Bennet Hayes is a regular contributor for RTC. You can find him @HoopsTraveler on Twitter. Night Line runs on weeknights during the season, highlighting a major storyline development from that day’s games.

For those of you who noticed the basketball game scheduled for 9:00 PM Saturday night in Bloomington, Indiana, Wednesday night followed script in a most beautiful way. All too often, we watch as titanic clashes are lessened by careless losses in the days leading up to the big one, but tonight, both Indiana and Michigan made sure they would not be caught looking ahead. Top-ranked Michigan went out and pounded Northwestern by 22 at home, while the third-ranked Hoosiers one-upped the Wolverine dominance by going into Mackey Arena and hanging 97 on a Purdue team that before tonight had a winning Big 10 record. Two impressive efforts that stood to only further whet the appetite of basketball fans across the country, because let’s be real: Saturday night’s match-up is shaping up to be the game of this college basketball season.

Good Luck Finding A Louder Gym Than Assembly Hall This Saturday

Purdue’s solid start to the conference season was in part due to a friendly early schedule, but the Hoosiers still went on the road and beat an average team by 37 tonight. The IU depth was there for all to see again this evening, as all five starters scored in double figures led by Cody Zeller’s 19. Much has been made of Zeller’s reticence to dominate games this year, but what many have considered a lack of production simply hasn’t been needed most of this campaign. Zeller is but one of a number of skilled offensive players Tom Crean has at his disposal – this luxury best evidenced by a stunning four Hoosiers ranking in Ken Pomeroy’s top 125 nationally for offensive rating. This may (and focus on the may here!) be the best offensive team in the land (#3 right now according to KenPom’s metrics), and their efficient outburst in West Lafayette tonight has to have them feeling ready for Michigan.

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1. Michigan State forward Adreian Payne showed his versatality on the offensive end against Indiana by scoring 18 points from several different spots on the floor. He drained a couple of shots from beyond the arc and had a jaw-dropping reverse dunk off a pass from Travis Trice. If Payne continues his offensive explosion, he may work himself up to the NBA Lottery of next summer’s draft. The junior forward has averaged 9.4 PPG and 6.9 RPG in primarily playing the power forward position for Tom Izzo, but Cody Zeller also had a tough time scoring (nine points) against Payne’s defense which will also impress the NBA scouts.
2. Michigan forward Jordan Morgan tweaked his ankle in the first couple of minutes of the game against Illinois on Sunday. Head coach John Beilein confirmed that nothing is broken in his ankle which is great news for Wolverines fans. According to the staff, it is “just a sprain” but his playing time will be determined based on how he feels during practice over the next couple of days. Morgan has averaged 5.2 RPG this season but his defensive presence will be needed as Michigan visits Bloomington for arguably the biggest game of the 2012-13 season. Mitch McGary filled in for Morgan against Illinois, but he will have an extremely tough time keeping up with Cody Zeller and defending Christian Watford off the screens.
3. Speaking of the Hoosiers, they have a big week ahead of them as they visit West Lafayette to play the Boilermakers tonight and then play Michigan at home on Saturday. The coaching staff is taking a “fresh” approach to these games and wants to manage fatigue effectively as the team heads into February. Head coach Tom Crean said, “What we’ve done is we’ve started to back off the practices a little earlier than we did last year.” He has plenty of depth at the wing position with Will Sheehey (10.4 PPG) and Remy Abell (5.3 PPG) available, but he doesn’t have much depth in the frontcourt considering Derek Elston’s injury to begin the season. But if the Hoosiers run their offense through the perimeter and look for scoring opportunities in transition, they may be able to give Zeller some rest over the next few weeks.
4. In case you missed it, Illinois has lost six out of its last nine games but head coach John Groce remains positive. When asked about the Illini’s slump, Groce said, “We’re focusing on getting better. That’s the culture and environment we want.” His team has more turnovers (261) than assists (225) right now, and as a result most of the Illini guards settle for poor shots from beyond the arc. The lack of a true point guard on this team hurts its ball movement and even though Tracy Abrams (11.3 PPG and 3.2 APG) handles the ball in most half-court sets, he is still learning to play the position as exhibited by his 2.9 turnovers per game.
5. After getting hammered by Iowa in Evanston two weeks ago, the Wildcats went to Champaign to pull off an upset against the Illini and then comfortably beat Minnesota at home. After losing Drew Crawford for the season due to a back injury, the Wildcats have showed no particular pattern this season in their performance. Sophomore point guard Dave Sobolewski said, “We should get up for every game, especially in this league.” They will have a shot against the #1 ranked team in the nation this week as they visit Ann Arbor tonight to play the Wolverines for the second time this season (the first contest was a 28-point Michigan blowout).

