We’ve got Big Ten Tournament seeding, there’s bracketology forthcoming, but in the meantime, let’s talk about what happened!
rutger 62, Illinoi 59
The ‘s’ just floats off into the ether, to roam the netherworld of letters.
I apologize for having forgotten to post Thump’s preview of this game, because it was excellent:
Fighting Illini,
this team was supposed to dance,
But then they started failin'
And yet at this point
They just might still have a chance
They finally benched JaylonAm I dense?
Are they playing defense?
Does this make sense?
I want Hill to dance, but nowThis Rutgers game is killing me
But I, somehow I claim
I still believe (STILL BELIEVE)
So inconsistent I lose my mind
This game's the liiiiiiiiiine
Crush me John Groce one more time
And now his recap:
Thump: We delivered. I knew it was coming. With every win in our little streak, this loss became more inevitable. What is there left to say? The whole is less than the sum of its parts, and it always has been under John Groce.
Goodnight sweet prince. Go be bald somewhere else.
Indiana 96, Ohio State 92
Candystripes: lol is basketball still going on?
If the NIT wants whatever's left of Indiana's season, I think they'd go. Just no "pay to play" tournaments. Also, still not a guarantee that Tom Crean will be IU's head coach next year.
Also we had this conversation in the OTE bball Slack channel and I’m pretty proud of it:
WSR: So right now we're possibly looking at 2-3 new coaches next year?
What would it take for Thad Matta's chair to get a little warmer?MNW: Well it's higher off the ground, so a bigger flame.
Try the veal, folks.
Maryland 63, Michigan State 60
This should suffice for a recap, right?
.@_STAYMELO, folks. https://t.co/BkwAKPoDuz
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 4, 2017
Andrew K: MSU dropped yet another road game, but for the first time since they roughed up Nebraska in Lincoln many moons ago, the performance didn't make me grind my teeth. Nick Ward and Miles Bridges almost made up for the MSU backcourt getting solidly outplayed by the Terps guards, and the game was tied with about 7 seconds left when Cassius Winston threaded a perfect in-stride pass to Ward, flashing to the hoop - except Ward fumbled it away.
Trimble then chucked one more three, and hit bottom as the clock expired. Definitely a win MSU should have had, and probably one Ward will remember for a long time, but onward to the single bye MSU goes now.
DJ: This game felt exactly like the Purdue game, all the way down to almost putting MSU out of their misery halfway through the second half only to squander the lead and allow them back into the game. The difference was Maryland had the final possession this time and delivered after both teams forgot what offense was for a large part of the last three minutes of the game.
This may have been Melo Trimble's last home game and that was a great way to end it with his buzzer beater three to win the game. He should probably come back another year but that is a different conversation. I'd love it just to spite Izzo, who apparently will never turn down a chance to shit on Melo when asked about him.
Maryland still took too many three's but they got the double bye and the easier path for a chance at a BTT title.
Iowa 90, Penn State 79
Aaron Yorke: I didn't see any of this game, but it looks like even a Penn State win wouldn't have been enough to achieve a bye in the Big Ten Tournament.
If you showed me the stat lines from Josh Reaves and Mike Watkins up front, I'd have predicted wonderful things, but it turns out that everyone else on the team was very bad. Shep Garner and Payton Banks in particular make me mad all the time, but it's cool that Reaves had such a breakout game. His three-point shot has gotten better this year, and he has two-way star potential if he can utilize his athleticism more on offense.
Overall, the offensive effort wasn't that bad for the Lions, but they just got crushed on defense by Peter Jok, Nicholas Baer, and the rest of a much deeper Iowa team.
Stew: Iowa ran PSU off the damn floor.
On senior day, Peter Jok had to sit out almost the entire first half with foul trouble, but still came back and scored a team high 21 points, to go out on a high note. At one point Iowa was up 25 points before letting up on the gas, and PSU freshman phenom, Tony Carr, got a frustration tech because of the beat down. Nicholas Baer (the hunchback), also filled up the stat sheet finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals (in 23 minutes!).
Iowa has now won 4 in a row and appears to have played their way back on the bubble. My guess is they'll need to make it to Saturday (the semis) in the BTT to force the issue.
Purdue 69, Northwestern 65
MNW: Vince Edwards’ 25 points paced the Boilermakers past the ‘Cats, as Dererk Pardon held off Caleb Swanigan (20 pts, 14 boards) for as long as he could without consistent double-teams. Edwards was especially strong on back-cuts to the basket when the ball got into the post and Northwestern couldn’t hold them off down the stretch.
It was a disappointing end to Welsh-Ryan Arena v1.0 and for the NU seniors, as Nathan Taphorn could never get going and Sanjay Lumpkin’s 13 points and 7 boards couldn’t account for a 5/24 day from the field for Vic Law and Scottie Lindsey. Bryant McIntosh still had 25 and 6 assists for the ‘Cats, who could use a win against Ohio State or rutger to make sure I’m not chugging Pepto-Bismol for the next week.
Either way, a credit to Purdue for pounding it inside to Swanigan and getting to the line. They are for sure the Big Ten champs for a reason, and Northwestern missed a big chance on a day where the Boilermakers didn’t have it from deep.
wisconsin 66, Minnesota 49
WhiteSpeedReceiver: I'm very happy I was cooking dinner and parenting during the 2nd half. Yeesh, we made enough stupid mistakes in the first half. We probably should have been up a dozen at the break.
Michigan 93, Nebraska 57
BigRedTwice: I'm glad I wasn't announcing this game: Walton, Wagner, Wilson, Webster, Watson. Whew.
I'm also glad I wasn't announcing this game because it was terrible. The Huskers started as badly as a team could, with five turnovers in the first four minutes of the game, leading to a 14-4 hole that the Huskers were never able to climb out of. Nebraska's offense, though never good this season, was competent enough to keep them in most games during conference play.
Regrettably, it descended straight past bad to putrid during the final few games of the season. Combined with the realization by most opponents--including Michigan tonight to great effect--that they can shoot threes with impunity against the Huskers, this was another gruesome game.
Graham Filler: I like the big guy from Nebraska, Tshonga Biakabatuka or whatever his name is. Other than that...Michigan raining threes is so fun to watch, along with MAAR slashing to the bucket and Walton playing very successful hero ball.
Blowing out Indiana, MSU, and Nebby show that the Wolverines have another gear. Tough first round NCAA matchup for anyone.
There you have it! Talk about the weekend here. Who surprised you?