B1G Basketball Weekend Recap

With finals setting in across the nation the college basketball scene has slowed down for a bit.  We're also heading into the holidays, so teams generally slow down from 3 games a week to 1-2 so that they can let the players enjoy them as well.  That being said, there were no games Wednesday or Thursday last week, so a weekend recap it is.  Everyone played this weekend, which predictably resulted in a mid to top tier team letting down against a ranked opponent, a mid tier team dropping one to a cellar dweller in the SEC, and some cupcake beat downs.

Friday Game:

B1G 0-1

Iowa State at Iowa - YOU HAD ONE JOB IOWA.  Iowa State has now traveled to Iowa City in both football and basketball and taken out their in state foes this year.. yep.  Iowa State was without one of it's best players Bryce Dejean-Jones due to an arrest, which set things up nicely to take down an Iowa State team that is probably ranked a bit higher than it should be.  The game was relatively close in the first half with Iowa finishing it out down five.  That is where things got ugly with Iowa State opening the second half on a 21-2 run that Iowa could never recover from.  During the run Iowa turned it over four straight times and went 9 minutes without a field goal, ending their upset hopes of Iowa State.

Saturday Games:

B1G 5-3

Nicholls State at Wisconsin - Wisconsin routed Nicholls State 86-43, exactly doubling up their opponent in the one sided game.

Morehead State at Ohio State - Ohio State took down Morehead State 87-71, which can be fully summarized by this:

(h/t MC ClapYoHandz for this one from @ramzy on twitter)

USC Upstate at Maryland - This game was much closer than the previous two as Maryland defeated USC Upstate 67-57.  USC Upstate gave Maryland fits as they employed a 2-3 zone almost the entire game and Maryland was ice cold from 3 in the first half trying to combat it.  Maryland trailed 28-24 at the half before coming out in the second half seemingly woken up either by Coach Turgeon lighting a fire under them or the free bagels Maryland was giving out to students, not sure which.  Either way, Maryland came out on fire with Jake Layman scoring 16 of his 17 in the second half and freshman Melo Trimble doing his thing getting to the line and putting up his first double double with 14 points and 12 boards with 3 assists.

Grand Canyon at Indiana - I don't know why Indiana scheduled a national monument, but either way, they took them down 94-66 with a big second half after being up 9 going into the half.

Oregon at Illinois* - This one was played in Chicago on the Bulls home floor, but it's still in Illinois so we'll call it a home game even if they aren't Chicago's team.  Illinois was in control for almost this entire game, but just couldn't close it out.  Oregon went on an 11-0 run in the last four minutes of the game to take down Illinois in Chicago 77-70.  That's 3 of the last 4 that Illinois has dropped, all to quality teams but outside of the Baylor win they may leave the OOC schedule disappointed.  They still have Missouri left, but they are not at all good this year, not ranking in the Top 200 in points, rebounds, or assists.

Purdue at Vanderbilt - Purdue.  Let's have a talk.  No one, I repeat, no one, is supposed to lose to teams that Rutgers has been able to defeat.  Now that we've had that talk, let's not repeat this action in the future, ok? Final: 81-71 Vanderbilt.

Michigan at Arizona - Michigan might be in full on tailspin mode at this point after dropping their third in a row, not that they had much of a chance here.  This game was not pretty at all, and I'll just leave it there.  Arizona routed Michigan 80-53, and expanded said lead after the backups came in.

Cincinnati at Nebraska - Game of the day? Game of the day.  Nebraska hung on to take out Cincy 56-55 in double OT in a game that may of been mistaken for a Wisconsin game if you weren't looking closely.  Offense was not happening here where both teams ended up tied 44-44 at the end of regulation.  Nebraska gritted out the win in double OT in order to stop their skid of two games and avenge that loss to Incarnate Word, which probably still weighs more than this win in March.

Sunday Games:

B1G 4-0

Manhattan vs. Rutgers - This is a neutral site game technically and could be argued a home game to either team as they played in MSG for the MSG Holiday Festival.  Rutgers won 63-55 in an ugly game that featured 21 turnovers from Rutgers as Kadeem Jack led them with 24 points and 9 rebounds in the win.

Oakland at Michigan State - Michigan State routed Oakland 87-61 in a very one sided affair.  Izzo doesn't lose to inferior opponents and he continues to show it.  Michigan State may be losing those premiere games this year in the OOC, but Izzo will not let them lose to a cupcake as seems to be the thing so far with a lot of B1G teams.

Mississippi Valley State at Northwestern - Woooooooo NW can score points! Northwestern routed MSVU 101-49 in what is most assuredly going to be their highest scoring game of the year.  Also, 51 rebounds? Impressive.

George Washington at Penn State - Penn State continues the impressive run through the OOC with a 64-51 win over George Washington, who is an annual contender in the Atlantic 10.  Penn State had an average game from DJ Newbill who put up 20, 17 and 8 from Brandon Taylor, and a solid 6 blocks from Jordan Dickerson.  The 10-1 record is impressive, but for Penn State they'll need to knock off some top B1G teams to make some noise otherwise they may fall victim to the VT syndrome from a few years ago where they went 23-8 but missed the tourney due to the weak OOC strength of schedule.

That's it! I'll have a preview for the week up tomorrow, but there are no games until Wednesday as most players are probably attempting to get their finals in.