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Big Ten Report – Week #08 (02/25/2013)

Standings

Here are the current Big Ten standings, after Week #8:

 

 

Team (AP Rank)

Big Ten

Overall

Wins

Losses

Percent

Wins

Losses

Percent
Indiana (#1)

12

2

0.857

24

3

0.889
Michigan State (#4)

11

4

0.733

22

6

0.786
Michigan (#7)

10

4

0.714

23

4

0.852
Wisconsin (#19)

10

4

0.714

19

8

0.704
Ohio State (#18)

10

5

0.667

20

7

0.741
Illinois

7

8

0.467

20

9

0.690
Minnesota

6

8

0.429

18

9

0.667
Iowa

6

8

0.429

17

10

0.630
Purdue

6

8

0.429

13

14

0.481
Nebraska

4

10

0.286

13

14

0.481
Northwestern

4

11

0.267

13

15

0.464
Penn State

0

14

0.000

8

18

0.308

 

With 2 weeks left in the regular season, Indiana is in the driver’s seat for the title, but any of the teams with 4 losses (Michigan State, Michigan, and Wisconsin) could still share the title. Indiana still has 3 tough games left (Minnesota (A), Ohio State (H), and Michigan (A)). If they lose 2 of those 3, they will probably end up sharing the title.

 

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games (Week #8):

 

Tuesday (02/19/2013)

Indiana won at Michigan State, 72-68

 

Wednesday (02/20/2013)

Minnesota lost at Ohio State, 71-45

Wisconsin won at Northwestern, 69-41

 

Thursday (02/21/2013)

Penn State lost at Illinois, 64-59

 

Saturday (02/23/2013)

Iowa lost at Nebraska, 64-60

 

Sunday (02/24/2013)

Illinois lost at Michigan, 71-58

Michigan State lost at Ohio State, 68-60

Northwestern lost at Purdue, 74-43

 

The home teams did very well this week, going 6-2. There were no surprises this week.

 

The Upcoming Week

Here are the games scheduled for the upcoming week (Week #9):

 

Tuesday (02/26/2013)

Indiana at Minnesota

Nebraska at Wisconsin

 

Wednesday (02/27/2013)

Michigan at Penn State

Purdue at Iowa

 

Thursday (02/28/2013)

Ohio State at Northwestern

 

Saturday (03/02/2013)

Penn State at Minnesota

Nebraska at Illinois

Iowa at Indiana

 

Sunday (03/03/2013)

Purdue at Wisconsin

Michigan State at Michigan

 

There are two big games this week:

 

  • Indiana at Minnesota on Tuesday. Minnesota is out of the race for the title, but they can still play “spoiler”.
  • Michigan State at Michigan on Sunday. The loser drops out of the title race.

 

Full Schedule

Here’s the entire Big Ten schedule, with the teams in alphabetical order. I’ll include this table every week, with the wins and losses filled in:

 

Team

Record

 Wins Losses Remaining Games
Illinois

Total:

7-8

 Ohio State (H)

Nebraska (A)

Indiana (H)

Minnesota (A)

Purdue (H)

Northwestern (A)

Penn State (H)

 Purdue (A)

Minnesota (H)

Wisconsin (A)

Northwestern (H)

Michigan (H)

Michigan State (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Michigan (A)

 Nebraska (H)

Iowa (A)

Ohio State (A)

Home:

4-4

Away:

3-4
Indiana

Total:

12-2

 Iowa (A)

Penn State (A)

Minnesota (H)

Northwestern (A)

Penn State (H)

Michigan State (H)

Purdue (A)

Michigan (H)

Ohio State (A)

Nebraska (H)

Purdue (H)

Michigan State (A)

 Wisconsin (H)

Illinois (A)

 Minnesota (A)

Iowa (H)

Ohio State (H)

Michigan (A)

Home:

6-1

Away:

6-1
Iowa

Total:

6-8

 Northwestern (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Penn State (H)

Northwestern (H)

Penn State (A)

Minnesota (H)

 Indiana (H)

Michigan (A)