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.

As soon as Duke went down at North Carolina State on Saturday, Michigan was next in line to claim the top national ranking so long as it took care of business on Sunday. The Wolverines had to win just one more game, but the timing could not have been worse because that one game was against one of their rivals, Ohio State, on the road. While the Wolverines had been on a major roll, the Buckeyes were suffering from a little bit of an identity crisis because they had not beaten a ranked team after more than two months of basketball. Even though the Wolverines cut into a 21-point deficit and came back to tie the game, they fell short 56-53 in Columbus. The following are a couple of concerns derived from the Wolverines’ loss:

John Beilein’s freshmen will run into some trouble against formidable opponents on the road.

1. Nik Stauskas should not be asked to defend bigger forwards like Deshaun Thomas – It is a well known fact by now that Stauskas has been extremely effective shooting from long range (50% 3FG) but he was 0-of-3 from deep against Ohio State and finished scoreless. Sunday’s loss also proved that without the freshman guard on the floor finding open spots, Beilein’s offense will not be very smooth. He has averaged 30.1 MPG so far this season, but only played 23 minutes in the loss after picking up early fouls because he was defending bigger forwards such as Thomas or Sam Thompson. Beilein plays just one true big man, Jordan Morgan, along with three guards – Stauskas, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Glenn Robinson III. None of these three are big enough to defend a bigger forward and as a result, Stauskas was stuck defending bigger players on several possessions. Robinson was too slow to keep up with Thomas, but Stauskas couldn’t hold his position as Thomas pounded the ball inside the paint to end up with 20 points. During several key possessions during the final minutes of the game, Stauskas was assigned to Shannon Scott or Aaron Craft but had to switch over to Thomas on occasion, and even during one possession to (gulp) Evan Ravenel, who took the ball to the basket immediately after recognizing the mismatch. If Morgan is assigned to the biggest opposing forward, then Beilein needs to figure out a way to “hide” Stauskas on defense because clearly a frazzled Stauskas won’t help the Wolverines on the offensive end. This will be a tough task for Beilein to solve because Robinson will have a difficult time staying out of foul trouble because his freshmen wings will be exploited by aggressive players like Indiana’s Victor Oladipo or Will Sheehey. Read the rest of this entry »

Brendon Mulvihill is the head curator for @SportsGawker and an RTC contributor. You can find him @TheMulv on Twitter. See bottom of the post for the Official RTC Star System.

It’s been a slow week in college basketball with students hitting the books and getting through finals week. However, things pick up quite a bit this weekend with some great non-conference action led by a marquee match-up in the desert. Let’s get to the breakdowns.

