We would hope that the games would improve heading into the Big Ten Tournament in a couple of weeks, but last weekend proved that this isn’t always the case — there was only one Big Ten game where the outcome wasn’t decided until the final minute. Teams at the bottom of the standings like Nebraska, Penn State and Rutgers are basically raging dumpster fires right now, which reveals one of the biggest differences between last season and this one. The notion that “any Big Ten team can beat another on any given night” doesn’t seem to have much to it this year. It’ll therefore be interesting to see if the divisions hold suit as we head into early March and postseason play. There were some positive performances from the weekend, however, and the awards for those follow below.
- Player of the Weekend: A probable First-Team All-Big Ten selection unless Iowa takes a severe nosedive in the final two weeks, Aaron White did all the things he normally does against Nebraska with the exception of one vital thing — he went 2-of-2 from behind the arc. For a shooter who is still only 11-of-41 from distance on the season, this area of his game is the only thing that could prevent him from becoming a bona fide NBA player. He’s athletic; he can rebound; and he averages 6.7 free throw attempts per game without being a ball-stopper. On Sunday the senior went for 18 points and 11 rebounds as Iowa blitzed Nebraska on its home court. He contributed an offensive rating of 165.0 and now ranks fourth in the conference in that metric on the season. If this game represents the start of White gaining confidence in his outside shot, then he could be well on his way to leading a deep Iowa postseason run where his stock as a prospect skyrockets.
- Super Sub of the Weekend: Northwestern’s Vic Law became the second Chicago Catholic League alumnus to win this honor in the last two weeks. Following his classmate Scottie Lindsey’s efforts against Iowa, Law did him one better with an even stronger performance on Saturday as his 3-of-5 shooting from the perimeter and 11 rebounds made him the best player on the floor. In an uneven season where Bryant McIntosh has been the best of the five Northwestern freshmen, Law flashed what Wildcats fans imagined when he entered the school as the first top-100 recruit of the Chris Collins era. He is an elite athlete who can rebound and run. Northwestern is starting to show that it is poised to turn the corner, and the progress of Law is one of the main reasons why.
- Best Win: Michigan State won an ugly game in Champaign that it sorely needed to strengthen its resume. It wasn’t pretty, but double-figure scoring from Sparty’s trio of upperclassmen leaders and some timely defense down the stretch led to the win. Free throw shooting to the tune of 57 percent has doomed Michigan State in its eight losses on the season; but the Spartans went 16-of-19 from the charity stripe against Illinois. Furthermore, the defense coaxed the Illini into a woeful 28.8 percent shooting from the field. Now with 10 Big Ten wins and some additional RPI-enhancing chances on the horizon, Tom Izzo’s team picked up the quality road win that it clearly needed.
- Worst Loss: It is impossible to pick simply one loss here. Ohio State‘s ugly loss to Michigan was the most damaging in the grand scheme of things, but some of the other performances from Nebraska and Rutgers make you wonder if those teams have already packed things up and are looking toward next year. Furthermore, Penn State seemingly shot about 150 threes against the Northwestern zone, and although the number was actually only 27, they Nittany Lions only made 30 percent of those attempts on their way to a dismal 39 points. The only teams that lost and didn’t play badly in those games were Illinois and Minnesota. Kudos to them.
- Best Efficiency: If you’ve watched and followed the Big Ten to the point were you’ve seen teams play more than several times, you know that Iowa is a riddle wrapped in an enigma again this year. Their “good” is better than most teams’ goods — meaning that when the Hawkeyes are operating at prime efficiency, they can beat almost anyone. Unfortunately for Fran McCaffery and the good citizens of Iowa, they also know that this unit is capable of horrific basketball when at its worst. Granted, Nebraska didn’t play well in its loss to the Hawkeyes, but Iowa rode the efforts of White and Peter Jok to put up 1.21 points per possession. They also didn’t turn the ball over much and rebounded 35.5 percent of their misses. Consistency is a beautiful thing, and if Iowa can somehow find that missing consistency over the last few weeks of this season, this team has the talent and poise to go on a deep March run. They could also easily revert back to the role of “bad Iowa” and find itself relegated to the NIT. Regardless, the Hawkeyes put together a mighty impressive effort on Sunday in Lincoln.