Michigan State (H)

Ohio State (A)

Purdue (A)

Minnesota (A)

Wisconsin (A)

Nebraska (A)

 Purdue (H)

Indiana (A)

Illinois (H)

Nebraska (H)

Home:

4-2

Away:

2-6
Michigan

Total:

10-4

 Northwestern (A)

Iowa (H)

Nebraska (H)

Minnesota (A)

Purdue (H)

Illinois (A)

Northwestern (H)

Ohio State (H)

Penn State (H)

Illinois (H)

 Ohio State (A)

Indiana (A)

Wisconsin (A)

Michigan State (A)

 Penn State (A)

Michigan State (H)

Purdue (A)

Indiana (H)

Home:

7-0

Away:

3-4
Michigan State

Total:

11-4

 Purdue (H)

Iowa (A)

Nebraska (H)

Penn State (A)

Ohio State (H)

Wisconsin (A)

Illinois (H)

Minnesota (H)

Purdue (A)

Michigan (H)

Nebraska (A)

 Minnesota (A)

Indiana (A)

Indiana (H)

Ohio State (A)

 Michigan (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Northwestern (H)

Home:

6-1

Away:

5-3
Minnesota

Total:

6-8

 Michigan State (H)

Northwestern (H)

Illinois (A)

Nebraska (H)

Iowa (H)

Wisconsin (H)

 Indiana (A)

Michigan (H)

Northwestern (A)

Wisconsin (A)

Michigan State (A)

Illinois (H)

Iowa (A)

Ohio State (A)

 Indiana (H)

Penn State (H)

Nebraska (A)

Purdue (A)

Home:

5-2

Away:

1-6
Nebraska

Total:

4-10

 Penn State (A)

Northwestern (H)

Penn State (H)

Iowa (H)

 Ohio State (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Michigan (A)

Michigan State (A)

Purdue (H)

Illinois (H)

Minnesota (A)

Ohio State (H)

Indiana (A)

Michigan State (H)

 Wisconsin (A)

Illinois (A)

Minnesota (H)

Iowa (A)

Home:

3-5

Away:

1-5
Northwestern

Total:

4-11

 Penn State (A)

Illinois (A)

Minnesota (H)

Purdue (H)

 Michigan (H)

Minnesota (A)

Iowa (H)

Indiana (H)

Nebraska (A)

Michigan (A)

Iowa (A)

Ohio State (A)

Illinois (H)

Wisconsin (H)

Purdue (A)

 Ohio State (H)

Penn State (H)

Michigan State (A)

Home:

2-5

Away:

2-6
Ohio State

Total:

10-5

 Nebraska (H)

Purdue (A)

Michigan (H)

Iowa (H)

Penn State (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Nebraska (A)

Northwestern (H)

Minnesota (H)

Michigan State (H)

 Illinois (A)

Michigan State (A)

Michigan (A)

Indiana (H)

Wisconsin (A)

 Northwestern (A)

Indiana (A)

Illinois (H)

Home:

7-1

Away:

3-4
Penn State

Total:

0-14

 Wisconsin (A)

Indiana (H)

Northwestern (H)

Purdue (A)

Michigan State (H)

Nebraska (H)

Indiana (A)

Ohio State (H)

Iowa (A)

Purdue (H)

Nebraska (A)

Iowa (H)

Michigan (A)

Illinois (A)

 Michigan (H)

Minnesota (A)

Northwestern (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Home:

0-7

Away:

0-7
Purdue

Total:

6-8

 Illinois (H)

Penn State (H)

Nebraska (A)

Iowa (H)

Penn State (A)

Northwestern (H)

 Michigan State (A)

Ohio State (H)

Michigan (A)

Indiana (H)

Northwestern (A)

Michigan State (H)

Illinois (A)

Indiana (A)

 Iowa (A)

Wisconsin (A)

Michigan (H)

Minnesota (H)

Home:

4-3

Away:

2-5
Wisconsin

Total:

10-4

 Penn State (H)

Nebraska (A)

Illinois (H)

