Because of the Martin Luther King holiday, this week’s weekend wrap-up post includes the rare Monday Big Ten game. In what was the third weekend of Big Ten play, it’s fitting that three-pointers played a large role in many of the outcomes. Northwestern and Illinois suffered losses where they shot too many while Maryland and Iowa made double-digit shots from deep as they cruised to home wins. The rest of the best and worst from the weekend follows below:
Andrew White notched a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds Saturday for Nebraska. (Getty)
Player of the Weekend: Andrew White III has had better shooting efforts than what he put forth Saturday for Nebraska in their win at Illinois, but this game may have been his best all-around effort. The junior continued to show that he’s more than just a shooter in going for a season-high 13 rebounds, and also dishing out a season-high three assists. White and Shavon Shields outscored Illinois’ potent duo of Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn 35-32, but more importantly White III keyed the 42-24 advantage for the Cornhuskers on the boards as they evened their conference record at 3-3 in winning their third game in a row.
Super Sub of the Weekend: Jacquil Taylor hadn’t played in a game for Purdue since December 12 and has only played in nine games all season counting Monday night. That didn’t stop the redshirt freshman from posting a double-double in 14 minutes as the Boilermakers obliterated Rutgers in Piscataway. With Purdue’s rotation already pretty well set with the ten players that currently play regularly, Taylor might not get many more opportunities this season. But he showcased an inside-outside combo in hitting two threes, and grabbing a quick ten rebounds to go with the 12 points he scored. Taylor showed here that he could be an important piece for Purdue in future years.
Best Win: Wisconsin entered Sunday’s game against Michigan State with a 1-4 record where it was competitive in all four losses. The Badgers finally came out on the positive side in a close one to go to 2-4 after beating Michigan State by one at home. They took advantage of Michigan State’s aggressiveness on defense in getting to the free throw line 36 times. Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig hadn’t been great in 2015-16 as they have graduated to being the primary offensive options. They were great in this game however in combining for 52 points on 15-for-29 shooting from the field. Three of Wisconsin’s next five games are at home, and while an NCAA berth seems unlikely, it will be interesting to see if the win here can be the boost that it needs to rack up some wins.
Worst Loss: Northwestern followed the same disastrous recipe as it had in two previous home losses by letting a woeful shooting effort from behind the arc lead to a back-breaking loss to Penn State on Saturday night. The Wildcats are now 11-for-71 in their three conference losses from behind the arc. They’ve become the ultimate make or miss team, and its troubling to see a pattern emerge where they continue to bomb away from deep in these losses instead of aggressively attacking. Penn State is infamous for fouling, as it ranks 228th in the country in free throw/field goal ratio. The Wildcats need to still take open shots, but they also need to get to the rim and get the ball inside with more frequency to pick up some of the quality resume wins they need in the next 12 games.
Most Efficient Performance: Granted, Purdue playing against Rutgers is probably the biggest mismatch in terms of size in the whole Big Ten. But in a weekend where Maryland and Iowa were also very impressive in their wins, Purdue has to be given this superlative for the insane 1.57 points per possession it tallied in their 50-point win on the road. The Boilermakers held Rutgers to 0.84 points per possession, and managed to snag a simply silly 60 percent of their missed shots. They managed to go without a turnover in the first half, and only had four for the whole contest. Lastly they didn’t have one player out of the eleven that played more than ten minutes end up with an offensive rating under 120.