1. Did we just see Iowa‘s bubble burst over the weekend in Lincoln? The Hawkeyes lost to the Cornhuskers, 64-60, despite leading by 16 points earlier in the game. The win would have not been a quality one by any means, but the loss to Nebraska will definitely considered “bad” by the Selection Committee. In order to make up for this loss, they need to beat Illinois at home and possibly Indiana on March 2, both of the games will be very tough considering the youth on Fran McCaffery’s team. But if they do miss the tournament, they will definitely look back at this weekend as the one that got away.
2. Speaking of Nebraska, Tim Miles has been very optimistic about the Cornhuskers and the fans have noticed which indicates that they are buying into his coaching abilities.”He’s very shrewd,” longtime radio play-by-play man Kent Pavelka said. Pavelka added, ”He’s pushing every button there is to push out there.” Miles has been very aggressive on the recruiting trail and speaks highly of the facilities in Lincoln. “State-of-the-art stuff means a lot to recruits,” Miles said. The 64-60 win over Iowa does not seem like a big deal on the outset but it is a perfect win for Miles as he has kept his team motivated in a very tough league.
3. John Groce has received well deserved recognition amongst the media in Chicago during the past few weeks. After rattling off five straight wins before losing In Ann Arbor on Sunday, he has gained his players’ trust and is geared up for homestretch of the conference season. Chicago Tribune writes about Groce’s personal side during his trip to New Mexico for recruiting purposes, but had to spend Valentine’s day with his wife on the flight. “Two hours on the plane there and back, you don’t get that kind of time away from kids,” said Groce, a father of two sons. Many media outlets have his Illini “in” for the NCAA tournament but they still need to take care of business against Nebraska in Champaign to avoid a “bad” loss. 
4. February turned out to be a brutally tough schedule for the Michigan Wolverines as they lost three out of five games before beating the Illini on Sunday. It had been seven days since their win over Penn State and head coach John Beilein used the week to stress defense during practice. Beilein and the coaching staff did a great job of just emphasizing defense and how we were playing earlier in the season in the NIT and before the Big Ten started,” guard Tim Hardaway Jr. said. During the tough five-game stretch, their opponents were averaging 73.5 PPG which needs to be cut down if they hope to make a run at the the Final Four in March. Trey Burke and company responded to their head coach by holding Illini to just 58 points on Sunday after being down by three at halftime.
5. Despite the Michigan State‘s loss to the Hoosiers last week, they still remain confident about winning the Big Ten title. “With the way teams are in the Big Ten, I think it’s going to end up being shared because anybody could be beat because it’s hard,” Derrick Nix said. He added, “It’s the hardest year it’s ever been since I’ve been here.” Obviously a Big Ten title would be a great achievement for the Spartans but Tom Izzo builds his teams to perform well in March and a Final Four appearance could trump a second place finish in the conference standings. Izzo’s teams have won the conference title three out of the last four seasons. After the Spartans’ loss to the Buckeyes on Sunday, they are 1.5 games behind Indiana in the conference standings.

In this week’s power rankings, we take a look at the best player off the bench on each team. Voters this week were Deepak Jayanti, Joey Nowak and Kevin Trahan.

1. Indiana – This year, it’s tough to confidently pick out who the best team in the country really is. However, Indiana has separated itself from the pack better than anyone at this point especially after its win at Michigan State. Victor Oladipo has continued his outstanding run, which will likely result in All-America honors, and Cody Zeller has really picked it up recently, as well. He’s been much more aggressive, especially on offense, and that was true of this performance against Michigan State. The supporting cast has stepped up, especially with its shooting, and overall, this team looks like the most complete team in the country right now. Best player off the bench: On the Indiana-Michigan State broadcast, Will Sheehey was referred to as the best sixth man in the country. I’m not sure I agree with that analysis, especially since he’s been streaky, but he’s been solid recently and hit all nine of his shots against Nebraska, an Indiana school record for most shots made without a miss. If Sheehey’s shooting well, it’s tough to stop the Hoosiers.
   

   Cody Zeller’s Hoosiers made a strong statement against the Spartans on the road.

