, Old Dominion, Illinois, Dayton

#10 Seeds: Clemson, California, Siena, Louisville

#11 Seeds: UTEP, Rhode Island, UAB, Oklahoma State

#12 Seeds: Marquette, Utah State, Cornell, Florida

#13 Seeds: Charlotte, Northeastern, Kent State, Murray State

#14 Seeds: Oakland, Sam Houston State, Weber State, Charleston

#15 Seeds: Morgan State, North Texas, Belmont, UC-Santa Barbara

#16 Seeds: Coastal Carolina, Robert Morris, Stony Brook, Lehigh, Jackson State

Last Four In: Charlotte, Florida, Marquette, Oklahoma State

Last Four Out: Saint Mary’s, South Florida, Mississippi State, San Diego State

Next Four Out: Cincinnati, Mississippi, Connecticut, William & Mary

Bids per conference: ACC (7), Big 12 (7), Big East (7), Atlantic 10 (6), SEC (4), Big 10 (5), MWC (3), Conference USA (2), CAA (2).

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RTC Live is back for a rare Friday night edition. Normally we “take the night off” given the relatively light slate, but tonight is a special occasion. Tonight the unofficial playoff for the Ivy League title and first official NCAA tournament bid commences when Cornell travels to Cambridge, MA to take on Harvard.

When these two teams met on January 30th, it was one of the most highly anticipated Ivy League match-ups in years. Cornell came in 17-3 having won 15 of 16 with its only losses coming against Seton Hall (10 points) and on the road against a pair of top-5 foes in Syracuse(15 points) and Kansas (5 points). Harvard came in 14-3 having won 7 straight with its only losses coming on the road against Army (3 points), UConn(6 points), and Georgetown (16 points). Many were expecting one of best games of the season featuring a match-up of Ivy League Player of the Year favorites Ryan Wittman and Jeremy Lin. Wittman and the Big Red lived up to their billing, but Lin and the Crimson apparently forgot to bring their game with them to Ithaca as they were embarrassed 86-50 while Lin managed to outscore Wittman (19-11), but committed a season-high 8 turnovers (of the team’s 25) with only 1 assist. With Wittman having a relatively quiet game the Big Red were led by seven-foot senior center Jeff Foote, who had 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocks. Following the blowout, it appeared as if the two teams were headed in opposite directions as the Crimson lost their next game to a surprisingly good Princeton team before bouncing back with 3 straight wins. The Big Red appeared poised to run the table in the Ivy League before stumbling in a shocking loss at Penn before bouncing back to win a hard-fought game at Princeton the following night. All this left the Ivy League with 3 teams sitting near the top of the conference: Cornell at 7-1, Princeton at 6-1, and Harvard at 6-2. The game is being billed as the biggest in the history of Harvard basketball (please, no snickering) and the athletic department is going to try to use a “Fade to Black” theme where the fans wear white shirts in the first half then taking them off to reveal black shirts in the second half [Ed. Note: Another benefit is layering for the New England winter night.] while the audio system will play Jay Z’s “Run This Town” and AC/DC’s “Back in Black” before the start of the 2nd half when the fans will reveal their black shirts in an attempt to throw off the Big Red (who happened to almost win at Kansas, which we think would be slightly more daunting than the visual “hallucination” of having the fans in the stands change their shirts from white to black at halftime).