Indiana (A)

Minnesota (H)

Illinois (A)

Iowa (H)

Michigan (H)

Ohio State (H)

Northwestern (A)

 Iowa (A)

Michigan State (H)

Ohio State (A)

Minnesota (A)

 Nebraska (H)

Purdue (H)

Michigan State (A)

Penn State (A)

Home:

6-1

Away:

4-3


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Nothing But ‘Net – Week #17 – 02/18/2013 – A Tough Week Playing “State” Teams

The (#4) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week, both against “State” teams, and they played miserably in both games. Fortunately, they managed to win one of them, but they got blown out in the other. On Tuesday (02/12/2013), they lost to (#8) Michigan State 75-52 in East Lansing, then on Sunday (02/17/2013), they beat Penn State 79-71 in Crisler Arena. The loss and the win leave UM with a record of 22-4, 9-4 in Big Ten play. They are tied for 3rd place in the Big Ten.

Michigan looked terrible in the MSU game. Just terrible. They looked like deer in the headlights. MSU came out hot and hit them early and often, and Michigan just went into a shell and never came out. The large, frantic crowd in the Breslin Center completely flustered them, and the game was over before the 2nd media timeout in the first half. It’s hard to believe that this team was ranked #1 in the nation just a few short weeks ago. They are in tatters at this point. Sure, they managed to eke out a narrow victory over PSU on Sunday, but they almost lost that one as well. They might not win another game this season, if they keep playing the way they’ve been playing recently.

So, what’s wrong with UM? Why are they having such a tough time lately? Some of it is fatigue, but most of it is confidence. The MSU game was the 4th in a row vs. ranked teams, 3 of them on the road, in 3 of the most hostile environments in the country: Indiana’s Assembly Hall, Wisconsin’s Kohl Center, and MSU’s Breslin Center. They lost all 3 of those games, and they got flustered by the loud crowds in all 3 games. The game that really broke their backs was the overtime loss at Wisconsin. UM had that game won, and let it slip away in the last 2.4 seconds. Since that point, Michigan has been “playing scared”: “playing not to lose” instead of “playing to win”.

The Penn State game was supposed to be a breather, a laugher, an easy win at home where everyone got to play, and the stars got their confidence back. Instead, it turned into a nasty dogfight, with Michigan trailing for most of the 1st half, and never really pulling away in the 2nd half. UM never pushed the lead into double digits, and the game was still in doubt in the final minutes. Penn State came in 0-12 in the Big Ten, but they played like they expected to beat Michigan on their home court, and Michigan let them push them around. PSU played their best game of the year, and UM played one of their worst games, and the combination was almost enough for the big upset.

The stats for the 2 games are either ugly or unimpressive. In the MSU game, Michigan shot terribly overall (21-for-53 = 39.6%) and from 3-point range (6-for-19 = 31.6%). They barely got to the free throw line, but they shot OK when they got there: 4-for-6 = 66.7%. They got crushed on the boards (30-41) and in the turnover battle (16-8). It was easily the worst game Michigan has played since the loss to Ohio University in the NCAA Tournament last season. The stats for the PSU game are a little better, but still not good. UM shot a little better overall (23-for-49 = 46.9%) and from 3-point range (6-for-18 = 33.3%). They got to the free throw line often, and shot well when they did: 27-for-35 = 77.1%. Once again, they lost the rebounding battle (29-35), but they did manage to win the turnover battle (6-13).

Individually, 2 players hit double figures in both games:

  • Trey Burke – 18 points vs. MSU, and 29 vs. PSU. Trey’s 29 points in the PSU game are a season-high, just one point short of his career-high 30 points vs. Minnesota last season.
  • Nik Stauskas – 10 and 18 points. Nik still isn’t hitting his 3-pointers the way he did earlier in the season, but he’s scoring in other ways.

One player hit double figures in one game: Glenn Robinson III. He only had 2 points in the MSU game, but 21 vs. PSU. Glenn’s 21 points tie his career-high, and he added 10 rebounds for a double-double.

