Around the Big 10 (Basketball): Feb. 11

Story posted February 12, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Thomas English

With another week of the college basketball season wrapping up, the Big Ten had some important games that have shaken up the conference standings.

The Big Ten has five teams currently inside the Top-25 in this week’s rankings with those teams being No. 3 Purdue, No. 13 Illinois, No. 14 Wisconsin, No. 16 Ohio State and No. 17 Michigan State.

Illinois still sits at the top of the conference after a blowout win against Indiana, but a big loss to Purdue keeps them tied for first with Wisconsin.

Purdue was able to outscore Illinois by 18 in the second half to win the game by a score of 84-68. Jaden Ivey led the Boilermakers with 26 points.

Johnny Davis and the Wisconsin Badgers were able to get two Big Ten wins over Penn State and Michigan State. The Badgers face a tricky matchup in Rutgers in their next game.

Purdue has clawed their way back to within a half game of first place in the conference after big wins against Michigan and Illinois.

The Boilermakers would then be upset by the Wolverines just five days after beating them by a score of 82-76.

Moving on to Michigan State, the Spartans are fourth in the Big Ten after losing big to Rutgers and dropping another to Wisconsin. Michigan State will battle Trayce Jackson-Davis and the Indiana Hoosiers in their next contest.

After beating Maryland rather easily, the Ohio State Buckeyes dropped their next game to Rutgers by a score of 66-64. The loss puts them in fifth place in the Big Ten with a tough matchup in their next game against a Michigan team that is starting to find their groove.

Rutgers and Michigan round out the top half of the Big Ten as both teams have won their last two games. Three of their combined four wins were over ranked teams.

Hunter Dickinson, who was listed on the Midseason Top-25 Wooden Award Watch, has turned it on for the Wolverines and has scored 20 or more points in four of their last five games.

In the bottom half of the conference, Indiana and Iowa are trending in opposite directions with the Hoosiers dropping their last two games and the Hawkeyes claiming two wins.

The same situation occurs when looking at Northwestern and Penn State. The Wildcats were able to capture two Big Ten wins while the Nittany Lions lost two heartbreaking games. Both of Penn State’s losses were by two points or less.

Maryland and Minnesota continue to struggle in the Big Ten as they both lost their last two contests.

Meanwhile, the Nebraska Cornhuskers finally got their first Big Ten win as they defeated Minnesota by a score of 78-65. The Cornhuskers round out the Big Ten conference standings.

With the top half of the conference being separated by only two and a half games, the last few games will be crucial for each team heading into the Big Ten Tournament.

Big Ten fans should be excited for what could be a wild finish to the regular season and what will be an exciting Big Ten Conference Tournament.

 

Thomas English is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email tfe5082@psu.edu.