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1. The twitterati was abuzz yesterday with the discovery of UNC forward Ed Davis’ name and photo as a client on a sports agent’s website.  The site is down now, but  Sports Agent Blog captured a screenshot and PTA Sports Management has given a statement to reporters that suggests there may have been some contact with the player at some point in time, but that this whole thing was a “mistake.”   Color us extremely cynical, but we think we all know what happened here.  And when we find out next month that Davis is submitting his name to the NBA Draft, it’ll make sense.  But one quick retort before it even gets started…  if Davis signs with another agent, it doesn’t at all prove that there were no illegal contacts here.  All it proves is that Davis has enough sense to fire an agent who could be so ridiculously stupid as to put his name and face on their website before he’s formally made the decision.
2. UCLA’s James Keefe will have shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the season, effectively rendering the senior’s career over.  He only averaged 2/2 throughout the course of his career, but Howland was enamored with his defense and toughness, so he played in 111 games in his Bruin tenure.
3. Seth Davis gives us his weekly mailbag, and he devotes more than a third of it to questions about the ACC.  We have to agree that one thing that really ticks us off about modern-day conferences is the loss of round-robin schedules, but that’s unfortunately true for every major conference except the Pac-10 (oops, we said major conferences, didn’t we) these days.
4. Answer: USC’s hearing in front of the NCAA Infractions Committee that took place yesterday.  Question: things that are more pleasant than what Tiger Woods will do in front of the world later this morning.
5. Gregg Marshall of Wichita State can get a little testy at times, and this video where he attacks local reporter Bob Lutz for putting “negativity” in the minds of some Shocker fans is a joy to watch.  The video is below, and you can read Lutz’s original article here and his retort here.  Justified?

Orange Sweep. #5 Syracuse 75, #10 Georgetown 71.  Syracuse looked like a Final Four contender for the first 28 minutes last night. Their zone was impenetrable, their offense efficient and unselfish. Behind big first halves from Andy Rautins and Wes Johnson, the Cuse was able to build a 44-31 halftime lead, a lead they pushed to 23 points midway through the second half. But the Hoyas weren’t about to go away. As the Orange got complacent, the Hoyas started forcing turnovers and getting to the rim. Greg Monroe really began to assert himself in the paint, almost singlehandedly fouling out both Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku. All told, the Hoyas put a 33-11 run on Syracuse, cutting that 23-point lead all the way down to 71-70 with possession of the ball.  But on the one and only possession that Georgetown had with a chance to take the lead, the Hoyas settled for a deep, albeit open, three from Jason Clark, which he clanged off the front of the rim. At the other end, Kris Joseph took advantage of a mismatch, taking Greg Monroe to the hole to score with just nine seconds left for a three-point lead. The Orange fouled, Georgetown missed  a free throw, and Andy Rautins sealed it.  Rautins was the high scorer for the game, finishing with 26 points on 6-11 shooting while knocking down five triples. Wes Johnson had 14 of his 16 points in the first half. But perhaps the most important offensive performance came from Joseph. Joseph had been struggling all game long, but in the final two minutes, he got to the rim three times, twice scoring and the third time drawing a foul. It was his ability to take advantage of a mismatch that kept the Orange ahead late.  Chris Wright, Austin Freeman, and Greg Monroe all went for at least 20, but there was no balance to the Hoya attack. Those three and Jason Clark scored all but two of Georgetown’s 71 points. The Hoyas have now dropped two in a row and four of seven. With a tough final four games (@ Louisville, ND, @ WVU, Cincy), the Hoyas will need some serious help if they want to snag one of the double-byes in the Big East tournament.

Ghosts of LMU Past.  Loyola Marymount 74, #9 Gonzaga 66.  The biggest upset by far tonight brought back shades of Hank Gathers, Bo Kimble, and yes, RTC favorite Jeff Fryer, as the LMU Lions did the unthinkable and defeated Gonzaga for their second WCC loss of the year.  It was the first Loyola win over a ranked team in two decades, harkening back to the LMU teams of yesteryear.  Tonight, though, instead of Gathers/Kimble/Fryer, it was Ashley Hamilton (17/6), Drew Viney (16/10/5 assts) and Kevin Young (11/5) leading the way.  The Lion defense frustrated the Zags into 35% shooting as a team, and held Matt Bouldin and Steven Gray to a miserable 7-26 night.  For the second time in a month, Gonzaga was shocked on the road by a vastly inferior team in terms of talent on the floor, and we’re wondering if these Zags are prone to losing focus.  Otherwise, how else to explain commanding wins vs. better teams at Memphis, St. Mary’s and Portland in the same time period?  One odd situation that came from this otherwise-huge win for the LMU program involved head coach Max Good and his sophomore forward Young.  At one point the two traded words and reports from the game suggest that Good placed his hand on Young’s neck.  When asked afterward if he had choked Young, he stated that he was merely trying to calm down an emotional player.  One thing is for certain, though.  His team didn’t choke — and the phalanx of students who RTC’d immediately following the buzzer verified it (send us a pic, LMU fans!) (thanks!).