Game of the Weekend 

#5 Florida at #9 Arizona – 10:00 PM EST, Saturday on ESPN (*****)

Will Patric Young Dominate the Wildcats Again This Season? (Getty)

• Florida won the match-up last season with Arizona in a tough overtime battle. The Gators’ Patric Young dominated the game with a career-high 25 points and 10 rebounds on 12-of-15 shooting. Coach Billy Donovan was disappointed the Gator guards did not get Young the ball more often. It will be interesting to see how Arizona responds this season to defending Young. The addition of 7’0″ freshman center Kaleb Tarczewski to the Wildcats line-up should make a significant difference for coach Sean Miller. His size will at least create problems at the basket for the 6’10” Young. Keep a close eye on Florida’s ability to create turnovers as well. It helped them win last season in Gainesville and will be a big factor again. Finally, three-point shooting will play a key role in the outcome of the game. Approximately 40% of Florida’s field goal attempts are from downtown and U of A gives up more treys than two-thirds of the teams in college hoops. You will want to keep an eye on Gator forward Erik Murphy from beyond the arc. He presents a tough match-up with his 6’10” frame and his ability to stroke the three. If Murphy is hitting from downtown, the Wildcats are in deep trouble.
• Arizona and Florida are both in the top 10 in offensive rebounding percentage. We mentioned Tarczewski’s defense before, but his biggest contribution to this game may be on the offensive boards. He needs to clean up the glass on missed shots to give Arizona as many looks as possible. Miller’s squad got excellent production last year from it’s backcourt against the Gators and need the same from guards Nick Johnson and Mark Lyons this season. Lyon’s needs to be careful of turnovers as he has a sub-one assist-to-turnover ratio. If he isn’t protecting the ball, Arizona will have trouble again this year.
• Arizona’s size will allow them to compete all game long with a very talented and good shooting Florida squad. Their ability to go big at guard with Kevin Parrom could be the difference in the game. While the jury is still out on the Wildcats, a home game against Florida will be a great barometer for what we can expect in the future. The team that wins the offensive rebounding battle will take this one.

More Great Hoops

#6 Louisville at Memphis – 2:30 PM EST, Saturday on Fox College Sports (****)

• Louisville won this match-up last season in a close eight-point ballgame. This season however they are without star center Gorgui Dieng due to his wrist injury. Dieng went for 14/14 last year and always makes a major impact on defense. Without Dieng manning the middle, Louisville actually lacks size. Duke took advantage of this size deficiency and was able to beat the Cardinals a few weeks ago as a result. Look for Memphis to try to do the same thing at home this Saturday. Memphis is tall on the inside and a good offensive rebounding team. They are not as good at getting to the free throw line, however, which is also how the Blue Devils beat the Cardinals. Memphis ranks #307 nationally in free throw rate. Guard play from the Tigers will be a key factor in this contest. They need to get to the line and not turn the ball over. In their blowout win against an Ohio team known for turning teams over, the Tigers only committed miscues on over 16% of their possessions. A lot has to go right for the Tigers to pull an upset here, but with Dieng out, this is their best opportunity.