2. Michigan State – That loss to Indiana, albeit at home, doesn’t do enough to drop the Spartans out of the #2 spot in the rankings after Michigan’s only victory was a narrow home win against Penn State. The Spartans had the game against the Hoosiers in hand, but were outscored 9-1 down the stretch and gave it away. Whether that makes Tom Izzo and Michigan State feel better or worse about the loss, it’s hard to say. But there’s no rest for the weary. They absolutely must rebound, and quickly, if they want to still have a shot at the conference title. Best player off the bench: This almost doesn’t apply to the Spartans, who have become more and more short-handed since Travis Trice went down. But he’s back, and he is the most valuable player off the bench. He allows Keith Appling and Gary Harris to get a rest, and takes some of the ball-handling pressure off freshman Denzel Valentine. His 3-point shooting is also valuable to a Spartan group that doesn’t typically shoot it well. Read the rest of this entry »

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

During the preseason, it was clear that the Big Ten was loaded and well respected by the pollsters because four teams – Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State – were ranked among the top-15 in the nation. Despite the conference’s depth, the historically overlooked Wisconsin Badgers received some well-deserved respect and were also ranked in the Top 25. But after Josh Gasser’s season-ending injury before the season even started combined with four non-conference losses – Florida, Creighton, Marquette, and Virginia – Ryan’s team dropped out of the rankings and had to sort out their issues with the backcourt. Big Ten Nation of course was well aware that Ryan has never finished worse than fourth in the conference since he took over in Madison. The conference season re-ignited the Badgers and now they stand once again as one of the top teams in league play with a 10-4 record. Despite the lack of offensive firepower due to Gasser’s injury and the departure of All-America guard Jordan Taylor, his backcourt mates Ben Brust and Traevon Jackson have locked down some of the best guards in the conference to make Wisconsin a strong contender for the Big Ten title and beyond.

Ben Brust is one of the best defensive guards in the Big Ten.

Before we discuss Brust and Jackson’s defensive impact, let’s review the numbers to prove that they are the best defensive backcourt in a league filled with offensive talent. The Badgers rank first in two key defensive categories: opponents’ effective FG% (41.1%) and opponents’ long-range shooting (26.2% 3FG). All of the top guards in the Big Ten – Trey Burke, Keith Appling, Jordan Hulls and Andre Hollins – have been a victim of this killer defense from the Badgers’ backcourt. Ryan’s teams have always been known for their intensity on defense and they ranked second in those categories during 2012 as well. Their opponents shot 29% from three last season, still three percent higher than this year. This boost in Wisconsin’s perimeter defense has resulted in the Badgers allowing just 0.91 points per possession compared to 0.96 last year. This shows that Brust and Jackson have been a great duo who understand their roles and execute Ryan’s defensive game plans very effectively.

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Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

The Big Ten has been so competitive this season that we have been spoiled with match-ups between top-20 teams frequently during the weeknights. A quick glance through the schedule for the week and you realize that tonight’s game between Michigan State and Indiana features two teams ranked in the top five of the polls and the winner should have the upper hand for the conference title and a #1 seed in March. The Hoosiers controlled the tempo during their first game in Bloomington as they won 75-70, as the Spartans were handicapped for most of it because Keith Appling couldn’t stay out of foul trouble. Indiana’s game against Michigan was well-hyped by the national media because of ESPN Gameday in town for the event, but the second game of the season between two top-five teams from the B1G is no slouch. Folks in the Midwest will need to make sure they get out of work early to prepare for the early tip-off (6:00 PM CST) but as we wait for tonight’s action, the following is a list of key questions about this week’s version of the big game.

Keith Appling needs to stay on the floor if the Spartans hope to beat the Hoosiers tonight.(Paul Abell/US Presswire)

1. How will the injuries affect each team? Victor Oladipo didn’t play much against Purdue on Saturday because he sprained his ankle, but the Hoosiers didn’t really need his services against a young Boilermaker squad. Oladipo will need to be nearly 100% for the game in East Lansing because he is the Hoosiers’ best on-ball defender and can help keep Appling from penetrating into the paint. It is tough to keep the point guard out of the paint during the final minutes of games (ask the Jayhawks and the Illini), but Oladipo is probably the only defender in the conference not named Aaron Craft who can make it happen. Oladipo’s quick hands were at work during the first match-up as he stole the ball six times and pulled down seven rebounds. Without their senior at 100%, Indiana’s transition game won’t be as efficient but it is likely that he will still find a way to be effective. On the flip side, Appling needs to stay on the floor and try to avoid the reaches on defense that caused him to pick up some early fouls in Bloomington. Backup point guard Travis Trice’s status is still uncertain for the game but even if he were to play, he may not be as effective because it may take some time for him to get used to the pace after sitting out the past few days. Trice played 30 minutes at the point in Bloomington but was hounded by the half-court pressure as he turned the ball over five times despite dishing out five assists. Freshman guard Denzel Valentine has provided the back-up point guard duties in Trice’s absence but he isn’t very comfortable handling the ball against pressure. Sharpshooter Gary Harris has played through back spasms during the past week but his nagging injury could make a comeback during the game, which could affect his long-range shooting. If the Spartans want to stay in this game without turning the ball over too many times, Appling will need to play at least 35 minutes tonight. Read the rest of this entry »