LMU Fans RTC With Gusto (AP)

Leuer’s Return Unlucky. Minnesota 68, #15 Wisconsin 52.  Minnesota has had a disappointing season with all their off-court controversy and inability to win on the road, but if they plan on putting that behind them and getting back to the NCAA Tournament this year, tonight was an excellent start.  The Gophers used a solid performance from Blake Hoffarber (16/9), Ralph Sampson III (10/8) and Devoe Joseph (10/5/5 assts) to shut down everyone but the two UW stars Trevon Hughes (19/4 stls) and Jason Bohannon (18/3).  Jon Leuer made his return from injury tonight but he was clearly off his game, shooting 2-12 from the field for four points.  The Gophers have five games remaining (three at home), and you have to figure they need to win all of those.  It’ll be the two road games — at Illinois and at Michigan — that could determine how this season will end up for Minnesota.  The Badgers, of course, are safely in the Tourney, but their Big Ten regular season title chances took a huge shot with their fifth loss tonight.

The Last Winless Team. Bryant 53, Wagner 51.  Bryant became the last Division I team in America to win a game in the 2009-10 season with their two late FTs to beat Wagner tonight, a mere 366 days after the school’s last win.  Even with a 1-26 record, Bryant isn’t the worst team in the nation, according to Ken Pomeroy’s statistical profiles… they’re 346th of 347 teams.  The only team lower?  1-25 Alcorn State.

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RTC Live is back at the Verizon Center again to bring you coverage of another dandy in the Big East as Syracuse heads south to take on the Hoyas in what might be the Big East’s best rivalry.

Georgetown has been wildly inconsistent this season, mixing big wins over Villanova and Duke with losses to South Florida, Cincinnati, and Rutgers. Syracuse has been a conundrum of late as well, as they have struggled against teams like DePaul and Cincinnati before finally dropping a game to Louisville at home last week. The issue for Georgetown has been leadership. They don’t have a true point guard. Chris Wright has been great at times this season, but he is a scoring point guard. He’s not the kind of player that is going to take control of a team when they are struggling. As a result, when the Hoyas get behind, their offense as a tendency to devolve into players going 1-on-1, which is not their strength. They are at their best when they run that Princeton system and take the open looks they get off of it. Syracuse, on the other hand, has just been off their game. The Orange are not a great half court team offensively. They don’t have many great scorers. They are at their best when they can force turnovers and get easy shots in transition on a secondary break. They have great passers and great decision makers when the numbers are in their advantage.  Georgetown got smacked by Syracuse last month at the Carrier Dome, but Greg Monroe was in foul trouble. If Georgetown can limit their turnovers and utilize Monroe’s ability in the high post to pass and score, they should be able to pick apart the Cuse zone.

It should be another fun one tonight. So drop by, leave a comment, and enjoy another Big East battle.

