Big Ten Weekly Men’s Basketball Central – Jan. 21-23

by | Jan 22, 2025 | Basketball, Headlines | 0 comments

Big Ten. Big News.

  • With each Big Ten team playing at least seven games, Michigan State remains atop the league standings at 7-0, followed closely by Purdue at 7-1 and Michigan at 6-1. Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois have each claimed six wins, while Oregon and Maryland are two of eight teams sitting at or above .500.
  • Michigan State enters this week’s action with just two losses. The Spartans are among a group of eight teams in the country with two or fewer losses. Oregon and Wisconsin join a group of 22 teams nationally with three of fewer defeats.
  • The Big Ten has collected 38 wins against Quad 1 opponents and 85 victories against Quad 1 and 2 teams combined. Oregon leads the Big Ten with seven Quad 1 victories, three more than Illinois, Purdue, and Michigan State, while the Boilermakers join the Ducks with nine wins over Quad 1 and 2 opponents combined.
  • Through games on Jan. 19, 13 different unranked Big Ten teams have scored wins over AP Top 25 teams, nearly double the next highest Division I conference. The SEC has seven such wins, one more than the Big 12.
  • Seven B1G teams were ranked or received votes in the Associated Press and/or USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls released on January 20. Michigan State led the way in the media poll at No. 8, followed by No. 11 Purdue, No. 15 Oregon, No. 17 Illinois, No. 18 Wisconsin, and No. 21 Michigan. The coaches also included the Spartans at No. 8, followed by the Boilermakers at 12, the Ducks at 15, the Illini at 17, the Badgers at 19, and the Wolverines at 20. Maryland also received votes in both polls.
  • Nine Big Ten teams were ranked in the top 40 and 14 in the top 65 in the NET Rankings through games on January 20. Illinois leads the way at No. 8, followed by No. 10 Purdue, No. 12 Michigan, No. 16 Michigan State, No. 21 Wisconsin, No. 22 Oregon, and No. 24 Maryland. UCLA, Ohio State, Penn State, and Nebraska also rank in the top 50. Only the SEC has more teams in the top 40 (12), while its 14 top 65 entrants match the Big Ten.
  • Nine of the Big Ten’s 18 teams rank in the top 40 of the Kenpom Ratings entering games on Jan. 21, one shy of the SEC for the most of any conference in the country. Illinois leads the way at No. 9, followed by No. 10 Purdue, No. 11 Michigan, No. 13 Michigan State, No. 21 Wisconsin, No. 23 Maryland, No. 25 Oregon, No. 31 UCLA, and No. 34 Ohio State.
  • Milestone Watch… Congratulations to Maryland’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie who eclipsed 1,000 career points in Maryland’s win over Nebraska… Congratulations to Nebraska’s Juwan Gary and Andrew Morgan, who recorded their 1,000th career points against Maryland… Michigan State’s Tom Izzo has collected 350 Big Ten wins, just three shy of tying Bob knight’s all-time conference wins mark.
  • On Monday, the Big Ten announced its weekly men’s basketball awards. Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn was named Player of the Week, while Rutgers’ Ace Bailey collected Freshman of the Week honors, both winning their second weekly awards of the season. Kaufman-Renn, who was also named Naismith Men’s College Basketball Player of the Week, averaged 21.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game, leading No. 11 Purdue to a pair of road victories. The junior paired 23 points, including 9-for-9 from the free throw line, and 11 rebounds in a 65-58 win at then-No 13 Oregon and scored 19 points, including six in the second half, in a come-from-behind 69-58 win over Washington.
  • Bailey averaged 22 points, 10.5 rebounds. 3.0 assists, and 3.0 blocked shots, as Rutgers scored a pair of wins.  The freshman posted 24 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and a game-sealing steal in the final minute of an 85-82 win at Nebraska. Bailey was the first freshman to reach that stat line since 2021 (Duke’s Jalen Johnson), a stat line of that caliber had been done only eight times previously since 2005, and only once by a Big Ten player (Ohio State’s Greg Oden vs. Tennessee). Bailey also led the Scarlet Knights with 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 75-68 win over UCLA, becoming third Division I player this season to have a game with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, two assists, and one steal.
  • Indiana’s 77-76 overtime at Ohio State marked the first time the Hoosiers have won consecutive games in Columbus since 1995-1996. It was also Indiana’s first road overtime win since topping Northwestern on Feb. 10, 2021 in Evanston.
  • After their win over Nebraska, the Terps are 12-1 at home, tied for the second-most home wins among all teams in Division I. Only Missouri (14-0) has more home wins than the Terps.
  • Michigan has started the season 9-0 at home for the first time since the 2020-21 season, when U-M rattled off 12 straight wins at Crisler.
  • Michigan State has won 11 straight games, its longest since winning 13 in a row in 2018-19. The Spartans are also 7-0 in conference play, the first time MSU has started at least 7-0 since winning its first nine conference games in 2018-19.
  • After Saturday’s win at Oregon, Purdue’s junior and senior class has now won in every possible Big Ten arena that it has played in (15 different arenas). The junior class will get the chance to win in every Big Ten arena next season when the Boilermakers travel to UCLA and USC.
  • Rutgers’ Ace Bailey recorded 30 points in Monday’s loss at Penn State, Bailey shot 13-of-15 from the field (86.7%), the third most field goals made in a Big Ten game for an RU player, and the second highest shooting percentage of any qualified RU player in a league game, just behind Caleb McConnell’s 8-of-8 performance against Nebraska in January of 2020.
  • In their win over Iowa, the Bruins led at the intermission, 57-24. That marked UCLA’s highest point total in a half since 2016 and the program’s largest halftime lead since an 100-70 win at home versus James Madison on Nov. 15, 2012. The Bruins led James Madison by 34 points (63-29) at halftime in that contest in 2012.
  • Wisconsin’s win over USC marked the Badgers’ seventh straight victory, including 5 in a row in conference play. This marks the 3rd time in the last 4 seasons that UW has put together a Big Ten win streak of five games or longer.
  • With one nonconference game remaining, the Big Ten owns a 160-37 record in nonconference games, besting last season’ 144 nonconference victories. Among those wins, the B1G was 122-7 (.946) at home. The Big Ten’s 160 wins and .812 nonconference win percentage sit behind only the SEC’s 185 wins and .889 (185-23) win percentage.
  • The 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 12-16. This will mark the 14th time the tournament has been held in Indianapolis. The tournament will be the first to feature a 15-team field and begin with three games on Wednesday, March 12. Peacock will televise the opening three games of the 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, with second-round and quarterfinal games on Thursday and Friday slated for Big Ten Network. For the 28th consecutive year, CBS Sports will broadcast the semifinals and championship game on CBS, with those games also streaming live on Paramount+.

