Thursday, February 2nd

Wisconsin Badgers 65, Ohio State Buckeyes 60

MaximumSam: The Buckeyes are a mess. Wisconsin isn’t good, but reasonably sound enough that they gave Ohio State fits all night on both ends. This game was only close because Wiscy pretty much just stopped looking to generate shots about midway through the second half. Otherwise, another beatdown for the Buckeyes, who seem to get worse by the day. Iffy defense and a complete allergy to passing the ball are the main issues. Their assist rate has dropped to near bottom of the country, and the whole offense is just guys trying to get in the lane. Not ideal.

Michigan Wolverines 68, Northwestern Wildcats 51

Saturday, February 4th

#44 Michigan State Spartans (14-8, 6-5) at #15 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (15-7, 7-4), 11 am, FOX

BoilerUp89: Live at Madison Square Garden, New York’s Big Ten team hosts the Spartans. It is officially a home game for Rutgers. In the last game between this teams, the Spartans defeated Rutgers by 13 in East Lansing. Sparty’s guards were strong with the basketball, they shot 54.5% from three and held Rutgers to just 2 of 17 behind the arc.

#37 Illinois Fighting Illini (16-6, 7-4) at #48 Iowa Hawkeyes (14-8, 6-5), 1:30 pm, FOX

BoilerUp89: I wonder if anything happened this week between Illinois and Iowa.

#3 Purdue Boilermakers (22-1, 11-1) at #32 Indiana Hoosiers (15-7, 6-5), 3 pm, ESPN

BoilerUp89: Good use of the Torvik rankings instead of the AP poll MaximumSam. No need to talk about #1 Purdue - not at all.

Indiana is coming off a tough road loss, Purdue has been rolling. The locals of Southern Indiana will be filled with fervor and zeal to see their Hoosiers face off against the hated Boilermakers.

Everyone expects this to be a battle between Edey and TJD, but I doubt they guard each other. The shooting of their accompanying pieces and the composure of the guards will be important for either team to secure the victory.

MaximumSam: I debated the use of the poll earlier in the year and figured FancyStats were the way to go. Probably wise, because otherwise there would be no rankings for anyone except for these two teams. In any event, the shine came off this one a bit with Indiana getting boned by Maryland. Still, Assembly Hall should be rocking and I expect a fun game. Torvik goes Boils, 71-68.

#52 Maryland Terrapins (15-7, 6-5) at #206 Minnesota Gophers (7-14, 1-10), 8 pm, BTN

BoilerUp89: If Maryland has taken a step forward they won’t fumble the ball against Minnesota. I should note however that Maryland currently has zero Big Ten road wins and just one road win all year. That came against Louisville. Last I checked, Minnesota is better than Louisville. Will that be enough for the Gophers to defeat Maryland?

MaximumSam: Hey, Louisville is on a one game win streak!