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***** – quit your job and divorce your wife if that’s what it takes to watch this game live
**** – best watched live, but if you must, tivo and watch it tonight as soon as you get home
*** – set your tivo but make sure you watch it later
** – set your tivo but we’ll forgive you if it stays in the queue until 2012
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

#5 Syracuse @ #10 Georgetown – 7 pm on ESPN (*****)

Wes Johnson Looks to Go 2-0 vs. the Hoyas (D. Nett)

We mentioned last week that Syracuse’s matchup against Louisville could be a trap game with Georgetown on the horizon, and the Orange responded with a 60-point performance in a home loss.  Now Syracuse will get their chance to play the Hoyas who are coming off an equally embarrassing defeat.  Although Georgetown had won three of their previous four games (with wins against Duke and Villanova), they then gave up an easy game at Rutgers who sits at just 4-8 in the Big East.  Both teams are safely in the NCAA Tournament, but a win here could help a team improve their tournament status as well as help build their confidence back up.  This game could be high scoring, as the Orange rank #1 in the country in field goal percentage, while Georgetown ranks third.  However, the last time these teams met at the Carrier Dome, the Orange scored just 73 points despite 53% shooting, while the Hoyas failed to score 30 points in either half.  Syracuse has a tall lineup, but they rank second in assists per game and can run the court with almost any team.  The biggest hindrance to the Orange is the lingering effect of Wesley Johnson’s injury to his back/hip.  He is now just 13-33 since the Providence game on February 2 when he flipped in mid-air and landed hard on the court.  To get a feel for how effective Johnson was before the injury, he was 33-61 in his previous five games.  The Hoyas have shown the ability to light up great teams at home this season, so they certainly have a great opportunity to end Syracuse’s undefeated road streak.

#16 Wisconsin @ Minnesota – 9 pm on ESPN (***)

Minnesota is now certainly on the outside looking in after a recent loss to Northwestern, and will need to go nearly 6-0 in the remaining games if they want to dance in a few weeks.  The Gophers are just 3-7 since January 5, and are eighth in the conference behind other probable NIT teams like Michigan.  Wisconsin missed a golden opportunity to jump atop the Big Ten standings with a loss against Illinois last week, but they are still just 1.5 games behind Michigan State for the conference lead.  Minnesota is going to have to play one of their best games of the season tonight, because the Badgers won’t beat themselves.  They are the best team in America in turnovers per game, and are in the top five in opponents’ points per game.  Thanks to solid efficiency on both ends of the court, the Badgers actually rank third in Ken Pomeroy’s overall standings.  Minnesota, on the other hand, ranks just #64 in offensive efficiency, and they have just three reliable threats on offense.  Although UM’s Lawrence Westbrook averages 13.4 points per game, he shoots over 42% from the three-point line and shoots 50% from all distances.  Look for him to get plenty of touches, especially when he is coming off a solid performance against the Wildcats.  Wisconsin is not the best road team, but leading scorer Jon Leuer will be playing for the first time since January 9 against Purdue.  He could be the spark the Badgers need to make a late-season run in the Big Ten and NCAA tournament.

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Jason Prziborowski is the RTC correspondent for the Big Ten Conference.

The big thing from the past week:

• The Big Ten’s top four moved up as a group. Both Purdue and Ohio State reached their highest rankings of the year. The same can’t be said for Michigan State and Wisconsin, but as a group, this is the highest that the top four have been ranked. It is looking very likely that the Big Ten will send at least five teams to the Tournament this year.  Now four Big Ten teams are in the top 25: #4 Purdue, #9 Ohio State, #11 Michigan State, and #14 Wisconsin.

Power Rankings

1. Purdue 22-3, 10-3
2. Ohio State 20-7, 10-4
3. Michigan State 21-6, 11-3
4. Wisconsin 19-6, 9-4
5. Illinois 17-9, 9-4
6. Northwestern 17-9, 6-8
7. Minnesota 14-10, 5-7
8. Michigan 13-12, 6-7
9. Indiana 9-16, 3-10
10. Iowa 9-18, 3-11
11. Penn State 9-16, 1-12

