Monday, January 23rd

Northwestern Wildcats 66, Wisconsin Badgers 63

David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

BoilerUp89: Northwestern remains tied for 2nd place in the B1G loss column. If the season ended today, they would be getting a double bye in the Big Ten tournament.

Felt like Northwestern won this game because they made their free throws (16 of 18, including 5 of 6 from 45% free throw shooting Matthew Nicholson) while Wisconsin did not (just 9 of 16). Sometimes the game is that simple.

Boo Buie had 20 points to lead all scorers.

MNW: fetch my fainting divan

Tuesday, January 24th

#34 Penn State Nittany Lions (13-6, 4-4) at #15 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (13-6, 5-3), 5:30 pm, BTN

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

BoilerUp89: Penn State will try to drag Rutgers back into the crab pot while Rutgers tries to separate just a little bit from the pack. This is a classic offense vs defense matchup. Rutgers will challenge passing lanes and try to turn over the best turnover avoiders in the country. Penn State will shoot a lot of threes. Will the trapezoid of terror claim another victim? Or will a Penn State squad, used to playing games in front of dozens of fans, feed off the Rutgers crowd?

misdreavus79: Penn State was a missed shot away from winning outright last season, and that was a team that couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn last season. They’re the exact opposite this year, but their lack of size has them relying a bit too much on the three-point line.

Iowa, however, proved that you can keep the Scarlet Knights out of rhythm if you make your shots. The Lions just need to make sure that only Cliff Omoruyi gets his, as one-dimensional Rutgers is beatable Rutgers.

#19 Ohio State Buckeyes (11-8, 3-5) at #49 Illinois Fighting Illini (13-6, 4-4), 6 pm, ESPN

Joseph Scheller/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

BoilerUp89: Another big conference game as the Buckeyes look to continue righting the ship while the Illini need a bounce back game after getting pantsed by Indiana at home. Zed Key remains day-to-day, and his potential absence looms large. Illini has some bodies to throw at Ohio State and while they seemed to prefer leaving Trayce Jackson-Davis wide open, without Key the Illini would have a decisive advantage inside on both ends of the floor.

MaximumSam: Illinois is the House Targaryen of the Big Ten - flip a coin and either get greatness or craziness. Since December 10th they are 6-4 and with every game but one was decided by double digits (and that one was a nine point win over MSU). They get the Buckeyes, who have been 2-7 in single digit games, seemingly finding new and inventive ways to lose at the end all year. Hopefully Zed Key can go - should be some fun Dainja-Key battles in the post. Torvik sees this as a pure coin flip, but since that isn’t much of a prediction it goes OSU 76-75.