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1. Michigan coach John Beilein isn’t scared to use his five highly-touted freshmen this year, and he solidified that this week when he said he would stick with a nine-man rotation, including all five of those rookies. Freshmen Nick Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III will continue to start alongside Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jordan Morgan, but Caris LeVert, Mitch McGary, Spike Albrecht and Jon Horford will all see significant minutes, as well. The Wolverines have one of the deepest teams in the league, and with the freshmen living up to the hype so far, they have the potential to put a dangerous lineup on the court for the entire game.
2. With so many new faces, Northwestern has been fairly inconsistent en route to a 7-3 start. The Wildcats won at Baylor, but have home losses to Maryland, Illinois-Chicago and Butler, with Texas State and Stanford coming to Evanston next week. Northwestern has spent the last four years on the NCAA Tournament bubble and fans are becoming restless about the team’s chances this year. CBS Chicago’s Dave Wischnowsky wonders how much more “close but no cigar” NU will accept, and whether coach Bill Carmody will be shown the door if things don’t turn around this season.
3. Michigan State’s Tom Izzo has been hitting the recruiting circuit hard recently, looking at top recruits Jabari Parker, Jahlil Okafor, Cliff Alexander and Tyus Jones, among others, but the Spartans’ head coach isn’t a fan of such road trips. Izzo would like the NCAA to shorten the length of time in which coaches are able to evaluate recruits in order to allow coaches more time with their families. Coaches have very little time off from September to March, and a change in the rules would also allow them more time to spend with their teams during the season. Izzo admits that his words go “on deaf ears,” but he thinks teams could get the same players even if the rules were changed.
4. Iowa has three freshmen in its starting lineup this year, which means that some veterans have had to embrace bench roles. Zach McCabe and Melsahn Basabe, in particular, have given up playing time for the newcomers, but they’re OK with it if it helps the team. Coach Fran McCaffery is impressed with how his upperclassmen have bought into the program and accepted their new roles this season, even if it means they won’t be in the starting lineup. It’s not all bad for McCabe and Basabe, though, as both see minutes comparable to what the starters see. As long as they’re winning, the Hawkeye players don’t really care how it happens, even if that means sitting on the bench to start the game.
5. It’s mid-December, which means it’s cupcake season in college basketball. Ohio State picked up a routine 85-45 cupcake victory over Savannah State this week, which will put another tally in the win column for the Buckeyes, but Rob Oller wonders if the game was really that beneficial. It’s a way for players — especially role players — to gain confidence, but there isn’t much good that it does for the starters. Since it’s difficult for players to get up for this kind of game, coach Thad Matta was forced to exaggerate what Savannah State brings to the table, all adding up to a yawner. But if this kind of game can inspire confidence in the players, that, says Oller, is really all that’s important.

1. This. Is. Awesome. T. Boone Pickens, everybody’s favorite Oklahoma State alumnus, has purchased the 4,000 remaining tickets for a New Year’s Eve showdown with Gonzaga and will give them away for free. Considering the Cowboys’ surprising start and increased expectations, this might be one of OSU’s more important home games in some time. With as much greed and power in sports today, it’s nice to see a guy like T. Boone give some tickets away for us common people to enjoy.
2. We wrote a few days ago about the relative weakness of the Big 12 through the first month or so of the season. Here’s another look at the league’s early woes. This article digs deeper into the problem: Only Kansas and Baylor find themselves in the Top 100 of the RPI, and the conference as a whole has dropped to fifth. Stunningly, the Big 12 is also 0-5 against the Big Ten. The odd thing is that Oklahoma State is really the only team who has overachieved so far this season, but it’s early enough that Texas, West Virginia and several other teams could easily rebound.
3. Oklahoma seems to have a lot of interesting characters on this roster. Buddy Hield made an earlier appearance in the Morning Five for his fun-loving antics, and here’s a look now at fellow freshman Isaiah Cousins. He brings a New York City attitude to the Sooners, a style of play often found up East but not normally in leagues like the Big 12. As teammate Romero Osby puts it, “Guys from New York City are always edgy.” Fair enough.
4. The John Beilein days at West Virginia seem far removed. Hard to believe that less than a decade ago, Kevin Pittsnogle and the crew roamed Morgantown and created a semi-powerhouse in the Big East. His departure to Michigan wasn’t all that messy, and that’s why his match-up against the Mountaineers this weekend in Brooklyn shouldn’t be too awkward for him. Plus, West Virginia got another hometown man with Bob Huggins, and it seems to be sailing along just fine after a Final Four appearance in 2010. So don’t expect to hear the Boo Birds out in full force in Brooklyn on Saturday.
5. To end this edition of the Morning Five, we’ll point you to a story that doesn’t necessarily relate to the Big 12 but involves a current coach in the league. We all know Bruce Weber‘s reign at Illinois did not end very well. He found a good gig at Kansas State and never looked back. But his old team has taken off under new head coach John Groce. He’s not bringing up last year, though. At all. “I haven’t certainly talked to them about it at this juncture and maybe in large part of it is I wasn’t here last year and don’t have relevance to that,” he said. No matter Weber’s involvement with this Illinois team, he’s in a decent position in Manhattan and it was certainly time for him and the Illini to part ways. It’s interesting to see how his old guys have fared, however. Maybe he wishes he’d had just one more year in Champaign.