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

About a month ago, Illinois was reeling in the Big Ten because they were upset by Northwestern in Champaign. The 68-54 loss came at the worst time after they were hammered by the Badgers in Madison four day earlier by 23 points. The loss to Purdue to kick off the Big Ten season could have been put aside as an aberration, but the loss to the Wildcats proved that the Illini would have to earn every one of their wins in the Big Ten. But a month later, optimism may be back again in Champaign as they returned the favor to the Wildcats in Evanston with a 62-41 route last night. John Groce‘s team hasn’t really changed their offensive philosophy during the last month – they still depend on the deep shot for most of their offense but senior D.J. Richardson has turned it up over the past four weeks, regardless of the outcome of the game. He has averaged 17.5 PPG and 4 RPG over the last eight games and has clearly asserted himself as the leader of the team during the tough stretch.

Senior guard D.J.Richardson has been the key to Illinois’ turnaround over the past few weeks.

Fellow senior guard Brandon Paul is still the best scoring option but Richardson is their best shooter from beyond the arc and has been their best defender on the perimeter. During the 1-4 start in conference play, the Illini went cold from the long range and appeared clueless on defense. Something had to change and it started with defense as Richardson led the charge. The same Wildcats team that shot 8-15 (53% 3FG) from beyond the arc in Champaign couldn’t find the rim last night as they shot just 5-27 (18% 3FG) from deep. Richardson’s efforts were not fruitful immediately because they lost three more games to Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin, but the perseverance paid off as he scored 23 points against Indiana and the Illini finally cracked through in the Big Ten against a top team to save their season. Tyler Griffey‘s last second layup has been well publicized but without Richardson’s intensity, the game wouldn’t have been tied at the end.

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1. As we look ahead to this week’s Big Ten schedule, the Indiana – Michigan State game on Tuesday night may not only be a big game in the conference but may be the biggest match-up nationally this week as well. The Hoosiers will head to East Lansing as the top-ranked team but Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo is not comparing this game to the “David vs. Goliath” story. “I’m definitely not trying to make like it’s David against Goliath because it’s not, but it is the No. 1 team in the country, and I think earned and deserved and done consistently over the whole year,” Izzo said. The key to the game will be Derrick Nix’s defense against Cody Zeller in the paint. If Nix can stay on the floor without picking up some quick fouls, he may be able to force Zeller to defend him on the other end of the floor which could put pressure on other Hoosiers to shoot well on the road to pick up a win.
2. Speaking of Indiana, despite the impending blockbuster game tomorrow night, the Hoosiers kept their focus by thumping Purdue, 83-55, on Saturday in Bloomington. Will Sheehey had a great game off the bench by scoring 22 points and was one of the main reasons behind IU’s big win over its intrastate rival. After Victor Oladipo went down in the first half with a sprained ankle, Sheehey stepped up to shoot 9-of-9 from the floor and the game should help boost confidence in his shot as they head to East Lansing. “I just try to stay aggressive regardless of what the situation is,” he said after the game.
3. Even though the Michigan Wolverines have been one of the best programs in college hoops over the past year-plus, head coach John Beilein understands that he has a lot of work left to do to repair the image of his program. Beilein has talked extensively about the “fractured past” of the program and is trying to reconnect with former alumni, specifically the “Fab Five” that played in Ann Arbor in the early 1990s. “It’s a big challenge, you’ve had so many different coaches here over that time period,” he said. The basketball program hasn’t been as consistent as the football program in Ann Arbor and the four coaching changes since that era is a strong indication of its inconsistency. “Unlike football and some other programs where we’ve had a lot of consistency that holds the teams together, we’ve been a bit fragmented with basketball,” Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said.
4. The Illini’s recent four-game winning streak has come as a result of improved offensive efficiency. Head coach John Groce has brought new energy to his team and encourages his guards to shoot from anywhere on the floor if they have a good look. When the Illini are moving the ball around and not settling for shots from beyond the arc in isolation, they have been very effective in the Big Ten. Illinois has averaged 1.19 points per possession which is higher than the Big Ten average of 1.01. Despite not having a true point guard on the roster, they have been very good with the ball as indicated by a 16.5% turnover percentage which is lower than the league average of 20.0%.
5. It was a rough game for the Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday in Madison because they got hammered by 22 points against the Badgers. After the game, head coach Thad Matta said, “We’ve seen the results if we’re not going to play defensively. We’re not a good basketball team.” Except for a win over Michigan a month ago, the Buckeyes continue to search for a marquee win over another highly-ranked team in the Big Ten because they want to head into March with some momentum. Junior guard Aaron Craft said, “Coaches can’t get us ready to play. The responsibility is on us as individual players.” The point guard was held to 2-of-9 shooting from the field and did not have an effective game, thanks to some stifling defense provided by Ben Brust.

