There were four games around the Big Ten on Saturday night, let’s take a look at each game.
Indiana basketball did not play on Saturday night, but they did gain ground on the top dogs of the conference when Northwestern fell to the Terrapins of Maryland. On Friday night, Indiana took care of the Golden Gophers to move to 7-7 in conference play, and 14-12 overall. Saturday night in the Big Ten featured one of the best matchups all season long in conference play as Michigan St. took on Purdue in a contest of two top-five teams. Let’s take a look at how all the teams fared on Saturday night.
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Northwestern vs Maryland
In a game of two underwhelming teams, Northwestern traveled to Maryland looking to hold on to the 7th spot in the Big Ten conference. Just as they have been all season, Northwestern was extremely inconsistent in the game, as they fell to Maryland 73-57. Sensation Scottie Lindsey scored a team-high 20 points on 40-percent shooting from the field. Last year’s darling Bryant McIntosh finished finished with a season-low 0 points in 28 minutes.
For Maryland, everything seemed to be falling for them. They shot 27-51(52.9%) from the field, and 9-21(42.9%) from three-point land, while going 10-11(90.9%) from the charity stripe. Even with the win, Maryland stays in the eighth spot in the conference, and a 17-10 record overall.
Rutgers vs Nebraska
We’re not going to get too deep into this game, as it was the most lopsided game of the night. Nebraska is fourth in the Big Ten conference, while Rutgers sits at the bottom, as usual. And just as we all expected, the Cornhuskers came away from this one with a 67-55 victory. Can you imagine if Corey Sanders had anything resembling talent around him?
Ohio State vs Iowa
If you were to tell me before the season that Iowa and Ohio State would be on separate ends of the conference I would have expected Iowa to be near the top and Ohio State near the bottom. However, over a month into conference play, the Buckeyes continue to prove that they can win the Big Ten conference.
Coming off a huge win over Purdue on Wednesday night, the Ohio State players could have came into this game playing down their opponent and losing an easy victory. However they did the exact opposite. Potential player of the year in the conference, Keita Bates-Diop finished the game with 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Michigan State vs Purdue
In the game of the night in college basketball, Purdue traveled to Michigan St. hoping to bounce back from Wednesday’s loss to Ohio State. And despite Isaac Haas dropping 25 points on the Spartans, they failed to come away with a victory. One of the x-factors for Purdue losing this game was their 3-point shooting. As one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, nobody expects them to shoot 30-percent from beyond the arc, but that’s exactly what they did.
Despite just two points from potential top-ten pick Jaren Jackson Jr., the Spartans received 20 points from the other lottery pick they have, as Miles Bridges led them to the victory. Next up for Purdue will be a contest against Wisconsin on Thursday night, for Michigan State their next game will be against Minnesota on Tuesday.
Next: IU Football: Three players poised for a breakout season in 2018
Despite not playing on Saturday, the Hoosiers gained ground on Ohio State. If Indiana can somehow find a way to secure a first-round bye during the Big Ten Tournament, they might be a scary threat during the tournament.