1. The past will meet the present for Michigan and coach John Beilein on Saturday in Brooklyn, when the Wolverines meet West Virginia at the new Barclays Center. It’s the first time Beilein has coached against his former team after leaving WVU for Michigan in 2007. In a conference call Wednesday, Beilein explained to reporters that he left Morgantown because he saw an “opportunity” at Michigan and the chance to rebuild a program. He’s certainly done that, having led the Wolverines to a 10-0 start this season. But the man who couldn’t pass up one rebuilding project insists he isn’t on the lookout for another. “There is no other one,” he said. “There is no other one. It’s been a great journey so far to have been a bit of a nomadic coach and change (jobs) several times. But there is a time when you say, ‘OK, I really want to stay with this one and make the most of it.'”
2. For years, the Big Ten has had the reputation as a slow, grind-it-out conference that relies heavily on defense and rebounding and puts a premium on scoring. No matter how badly Tom Izzo wants his team to get out on the fast break, for example, or how many points high-scoring, faster-paced teams like Iowa or Indiana put up, the Wisconsin games that finish with final scores in the 40s and 50s are what fans will always associate with the conference. But the early returns on this season show the conference leading the nation in scoring  — an average of 73.1 PPG — with the Hoosiers leading the country at 89.1 PPG. Some Big Ten coaches (Bo Ryan for one) insist that you can’t base the conference on the non-conference play alone, while others like Bill Carmody and Tom Crean argue that the slow pace can be a common misconception.
3. Once upon a time, Illinois had one of the most rowdy fan bases in the country and Assembly Hall was one of the most terrifying places to play not just in the Big Ten but around the nation. That’s not so much the case anymore, writes the News-Gazette‘s Loren Tate. He points to the crowds that started flocking in 2001 and Bill Self’s clubs that sold out the arena for 28 of 40 home games during three seasons. But the Fighting Illini haven’t sold out a home game in four years, and Tate is pointing to dates like February 7 against Indiana as a game where Illinois fans might want to act quickly to snag tickets before opposing teams that travel well snatch them up.
4. Ohio State‘s Trey McDonald played all of 38 total minutes in his freshman season last year, but has already emerged as a possible darkhorse contributor for the Buckeyes this year. He played a career-high 14 minutes on Saturday against Long Beach State and saw some solid minutes early in the game before the time he usually comes in if a game is out of hand. Thad Matta, who has been saying all season that he’d like to use his bench more this year, insists that McDonald’s hard work is starting to pay off and he’s being rewarded with more minutes. “I’ve watched the evolution of Trey and the progress he’s made since he got here,” Matta said, according to theozone.net, “There’s no doubt in my mind his best basketball is right around the corner.”
5. After spending his last two seasons at Western Nebraska Community College, Mike Peltz is starting to feel right at home in Lincoln. Lee Barfknecht calls Peltz Tim Miles’ “Swiss Army Knife” in the sense that Peltz is a versatile player who can impact the game in an assortment of ways. The walk-on has appeared in each of the Huskers’ games this year and said the do-everything role is right up his alley. “I’m living my dream,” Peltz said. “I’m having a blast. It’s my role to provide energy and take care of the ball or guard the other team’s best player. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.”

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 been through over four weeks of hoops and most of the Big Ten teams have played at least eight games on their non-conference schedule. At the beginning of the season, there were a handful of coaches who were not necessarily on the hot seat but definitely had something to prove over the first few games. Tubby Smith had to deal with all of the offcourt issues with Trevor Mbakwe and his assistant coach Saul Smith. There were a few questions about how John Beilein could run his offense without a designated three-point gunner in the halfcourt. Illinois’ John Groce convinced people of his recruiting skills by nabbing a top 25 recruiting class for next season, but his coaching abilities at the top level had yet to be seen. After the first few weeks, let’s examine which coaches from the B1G helped themselves and in some cases just flat-out have surprised everybody with their performance.