The other starters didn’t do so well scoring:

  • Tim Hardaway Jr. – 2 and 8 points. Tim was absolutely terrible vs. MSU, shooting 1-for-11 (0-for-5 from 3-point range). He had a slow start vs. PSU, but came alive down the stretch.
  • Mitch McGary – 4 and 0 points. Mitch got his first career start vs. MSU, and did OK. He came off the bench in the PSU game, and had a miserable time. Dunk, Mitch, dunk!
  • Jordan Morgan – 1 and 0 points. After missing one game with an injured ankle, and coming off the bench for a minute or two in the last few games, Jordan finally started again vs. PSU. He played 7 minutes, but still looked slow and tentative out there.

The bench players didn’t have much success scoring:

Once again, the bench didn’t provide much support. Most of the bench points in the MSU game were scored in “garbage time”. This is not good.

This Week

After a brutal stretch of tough games, mostly on the road, with 2 games every week, Michigan finally gets to their “bye” week. They only have one game this week, and it’s at home vs. one of the “lower division” teams. On Sunday (02/24/2013, 1:00 p.m., ESPN), they play Illinois. Illinois is very unpredictable this season, with wins at home against Indiana and Ohio State, and a road win at Minnesota, but they also lost at home to Northwestern. Michigan beat them earlier this season in Champaign, but that was back before UM had their confidence shattered. It should be a close, exciting game, but I expect Michigan to keep their unbeaten home record intact.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

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Big Ten Report – Week #07 (02/18/2013)

Standings

Here are the current Big Ten standings, after Week #7:

 

 

Team (AP Rank)

Big Ten

Overall

Wins

Losses

Percent

Wins

Losses

Percent
Indiana (#1)

11

2

0.846

23

3

0.885
Michigan State (#8)

11

2

0.846

22

4

0.846
Michigan (#4)

9

4

0.692

22

4

0.846
Wisconsin (#20)

9

4

0.692

18

8

0.692
Ohio State (#13)

8

5

0.615

18

7

0.720
Illinois

6

7

0.462

19

8

0.704
Minnesota

6

7

0.462

18

8

0.692
Iowa

6

7

0.462

17

9

0.654
Purdue

5

8

0.385

12

14

0.462
Northwestern

4

9

0.308

13

13

0.500
Nebraska

3

10

0.231

12

14

0.462
Penn State

0

13

0.000

8

17

0.320

 

The race for the Big Ten title is heating up. Ohio State is no longer a contender, but the top 4 teams can still win at least a share of the title. At this point, only Indiana and Michigan State control their own destiny, but Michigan and Wisconsin can both earn a share of the title with a little help.

 

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games (Week #7):

 

Tuesday (02/12/2013)

Michigan lost at Michigan State, 75-52

 

Wednesday (02/13/2013)

Nebraska lost at Indiana, 76-47

Purdue lost at Illinois, 79-59

 

Thursday (02/14/2013)

Northwestern lost at Ohio State, 69-59

Wisconsin lost at Minnesota, 58-53 (overtime)

Iowa won at Penn State, 74-72

 

Saturday (02/16/2013)

Purdue lost at Indiana, 83-55

Michigan State won at Nebraska, 73-64

 

Sunday (02/17/2013)

Penn State lost at Michigan, 79-71

Ohio State lost at Wisconsin, 71-49

Minnesota lost at Iowa, 72-51

Illinois won at Northwestern, 62-41

 

The home teams did very well this week, going 9-3. There were no surprises this week.

 

The Upcoming Week

Here are the games scheduled for the upcoming week (Week #8):

 

Tuesday (02/19/2013)

Indiana at Michigan State

 

Wednesday (02/20/2013)

Minnesota at Ohio State

Wisconsin at Northwestern

 

Thursday (02/21/2013)

Penn State at Illinois

Iowa at Nebraska

 

Sunday (02/24/2013)

Michigan State at Ohio State

Northwestern at Purdue

Illinois at Michigan

 

There are three big games this week:

 

  • Indiana at Michigan State on Tuesday. This is a battle for 1st place.
  • Minnesota at Ohio State on Wednesday. Minnesota and Ohio State are both out of the race for the Big Ten title, but they are still battling for position.
  • Michigan State at Ohio State on Sunday. Ohio State may be out of the race for the title, but they can still play “spoiler”. Michigan State and Ohio State both have a tough week.