Coming Up

• Wisconsin @ Minnesota – February 18th – 9:00 ET – ESPN – This game means a lot for Wisconsin, as another loss for the Badgers really takes them out of the race for the Big Ten regular season title. Minnesota has nothing to lose and everything to gain at this point. Add to the mix that Minnesota usually plays well at home, and it could spell defeat for Wisconsin. I am sure Trevon Hughes and company will have something to say about that though.
• Illinois @ Purdue – February 20th – 4:00 ET – ESPN – Last game was a close one that ended Purdue’s losing streak, and since then, Illinois has been playing a lot better. This game definitely has big time potential impact in the Big Ten and as far as seeding goes in the tournament. Demetri McCamey had a monster game last time around, so Illinois will look for him to contribute once again. Mike Davis and DJ Richardson also played well. They will need more out of Mike Tisdale this time, as JaJuan Johnson dominated that matchup and got Tisdale in foul trouble. The Big Three for Purdue will have to lead once again. This should be a good one, although it is always tough to win at Mackey.
• Ohio State @ Michigan State – February 21st – 12:00 ET — CBS – This is another game that has direct Big Ten Title implications. Having seen both of these teams play in person as well as on TV now several times, this will be quite a battle of two very different teams. Michigan State has a much more traditional makeup to their team, with big post guys, shooting guards, and a quick high-scoring point guard. Ohio State on the other hand has oversized guards and an undersized post presence. The game is at Michigan State, so that should give the Spartans an edge. OSU has to be able to stop the post scoring of the Spartans and keep them off the boards, whereas MSU has been able to stop Evan Turner and the outside scoring of Jon Diebler and David Lighty.