After four weeks of basketball, Tubby Smith has managed to keep the Gophers focused after a tumultuous offseason. (AP)

• Tubby Smith: The most important task for Smith coming into this season was to divert attention to the game on the court and he has been able to successfully do that during the Gophers’ first 10 games. Even removing all of the all of the issues off the court, Smith had to prepare for some adversity this season because of Mbakwe’s recovery. It wasn’t clear if his star big man would be in 100% game shape after losing the entire B1G season to a foot injury last year, and his other issues made it even tougher for Smith to keep his team focused. But rather than rely on Mbakwe to save his team, he has turned to his experienced guards and wings to produce an impressive 10-1 record thus far. Mbakwe has only averaged 17.9 MPG and has not been the primary offensive option for the Gophers yet, as he averages only 8.5 PPG. Guards Joe Coleman, Austin Hollins and Andrew Hollins have taken a leadership role and have been Smith’s voice on the court. The trio of guards are averaging 35.9 PPG which is 46% of the total offensive production by the Gophers. Putting aside their offensive statistics, it is very clear that Smith is communicating effectively with his guards, and together, they have had a calming presence on the overall Gopher basketball program. As long as the Gophers don’t suffer the injury bug and Mbakwe can slowly recover to dominate the boards again, Smith’s stock will only continue to rise during the rest of the season. Read the rest of this entry »

1. With the movement we had seen from some very prominent schools in the past few weeks and the relatively meager TV deal offered to the Big East we figured it was only a matter of time before something big happened with the conference. It looks like that event may be on the verge of happening as the conference’s seven Catholic, non-FBS schools met with the conference’s commissioner to discuss the direction of the league in a move that some say might be the first step in a process that could lead to the dissolution of the league. As the anonymous sources say it is very early in the process, but it has been clear that this is a league in decline with the moves we have seen in conference realignment. We will have to take a wait-and-see approach with this story, but two things stand out: the report that Madison Square Garden may no longer host the Big East Tournament if the Big East continues to have its membership change and that member schools are concerned that the entrance of Tulane will affect its RPI, which in Twitter terms would be a #midmajorproblem.
2. We always take whatever we hear on social media sites with a grain of salt unless the information is coming for a highly reputable source, but the reports surrounding a reported incident involving Michael Carter-Williams at a Lord & Taylor seem suspicious at best and led to a fair amount of reckless speculation on some gossip sites that thought they were breaking news. When reports first surfaced on Sunday afternoon with what was reported to be pictures of Michael Carter-Williams being led away in handcuffs by a (giant) security guard. We haven’t had much in the way of a statement from the school, which is what we would expect given the evidence, but both the store and Carter-Williams are offering what is probably most accurately described as non-denial denials. Given the lack of reasonable evidence we doubt anything will come of it (until Syracuse goes on the road in conference play).
3. This week’s edition of his Fast Break is filled with Seth Davis’ usual accolades highlighting the best and worst of the past week as well as an interview with John Beilein in which the Michigan head coach talks about his team that is quietly in the top five of almost every poll out there. Davis also attempts to defend the “Texas Tip-Off” (Mark Hollis’ idea to play four games at the same time in the same building) by comparing it to the Wright Brothers initial attempts to fly. We usually think Seth is a pretty reasonable guy, but we can’t defend him on this one. Maybe next week Seth will propose playing every NCAA Tournament game at the same site with all 32 first round games being played at the same time with the stands being combined for the 16 second round games that would be played at the same time and so on.
4. With all the negative stories about college athletes that are out there so it is nice to occasionally find a positive one such as the one that Diamond Leung wrote about Adreian Payne, the Michigan State center who has managed to put together an impressive in-class resume despite the rigors of being a student-athlete and having ADHD. Payne, who was not diagnosed with ADHD until arriving in East Lansing, should serve as evidence of the support that athletes can get if they are interested in being successful off the court. You probably won’t hear Payne’s story mentioned on national TV like you might if Payne played for another program so it is nice to hear about some of the good stories in other areas of college basketball.
5. Trey Zeigler may have garnered the most attention for his decision to transfer after his father’s dismissal as head coach, but he is not the only player to transfer after his father lost his job. Billy Baron is one other notable case as he transferred to Cansius from Rhode Island after his father switched jobs. Baron might not have the talent that Zeigler does, but his season has been more successful (or at the very least less controversial). Barron has helped put Cansius at the top of the MAAC with the biggest test of their season coming up on Saturday as they travel to Syracuse. If Cansius makes it to the NCAA Tournament this is a story you will be hearing much more about in March.