 

Full Schedule

Here’s the entire Big Ten schedule, with the teams in alphabetical order. I’ll include this table every week, with the wins and losses filled in:

 

Team

Record

 Wins Losses Remaining Games
Illinois

Total:

6-7

 Ohio State (H)

Nebraska (A)

Indiana (H)

Minnesota (A)

Purdue (H)

Northwestern (A)

 Purdue (A)

Minnesota (H)

Wisconsin (A)

Northwestern (H)

Michigan (H)

Michigan State (A)

Wisconsin (H)

 Penn State (H)

Michigan (A)

Nebraska (H)

Iowa (A)

Ohio State (A)

Home:

3-4

Away:

3-3
Indiana

Total:

11-2

 Iowa (A)

Penn State (A)

Minnesota (H)

Northwestern (A)

Penn State (H)

Michigan State (H)

Purdue (A)

Michigan (H)

Ohio State (A)

Nebraska (H)

Purdue (H)

 Wisconsin (H)

Illinois (A)

 Michigan State (A)

Minnesota (A)

Iowa (H)

Ohio State (H)

Michigan (A)

Home:

6-1

Away:

5-1
Iowa

Total:

6-7

 Northwestern (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Penn State (H)

Northwestern (H)

Penn State (A)

Minnesota (H)

 Indiana (H)

Michigan (A)

Michigan State (H)

Ohio State (A)

Purdue (A)

Minnesota (A)

Wisconsin (A)

 Nebraska (A)

Purdue (H)

Indiana (A)

Illinois (H)

Nebraska (H)

Home:

4-2

Away:

2-5
Michigan

Total:

9-4

 Northwestern (A)

Iowa (H)

Nebraska (H)

Minnesota (A)

Purdue (H)

Illinois (A)

Northwestern (H)

Ohio State (H)

Penn State (H)

 Ohio State (A)

Indiana (A)

Wisconsin (A)

Michigan State (A)

 Illinois (H)

Penn State (A)

Michigan State (H)

Purdue (A)

Indiana (H)

Home:

6-0

Away:

3-4
Michigan State

Total:

11-2

 Purdue (H)

Iowa (A)

Nebraska (H)

Penn State (A)

Ohio State (H)

Wisconsin (A)

Illinois (H)

Minnesota (H)

Purdue (A)

Michigan (H)

Nebraska (A)

 Minnesota (A)

Indiana (A)

 Indiana (H)

Ohio State (A)

Michigan (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Northwestern (H)

Home:

6-0

Away:

5-2
Minnesota

Total:

6-7

 Michigan State (H)

Northwestern (H)

Illinois (A)

Nebraska (H)

Iowa (H)

Wisconsin (H)

 Indiana (A)

Michigan (H)

Northwestern (A)

Wisconsin (A)

Michigan State (A)

Illinois (H)

Iowa (A)

 Ohio State (A)

Indiana (H)

Penn State (H)

Nebraska (A)

Purdue (A)

Home:

5-2

Away:

1-5
Nebraska

Total:

3-10

 Penn State (A)

Northwestern (H)

Penn State (H)

 Ohio State (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Michigan (A)

Michigan State (A)

Purdue (H)

Illinois (H)

Minnesota (A)

Ohio State (H)

Indiana (A)

Iowa (A)

 Michigan State (H)

Iowa (H)

Wisconsin (A)

Illinois (A)

Minnesota (H)

Iowa (A)

Home:

2-5

Away:

1-5
Northwestern

Total:

4-9

 Penn State (A)

Illinois (A)

Minnesota (H)

Purdue (H)

 Michigan (H)

Minnesota (A)

Iowa (H)

Indiana (H)

Nebraska (A)

Michigan (A)

