It was a big week of big matchups for the Big Ten. So let’s see what we learned about the conference this week including a discussion of the disappointing Nebraska Cornhuskers as this week’s spotlight team. Finally, I’ll end with a look ahead to next week.
Week 3 Spotlight: Nebraska
It’s been more of the same from Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska team this year. Nebraska is now 4-3 this year after losing to Oklahoma and Memphis this week. The Cornhuskers didn’t stand much of a chance in either game and don’t seem to have answers. Big Red salvaged some respect by beating a sad Florida State team on Sunday.
Bad teams make me sad. I don’t know what to say about them. Sometimes coaching holds back rosters, but sometimes teams just don’t have the dudes to win games. It seems like Nebraska doesn’t have the dudes to compete.
Turns out that Blaise Keita might not be the answer at center for Nebraska and Wilhelm Breidenbach hasn’t jumped at the opportunities given to him. Sam Griesel wilting against tougher competition this week was disappointing. Keisei Tominanga is fun but his weaknesses are fairly obvious. It’s unclear why Denim Dawson doesn’t get more minutes or why Hoiberg redshirted Ramel Lloyd Jr.
The bright spots for Nebraska are that Juwan Gary and Emmanuel Bandoumel are dudes. The two transfers play hard and can score even if their shooting is inconsistent. CJ Wilcher is another player for them. Yeah. Derrick Walker returning is a positive and hopefully can add some punch to this team.
Overall, Hoiberg and Nebraska are looking at another mediocre team with a long season ahead of them. No one on the team is an All-Big Ten candidate. Sure, Big Red competes, but they don’t do anything (score, defend, rebound, etc.) well enough to win games. The Cornhuskers will try hard but will likely be a sad team again this year.
The Big Ten is Extra Big Ten this Year
The evaluation of the Big Ten for a while now has been that they are one of the toughest top to bottom conferences with about 8 teams being ranked in the top 25, but somehow no Final Four teams (and no National champions). Well, it seems like the Big Ten has out-Big Tenned itself this year. The early results from the first few weeks are showing once again the depth of the Big Ten and how competitive it is.
I’m about to talk about Ohio State, Wisconsin and Purdue but add in Iowa, Maryland, Illinois, IU, Michigan State, Michigan, and maybe Penn State and/or Rutgers will all likely be ranked this year. All the while, the final four contenders of IU, Illinois, and Michigan have been uhh okay I guess? Illinois is certainly better than we thought but the other two haven’t been lighting the world on fire. If you feel good about any of the Big Ten’s favorites making the final four… good on you! It seems more likely that it will be another year of the big ten having 9-10 teams in the tourney and only 1 or 2 making the second weekend.
Ohio state finding itself in Maui
Speaking of good not great teams, Ohio State showed a little bit of who they are this week in Maui. Ohio State lost its opening game to San Diego State and then won back to back games against Cincinnati and Texas Tech. Ohio State is interesting as they start two point guards, have 4 scoring wings. Those 4 wings (Justice Sueing, Tanner Holden, Brice Sensabaugh, and Roddy Gayle Jr) have been inconsistent so far, but Sueing had a statement game against Texas Tech with 33 points showing why he was considered the Buckeyes best player this year entering the season. Bruce Thornton finding his offense is an encouraging sign. I’m still worried about their 3 point shooting as a team and I don’t think Sean McNeil can carry that burden alone. Coach Holtmann and the Buckeyes are still figuring it out, but their Maui invitational performance shows they’re on their way.
Wisconsin almost upsets Kansas
Hello Greg Gard and the Badgers! Wisconsin was one box out away from beating 3rd ranked Kansas. Wisco could’ve just as easily lost it in regulation but it speaks to the Badgers’ fight. Last year, Wisconsin announced they were a top team with the emergence of Johnny Davis as a star. This year, his brother Jordan did not do the same thing. However, Tyler Wahl is ready to be the guy. Connor Essegian did announce his presence and lock down that 6th man role for the Badgers. There are very few plays less threatening than a Steven Crowl post-up. It was nice to see Chucky Hepburn wake up in their win against USC. They need Hepburn to be better as they compete with all the teams in the middle of the Big Ten.
Purdue wins the Phil Knight Invitational
Purdue made a statement about their program this week with wins over West Virginia, Gonzaga, and Duke. The expectation this year was the Boilermakers would take a step back and rebuild after losing Jaden Ivey and Trevion Williams. After beating Duke and Gonzaga, two of the best programs in the country, Coach Matt Painter made a statement that his program needs to be thought of in the same vein.
It is one thing to read about how a Zach Edey post up is 1.4 points per possession in an article, but in these past two games you could really see how much of a massive advantage Edey’s presence is. Edey made Mark Few scheme away from having Drew Timme guard him. Then Few tried to go 5 out with Timme on him. The Zags tried to front him, foul him, double him, etc. Nothing worked. Edey was dominant. Purdue was dominant. Then against Duke, Edey fouled out two five star seven footers in Derrick Lively and Kyle Fillipowski. Edey now is averaging 21.8 ppg, 12.0 rpg, and 2.8 blocks per game.
Not only is Edey maybe the best offensive player in the country, but the defense for Purdue has not suffered one bit for having the behemoth in the paint. Purdue’s defense shined this week too. The Boilermakers hustle just so hard to close out, rotate to open shooters, create deflections, dive for loose balls, gang rebound etc. Ethan Morton was incredible guarding all sorts of players like Julian Strawther, Rasir Bolton, Jeremy Roach, and Dariq Whitehead. Purdue couldn’t defend anybody last year. This year, the Boilers defense is what puts them over the top.
Purdue played so well you can write compliments about everyone who got minutes this weekend. Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer being this good as true freshmen shouldn’t happen. Role players like Mason Gillis, Caleb Furst, etc. all had huge moments. You can go on and on about this team and all the things they did well this week. All the compliments should go directly to Coach Matt Painter. Truly he is one of the best coaches in the country.
Big Ten ACC Challenge this week
The Big Ten ACC challenge hijacks this week’s schedule. It starts on Monday and ends Wednesday. Some ACC teams are much worse than they were supposed to be (Louisville and FSU) so the Big Ten should expect to win it again this year. Anyways, here’s the schedule:
- Minnesota @ Virginia Tech // 7pm // Monday
- Pitt @ Northwestern // 9pm // Monday
- Maryland @ Louisville // 7pm // Tuesday
- Penn State @ Clemson // 7pm // Tuesday
- Syracuse @ Illinois // 730pm // Tuesday
- Georgia Tech @ Iowa // 9pm // Tuesday
- Wake Forest @ Wisconsin // 9pm // Tuesday
- UVA @ Michigan // 930pm // Tuesday
- Ohio State @ Duke // 715pm // Wednesday
- Purdue @ FSU // 715pm // Wednesday
- Rutgers @ Miami // 715pm // Wednesday
- UNC @ Indiana // 915pm // Wednesday
- MSU @ Notre Dame // 915pm // Wednesday
- BC @ Nebraska // 915pm // Wednesday
Other Big Games this week
So we begin the week with the Big Ten ACC challenge game, but there are plenty of good games at the end of the week too. Marquette and Wisconsin have a rivalry game, Michigan plays Kentucky in London (???), and the Big Ten schedule begins with Illinois at Maryland.
Next week’s spotlight team is Minnesota. The Golden Gophers play Virginia Tech on Monday and Purdue on Sunday. Should be another great week in the Big Ten and I can’t wait to break it down with you next Monday!