1. Indiana sophomore guard Austin Etherington is out for the remainder of the season due to a fractured patella. Etherington went down during the Hoosiers’ 100-69 win over the weekend against Central Connecticut State when he was carried off the court in front of a packed house at Assembly Hall. The sophomore has averaged 1.9 PPG during 6.7 MPG so far this season, but the loss is unlikely to hurt Tom Crean’s team because he probably would have seen fewer minutes once Hanner-Parea and Peter Jurkin come back from their suspensions. Nonetheless, getting some playing time during his sophomore season would have helped Etherington to build for next season, but his recovery will be the main focus over the next few months.
2. The Minnesota Gophers’ win against USC on the road Saturday night, 71-57, was Tubby Smith’s 500th career victory. He becomes the 19th active head coach in Division I basketball to reach 500 wins, joining Bo Ryan and John Beilein as one of the three B1G coaches to be included in this exclusive list. Smith cited “longevity” as the main reason behind his milestone and said that he was “fortunate” to have coached at good programs such as Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky and Minnesota. The Gophers have been very impressive so far this season (10-1) and it is very likely that Smith could add another 15 or more Ws this season to his career wins total.
3. Ohio State sophomore wing Laquinton Ross is learning to be patient and efficiently use his playing time to impress head coach Thad Matta. Ross only played 11 minutes in the Buckeyes’ loss to Duke over a week ago but he scored nine points and pulled down three boards. Since then, he has seen more playing time and is proving his worth to Matta during his time on the court. Ross played 22 minutes in the Buckeyes’ rout against Long Beach State, 89-55, and scored 16 points along with nine rebounds. He will continue to come off the bench until he improves his on-ball defense and understands his assignments on the defensive end. Matta told Ross “not to take it for granted,” and the 6’8″ sophomore is utilizing any chance he gets to provide the offensive spark to the Buckeyes.
4. The Michigan freshman class is more than Mitch McGary, Nik Stauskas and Glenn Robinson III. Freshman guard Spike Albrecht has provided valuable minutes off the bench and his play allowed Trey Burke to get some much-needed rest against Arkansas over the weekend. Albrecht has been playing about seven minutes per game but gives Burke a breather as he handles the ball in the half court. Michigan is unbeaten and has plenty of talent on their roster, but John Beilein needs to make sure he rotates his players efficiently so that Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. stay healthy and fresh for a run in March. With Albrecht playing eight minutes against Arkansas and not turning the ball over during his time in the game, Beilein can afford to give Burke some rest and save him for crunch time.
5. The Iowa Hawkeyes snapped their three-game losing skid to in-state rival Iowa State and head coach Fran McCaffery thinks it was their best game so far this season. The Hawkeyes won 80-71 with sophomore forward Aaron White scoring 18 points at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. McCaffery was very impressed with his team’s defensive effort as they held the Cyclones to 34% shooting during the second half. The Hawkeyes’ depth allowed him to rotate the players efficiently throughout the game which helped to maintain a very high defensive intensity. Freshman point guard Mike Gesell also impressed his head coach by turning his game around during the second half after a shooting slump during the first half. Gesell drove the lane more because his jumpers were not falling and he finished 6-6 at the free throw line for a total of 11 points in the win.