Related Stories

Valpo U WBB Battle Back Before Falling at Missouri State

Beacons Battle Back Before Falling at Missouri State  The Valpo women’s basketball team battled back from a double-digit deficit in the first quarter to briefly take the lead in the second period and was still tied with MVC-leading Missouri State into the second half...

Valpo MBB Falls at Evansville on Sunday

Valpo Falls at Evansville on Sunday The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team dropped Sunday night’s visit to the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. 79-69 to host Evansville despite four Beacons tallying double figures in the scoring column, led by freshman All...

KOPSEA’S KORNER – 2024-25 BASKETBALL – VOLUME 11

SENSATIONAL SEVEN Saint Joseph (17-3): Nick Shrewsberry drained 20 points in the No. 4 (Class 3A) Huskies’ 57-54 win over Marian. Warsaw (18-4): Mydin Burgher’s 15 points helped the No. 4 (Class 4A) Tigers claim the outright the Northern Lakes Conference title with a...

2024-25 IBCA BOYS’ BASKETBALL POLL – FEBRUARY 16, 2025

1             Fishers (22)                        440        21-0 2             Avon                                      395        18-2 3             Indianapolis Cathedral   360        16-4 4             Greenfield-Central           356        18-3 5            ...

IHSAA Girls Basketball Semistate Pairings Revealed

The semistate rounds in the 50th Annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament were randomly drawn this afternoon as the 32 remaining teams learned their opponents and the location of their games. Semistate games are scheduled for next Saturday (Feb. 22) at eight...

Indiana Makes It Nine-Straight Barn Burner Trophy Wins In Rout Of Purdue

Indiana Makes It Nine-Straight Barn Burner Trophy Wins In Rout Of Purdue   BLOOMINGTON, Ind.  –  Indiana notched its ninth-straight win in the Barn Burner Trophy series and 12th straight in the all-time series in a 78-58 on Saturday afternoon at Simon Skjodt Assembly...

IUSB women’s basketball defeat Viterbo, 65-57

SOUTH BEND, Ind.- The Indiana University South Bend Titans (18-7, 11-7 CCAC) defeated the Viterbo University V-Hawks (14-12, 7-11 CCAC) by a final score of 65-57 on Senior Day as seniors Sullivan Kessler, Amaya Rufus were honored. Back and forth through the entire...

No.6 Grace MBB plows past No.10 Bethel

MISHAWAKA, Ind.--The anticipation for the biggest battle in the Crossroads League race between the No. 10 Bethel Pilots (20-6, 13-3) and the No. 6 Grace Lancers (21-5, 13-3) could be felt throughout Gates Gymnasium as both teams took the court to warm up. Fans waited...

Bethel WBB outlast rival Grace, 60-56

Bethel WBB outlast rival Grace, 60-56 MISHAWAKA, Ind.-- The Bethel Pilots (13-13, 6-10) triumphed over the Grace Lancers (10-16, 3-13) on Saturday in the Gates Gymnasium 60-56. Gracie Lambes posted 15 points for the Bethel offense, shooting 5-10 from the floor (50%)...

IUSB MBB hang on to defeat Viterbo on Senior Day

SOUTH BEND, Ind.- The Indiana University South Bend Titans (16-10 CCAC, 13-5 CCAC) defeat the Viterbo University V-Hawks (8-17, 6-12 CCAC) by a final score of 72-69 on Senior Day as seniors Shawn Brown, Jylen Petty, Deshon Burnett, and Quentez Columbus were honored....