On January 10, the B1G point guard title belt was introduced in an effort to determine (unofficially) which player is the best floor general in the league. Since then, a series of injuries and inconsistent play have resulted in the mythical belt already changing hands four times. Volatility is enhanced by the fact that one-game sample sizes lend themselves to frequent changes, but only one player has been able earn the belt and keep it. Here’s a brief rundown on how the belt changed hands over the past couple of weeks and which point guard presently holds the title.

After taking over the primary point guard responsibilities from the injured Traveon jackson, Bronson Koenig has been solid. (AP)

• January 10: Michigan 62, Minnesota 57. In his first game as the belt-holder, Minnesota’s Deandre Mathieu struggled to the tune of a disastrous individual offensive rating of 30.0 — going scoreless and turning the ball over five times in 29 minutes. Meanwhile, Michigan’s Derrick Walton, Jr went 3-of-4 from behind the arc en route to a 15-point performance. The sophomore only notched three assists against two turnovers, but his 136.0 offensive rating was the highest on his team in the victory.
• January 13: Ohio State 71, Michigan 52. Walton’s reign at the top was a short one, as Ohio State convincingly beat the Wolverines in their Super Tuesday match-up in Columbus. The Buckeyes’ Shannon Scott notched seven points and eight assists to go along with only one turnover, and even though he didn’t shoot the ball very well (3-of-9 from the field), he outplayed Walton, who posted a dismal offensive rating of 43.0 with two points (1-of-7 shooting) and two assists.

• January 17: Iowa 76, Ohio State 69. Are you sensing the trend here? Scott’s experience at the top was also brief as he lost hold of the honor to Iowa’s Mike Gesell after the Hawkeyes knocked off Ohio State in Iowa City. Scott has an assist-to-turnover ratio of  3-to-1 on the season, but in this defeat he only dished out one assist and turned the ball over three times. Gesell wasn’t all that great himself, but he did post a higher offensive rating (116.0) and contributed more points and assists while turning the ball over only one time.
• January 20/24: Wisconsin 82, Iowa 50; Wisconsin 69, Michigan 64. Bronson Koenig, a player who wasn’t even eligible for this award when the numbers were originally crunched because he had not logged enough minutes, is this season’s first player to hang on to the title for more than one game. Normally the first guard off the bench when starter Traveon Jackson was healthy, Koenig has averaged 15.3 PPG since the senior’s injury. He’s done so by shooting 56.7 percent from the field with an effective field goal rate of 73.3 percent. His 3.33-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio has been stellar, as has his average offensive rating of 155.0 since that game in Piscataway. Gesell was a non-factor — two points and three turnovers in 17 minutes — in the Badgers’ blowout win, while Walton had 17 points but turned the ball over five times in their weekend game.

Koenig gets another chance to stay in the Big Ten’s top spot on Saturday in a rematch with Iowa. He’ll also get some competition on his own team when Jackson returns from his injury at the end of February. Check back in about three weeks to see how long Koenig held on and whether the tumultuous nature of things continued.

Brendan Brody (307 Posts)

Brendan Brody is in his fourth season covering the Big Ten for RTC. Email him at brendan.brody@gmail.com, or follow him on twitter @berndon4.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 28th, 2015 at 3:51 pm by Brendan Brody and is filed under big ten, microsites. Tagged: bronson koenig, deandre mathieu, derrick walton jr, iowa, michigan, Mike Gesell, minnesota, ohio state, shannon scott, wisconsin. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.