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

We have reached the point in the season where it feels like every game has conference implications of some kind, and there’s no better period of time to enjoy them all than Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Weekends through the end of the season will be packed with quality basketball, so let’s take a hard look at this weekend’s slate of games and what’s in store.

Aaron Craft and the Buckeyes have a tough game against the Badgers in Madison on Sunday.

• Purdue @ Indiana (2:00 PM EST on Saturday, ESPN): The Hoosiers might end up winning this one comfortably but the game features an excellent match-up in the low post between Cody Zeller and A.J.Hammons (11.2 PPG). It is easy to forget when you evaluate Zeller’s game that he is only a sophomore and Hammons, a freshman, has shown flashes of brilliance in the paint as well. During the first version of this match-up in West Lafayette, Hammons scored 30 points but picked up two early fouls due to poor defense. But if the Purdue big man can manage to stay on the floor, you could see his strong array of post moves – a hook shot, a 10-foot jumper, a nice turnaround – against Zeller tomorrow. This will also be a good test of Zeller’s defense if the game ends up being relatively close late into the second half.
  
• Michigan State @ Nebraska (8:00 PM EST on Saturday, Big Ten Network): Nebraska head coach Tim Miles continues to motivate his team to compete against the top dogs in the conference despite many tough losses. The Cornhuskers hung tight with the Spartans in East Lansing on January 13, only to lose the game 66-56, but don’t expect them to roll over and hand the game to the Spartans on Saturday night. Gary Harris continues to play through his back spasms and even if Travis Trice suits up, his minutes may be limited because he is still recovering from an injury. Despite these issues, Tom Izzo has enough talent on his team to not let this game slip away on the road as he is trying to make a case for the #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and win the Big Ten title. Read the rest of this entry »

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

Playing four games over the course of 11 days is not an easy task for any basketball team, especially true if the games are in the toughest conference in the nation. What the Michigan Wolverines had to go through since February 2 can’t be compared to any normal four-game stretch because they faced three of the top Big Ten teams — Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan State — in front of thousands of raucous fans which can be very exhausting. As if those road games were not enough, they arguably played in the most competitive game of the league season against Ohio State in Ann Arbor. Two weeks ago, we knew that John Beilein’s squad would be tested during these games but the match-ups turned out to be much tougher for the Wolverines than anticipated. Three road games which included two overtimes have given us a very good sample to understand the strengths and weaknesses John Beilein’s team and the following are three key observations since Michigan’s game two Saturdays ago against the Hoosiers.

Trey Burke and the Wolverines capped off a tough stretch of games (AP)

1. Good defensive teams will let Trey Burke beat them, but only from the perimeter. Burke is shooting 38% from beyond the arc which is a decent long-range shooting percentage but the three-ball is not his forte. Rather, he is most dangerous once he gets by his defender into the paint and has three options: pull up for a jumper from the high post, kick it out to Nik Stauskas or Glenn Robinson in the corner, or drive all the way to the basket to draw the foul. Except for a few pick-and-roll plays with Mitch McGary, Burke hasn’t had much success consistently driving to the basket over last few games and all of the credit goes to good scouting and defense by Victor Oladipo, Aaron Craft, Ben Brust and Keith Appling. He scored 19.5 PPG during the four games but also attempted an average of eight shots from beyond the arc, which indicates a tendency to settle for poor shot selection to some extent. If he can consistently hit the step-back three, opposing teams will gladly let him beat them that way because it is not as high a percentage shot for a player with Burke’s gifts. By keeping Burke on the perimeter, the Wolverines’ threat from the corners are also neutralized, which hurts the offensive games of Robinson and Stauskas. Read the rest of this entry »

Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

Two weeks ago when the pollsters voted the Michigan Wolverines as the top-ranked team in college hoops, there were several references made to the “Fab Five” because some 20 years ago that talented group of Wolverines represented the last time the school had achieved the top spot. In that era of the early 1990s, freshmen were not typically expected to contribute immediately but instead were supposed to gradually develop their understanding of the college game. But over the intervening years as the NBA has gutted talent from the pool of upperclassmen, programs have learned to rely more on freshmen, and in some cases, demand that 18-year-olds assume a leadership role from day one. Due to these lofty expectations, we may tend to sometimes overlook freshmen who start out slowly but gradually show improvement over the course of the season. One of the best reasons to follow college basketball is to see the progression of young men who may struggle to adjust to the game during some stretches but will work their way out of that slump and eventually contribute to their teams. It has been a joy, for example, to watch Michigan freshman forward Mitch McGary add value and figure out how to play his game at the collegiate level over the past few weeks.

Mitch McGary continues to improve with every Big Ten game.

McGary received some well-deserved hype during the preseason because he along with Glenn Robinson III spearheaded a top 15 recruiting class heading to Ann Arbor. He was rated as one of the best forwards in the country and was a consensus top 30 recruit among the recruitiniks. Combine his bulky 6’10″ frame to the need for an inside presence for John Beilein and expectations were set fairly high for him before the season began. But the forward struggled to find his place in a guard-oriented Beilein offense, and he was quickly overshadowed by his fellow freshmen – Nik Stauskas and Robinson – over the first two months. While that pair benefited from open looks because the defense focused on Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr., McGary had to adjust to defending the paint without getting into foul trouble. Even though it took him a while to get a feel for the pace of the game, he has been very effective since the middle of January and will continue to be an integral part of the Wolverines’ success down the stretch.

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Deepak is a writer for the Big Ten microsite of Rush The Court. Follow him on Twitter for more about B1G hoops at @dee_b1g.

Three months ago, when the first preseason polls were out, there were three Big Ten teams ranked in the top five – Indiana, Michigan,and Ohio State. Two other teams – Michigan State and Wisconsin – cracked the top 25 and the stage was set for one of the best seasons in recent history for the conference. Over the past three months, some teams had a slow start (Wisconsin) and some came out firing (Illinois). Regardless of teams shuffling in and out of the top 10 or even the top 25, the last seven days of conference play have shown that every team is ready for the homestretch. Historically, the conference season poses tough challenges for the top teams because most of the teams hold a distinct home court advantage but we have seen the competition step up to a whole new level over the past week. Any college hoops fan that doesn’t follow the B1G on a daily basis can look at the sample of games over the last week to gauge the level of competition in this league.

Fran McCaffery’s Iowa Hawkeyes continue to compete in the Big Ten despite tough losses (AP/C. Neibergall)

It all started on Superbowl Sunday in Minneapolis as Iowa was about to pull off an upset over Minnesota on the road without their star player Devyn Marble playing a significant role. Marble rode the pine for most of the game but despite his lack of contribution, a young Hawkeye squad took the Gophers down to the wire but couldn’t seal the deal as the Gophers Austin Hollins drilled a three after a timeout which ended up being the game winning shot. If that loss wasn’t demoralizing enough for Fran McCaffery’s squad, they went into Madison and almost took down the Badgers on Wednesday night but fell short in double overtime. Despite the loss, McCaffery’s team showed great toughness because they played the last 15 minutes of the game with mostly their second unit – Eric May, Zach McCabe, and Josh Oglesby. It didn’t matter that their best offensive player, Marble, was still in a funk but the second unit stepped up as they tried to keep their hopes alive for an NCAA bid. It isn’t easy to keep a team focused after two tough losses on the road but McCaffery could get his guys to beat Northwestern 71-57 on Saturday night and Marble finally broke out of his slump by scoring 21 points. The Hawkeyes’ week shows that each game matters in this league and regardless of the experience level on the team, they will be ready to compete every night.

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