Posted by Patrick Engel on February 16th, 2016
Iowa is atop the Big Ten after Valentine’s Day, Indiana is (mostly) better defensively and Minnesota still hasn’t won a conference game. Those are typical of the team surprises, improvements and disappointments that appear over the course of every Big Ten season. The same thing happens on an individual level: some players seem to come out of nowhere, others take impressive leaps in production, and still others regress or plateau. With conference play now two-thirds finished, here are some of the biggest surprises, improvements and disappointments among this season’s Big Ten players.
![P.J. Thompson's ball-handling has helped give Purdue stability in the backcourt (Sandra Dukes-USA TODAY Sports).](http://rushthecourt.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/thompson.jpg)
P.J. Thompson’s ball-handling has helped give Purdue stability in the backcourt. (Sandra Dukes/USA TODAY Sports)
Biggest Surprises
- O.G. Anunoby, F, Indiana: The least-heralded member of Indiana’s freshman class is now a crucial part of its rotation. The Hoosiers found the freshman forward from Jefferson City, Missouri, while scouting another player, but he has been their best defender and owns the second-highest effective field goal percentage (64.8%) on the team (minimum 60 FGAs).
- Nicholas Baer, G/F, Iowa: An unknown freshman walk-on in November, Baer gives Iowa productive minutes off the bench. He makes 43 percent of his threes and 52 percent of his twos, but is also second on the team with 18 blocks. That versatility means that he can play the three or the four positions.
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| big ten, feature, microsites
| Tagged: aaron white, brandon taylor, bryn forbes, Carlos Morris, Dom Uhl, indiana, iowa, Jared Nickens, jarrod uthoff, mark donnal, maryland, Matt Costello, michigan, michigan state, minnesota, Nate Mason, nebraska, Nicholas Baer, O.G. Anunoby, p.j. thompson, penn state, peter jok, purdue, rapheal davis, tai webster, travis trice, vince edwards, vitto brown, wisconsin
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