Standings

1. Purdue 12-4

2. Northwestern 10-5

3. Indiana, Maryland, Iowa 9-6

6. Illinois, MSU 8-6

8. Rutgers, Michigan 8-7

10. Wisconsin 7-8

11. PSU 6-9

12. Nebraska 6-10

13. OSU 3-12

14. Minnesota 1-12

Thursday, February 16th

Maryland Terrapins 68, Purdue Boilermakers 54

MaximumSam: Heck of a fun game - the Terps and the fans brought the juice and Purdue once again struggled to shoot straight (2-13 from deep). The game was broken in the second half when Maryland went on a 27-4 run to put the game away. Purdue is now in real danger of not winning the conference, though they do have three home games left.

BoilerUp89: Heck of a run for the Turtles in this game. They outrebounded Purdue by double digits which is an overlooked part of why they won the game.

Something to watch if you are a Purdue fan or degenerate gambler: Purdue has really struggled shooting threes when the game ball isnt a Nike one. Maryland, Northwestern, and Indiana all use either Wilson or Spaulding. Oh, and the NCAA tournament does not use a Nike ball.

Iowa Hawkeyes 92, Ohio State Buckeyes 75

MaximumSam: Kind of amazing that the Buckeyes were hovering around tenth in the FancyStats earlier in the season. They seem to get worse every time they play.

BoilerUp89: I did not watch this.

Saturday, February 18th

#35 Illinois Fighting Illini (17-8, 8-6) at #30 Indiana Hoosiers (18-8, 9-6), 11 am, ESPN

MaximumSam: Important game - both of these teams still have a shot at the conference and games against Purdue remaining. The Hoosiers won the first game behind a dynamite performance from TJD, who had 35. Illinois put on their Bizarro face, as they shot the ball well from three (8-19) but were terrible from 2 (16-43). Torvik goes Hoosiers, 76-71.

BoilerUp89: Shannon is out for this game. Thats a big loss. We will see if Illinois figured out they have to guard TJD since their last game.

#27 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (16-10, 8-7) at #73 Wisconsin Badgers (15-10, 7-8), 11 am, BTN

MaximumSam: Rutgers has looked rough since losing Mawot Mag, and now find themselves on the road and needing a win. Unfortunately, Wisconsin also needs a win to stay near the bubble. Two big B1G games where everyone needs a win? Why not play them at the same time? Torvik goes Knights, 59-58.

BoilerUp89: Zombie Badgers get a struggling Rutgers team that has lost its way recently since the injury to Mag. Rutgers doesn't have a lot of depth so injuries are killer. Rutgers doesn't have the strongest non-conference resume, so they could really use another three wins. Wisconsin represents one of the more likely scenarios to get to three.

#28 Michigan State Spartans (16-9, 8-6) at #54 Michigan Wolverines (14-12, 8-7), 7 pm, FOX

MaximumSam: Sparty still has a shot at the conference, though they lose the tiebreaker to Purdue so it is pretty unlikely. Of course, if their game against Minny isn’t made up, they won’t be tied with them so you math wizards will have to figure it out. They head to Michigan, who has been pretty weird in their ability to be competitive and lose to nearly everyone. Torvik goes Sparty 67-66.

BoilerUp89: The rivalry takes a back seat after the events of this week. I have no idea where the head space of MSU will be, but most of us will be rooting for them.

#52 Penn State Nittany Lions at (15-11, 6-9) at #232 Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-16, 1-12), 8 pm, BTN

MaximumSam: Penn State can still play their way into the tourney, though at least I understand why they bury this game onto Saturday night.

BoilerUp89: Penn State still has a path to an at large bid. That path requires this one though.