Breaking It Down

• Purdue cracks the top four. Purdue has now beaten all of the top teams in the Big Ten at least once after last night’s win at Ohio State. It is kind of amazing to look back now when Purdue went through their three-game slide at the beginning of conference play, and now they are ranked #4 nationally behind Kansas, Kentucky, and Villanova. Nova’s loss to UConn on Tuesday puts Purdue is in position to move up even higher next week after their big win at OSU (assuming they can get past Illinois over the weekend).
• Ohio State had increased its Big Ten winning streak to nine games prior to the home loss to Purdue last night. All year everyone has been saying that if you can stop everyone else but Evan Turner, you should be able to beat Ohio State. Purdue was able to prove that notion correct, but Indiana didn’t have the scoring power to overcome it. Against Illinois, Turner had almost triple double numbers (16/11/8 asst), but even more impressively was the performance of Jon Diebler and David Lighty. OSU visits Michigan State on the road next, and they’ll need to win that one to have any remaining realistic shot at the conference title.
• Michigan State is marching out of their mid-season valley. The problem during the Spartans’ losses was defense, and even though it appears like they have solved that problem, it’s still too early to tell. The reason I say it is too early to tell is because that improved defense has occurred against two of the bottom of the teams in the league in Penn State and Indiana. The other problem during the losses was the lack of Kalin Lucas. That problem has also disappeared as Lucas went off for 24 against Penn State and a much bigger than it seems 13 against Indiana. Michigan State has OSU and Purdue next, so there is no rest for the Spartans anytime soon.
• Wisconsin’s destiny is in its own hands. The Badgers were upset by Illinois a week ago at home, something that never happens, due to great games by Demetri McCamey and Mike Tisdale. They bounced back at home trouncing Indiana behind Jason Bohannon, who lit it up from 3-point land on his way to dropping 30 on the Hoosiers. Wisconsin has the easiest schedule remaining of the top five teams in the Big Ten. They should win the next four easily, with the exception of their last game on the road against Illinois, which could prove difficult. Illinois will have battled the best in the Big Ten before taking on Wisconsin, so Wisconsin will need to make sure not to play down to the competition for the rest of the month of February.
• Illinois’s gauntlet continues. Last week I mentioned that I thought Illinois had made great strides and proven that they weren’t gunning for the top of Big Ten just based on their scheduling. I may have underestimated Illinois’ talent and the way they have been playing lately, but I think I was redeemed a bit by watching the Ohio State game. Illinois was blown out early, and never really made much of a run against the Buckeyes. They actually did well in a couple of statistical categories, but really suffered on the shooting end and could never really stop OSU. I was very surprised that Demetri McCamey didn’t step up earlier, and it was unfortunate that Mike Tisdale got in foul trouble, because he was hurting OSU in the zone by keeping the ball high and being able to throw over the top to him near the basket. The tough thing for Illinois though, is that they don’t get to take any nights off, as they take on Purdue on the road this weekend.
• Northwestern’s slipper came off against Iowa and got put in the closet last night agaisnt previously-winless Penn State. In the Iowa game, John Shurna and Michael Thompson combined for 36 of Northwestern’s 65. Unfortunately, nobody else was in double figures. Also dooming them was the fact that they shot under 45% from the field and 30% from deep, while Iowa shot 50% from both the field and 3 point land. Unfortunately, it was a similar story against Penn State.  The Wildcats did sandwich their two losses with an OT win against Minnesota where all of the aforementioned players were in double figures. I have heard many people say that Northwestern’s shot at the tournament is now over because of those two bad losses, but if they win at Wisconsin and the rest of their games, they might give the committee something else to think about.
• Has Minnesota left the building? The month of January and now February hasn’t been kind for the Golden Gophers. They sandwiched a couple of wins against Northwestern and Penn State with a bunch of close losses and a blowout to Ohio State on the road. This team overall has just been too inconsistent. Lawrence Westbrook is playing well now, but where has Ralph Sampson III gone? He has been invisible the last couple of games. Devoe Joseph and Blake Hoffarber have been similarly inconsistent. What would make their season at this point is to score upsets against Wisconsin, Purdue, or Illinois.
• Michigan wins two straight. Looks like DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris aren’t willing to ride off into the sunset just yet. These two have continued to put up huge numbers, with Sims going for 27 each of the past two games and Harris going for 20 each. All they need to win is for someone else to put in a couple buckets here and there, and they have been doing it recently. They also have three games left that they can really put a thorn in the sides of the better teams in the conference, potentially shuffling the standings at the end of the year.
• Indiana’s streak goes to unlucky number seven. IU has turned into a two-man show lately, with Verdell Jones III and Christian Watford carrying the load. The problem is that these guys aren’t putting up Harris and Sims type of numbers. The Hoosiers need someone else to score, especially inside. The one good sign for the Hoosiers against the Spartans was how often and how many times they scored from the charity stripe. They haven’t shot 89% all year from the line, and certainly haven’t made close to 30 trips in a night either. The part where the Hoosiers really need work is on the defensive end. Everyone has been basically scoring at will, so once the Hoosiers can plug the big hole on defense, maybe their offense will come around.
• Iowa steals Northwestern’s slipper. Iowa fulfilled its duty as a spoiler this year, or at least if Northwestern doesn’t end up making it into the tournament, they will have. There was some off the court news this past week for Iowa as well, with Anthony Tucker officially leaving the program. In their loss to Purdue, Iowa shot a frigid 30% and then stepped up to shoot 50% against Northwestern, while holding Northwestern to 44% in addition to taking 30 trips to the free throw line. Against Purdue, Aaron Fuller had an uncharacteristically bad game with only two points, but in their OT heartbreaker to Michigan, he exploded for 30. I would say that’s getting back on the right track. They go on the road against Northwestern again next, and something tells me that this result might be different.
• Penn State finally won a game. The Nittany Lions picked apart Northwestern in Evanston last night by shooting 56%, putting all five starters in double figures and destroying the Cats on the boards (+17).  It was the kind of performance that makes you wonder where it’s been all year?  It was the Talor Battle show on Saturday against Michigan State. It was fortunate that he poured in 30 points against the Spartans. The unfortunate part was that he didn’t have a ton of help, and Kalin Lucas scored 24 points himself, thus minimizing the Battle Effect. This team has two scorers, and they both performed. Michigan State won the game on the boards, something that this Penn State team just doesn’t do well enough.