Iowa (A)

Ohio State (A)

Illinois (H)

 Wisconsin (H)

Purdue (A)

Ohio State (H)

Penn State (H)

Michigan State (A)

Home:

2-4

Away:

2-5
Ohio State

Total:

8-5

 Nebraska (H)

Purdue (A)

Michigan (H)

Iowa (H)

Penn State (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Nebraska (A)

Northwestern (H)

 Illinois (A)

Michigan State (A)

Michigan (A)

Indiana (H)

Wisconsin (A)

 Minnesota (H)

Michigan State (H)

Northwestern (A)

Indiana (A)

Illinois (H)

Home:

5-1

Away:

3-4
Penn State

Total:

0-13

 Wisconsin (A)

Indiana (H)

Northwestern (H)

Purdue (A)

Michigan State (H)

Nebraska (H)

Indiana (A)

Ohio State (H)

Iowa (A)

Purdue (H)

Nebraska (A)

Iowa (H)

Michigan (A)

 Illinois (A)

Michigan (H)

Minnesota (A)

Northwestern (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Home:

0-7

Away:

0-6
Purdue

Total:

5-8

 Illinois (H)

Penn State (H)

Nebraska (A)

Iowa (H)

Penn State (A)

 Michigan State (A)

Ohio State (H)

Michigan (A)

Indiana (H)

Northwestern (A)

Michigan State (H)

Illinois (A)

Indiana (A)

 Northwestern (H)

Iowa (A)

Wisconsin (A)

Michigan (H)

Minnesota (H)

Home:

3-3

Away:

2-5
Wisconsin

Total:

9-4

 Penn State (H)

Nebraska (A)

Illinois (H)

Indiana (A)

Minnesota (H)

Illinois (A)

Iowa (H)

Michigan (H)

Ohio State (H)

 Iowa (A)

Michigan State (H)

Ohio State (A)

Minnesota (A)

 Northwestern (A)

Nebraska (H)

Purdue (H)

Michigan State (A)

Penn State (A)

Home:

6-1

Away:

3-3


Posted on

Nothing But ‘Net – Week #16 – 02/11/2013 – A Tale Of Two Overtimes

The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat.

The (#3) University of Michigan men’s basketball team played two games last week; both games went to overtime, and both had thrilling endings. Unfortunately, they won the first but lost the second. On Tuesday (02/05/2013), they beat (#10) Ohio State 76-74 in Crisler Arena, then on Saturday (02/09/2013), they lost to Wisconsin 65-62 in Madison. The win and the loss leave UM with a record of 21-3, 8-3 in Big Ten play. They are tied for 2nd place in the Big Ten.

As exciting and thrilling as the Ohio State win was, the Wisconsin loss was twice as emotional. Michigan had the game wrapped up at the end of regulation, with a 3-point lead and only 2.4 seconds left. Wisconsin had to go the length of the floor, and they managed to swish a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer, to force overtime. It was so deflating, and Wisconsin had the momentum for the overtime. On the final shot of regulation, Michigan tried to foul the Wisconsin shooter, but couldn’t catch him. The odds of a half-court shot going in are vanishingly small, but they worked against Michigan this time. It was a tough loss. Michigan hasn’t won at the Kohl Center in Madison since 1999.

On the other hand, the Ohio State win was exhilarating. The game was close most of the way, but OSU starting pulling away early in the 2nd half. That’s when Tim Hardaway Jr.
caught fire, hitting three 3-pointers in a row to put Michigan back on top. The lead see-sawed from there, and the game was (obviously) tied at the end of regulation, but Michigan went ahead for good in the overtime and won with a pair of blocked shots in the last few seconds.

Even though UM lost another game, so did most of the rest of the contenders, and it’s still a tight race for the title. At this point, all of the contenders still control their own destiny, including Michigan. See this week’s Big Ten Report for more details.

As expected, the stats for the OSU game look a lot better than the stats for the Wisconsin game. First, OSU: Michigan shot pretty well overall (28-for-60 = 46.7%), and even better from 3-point range (14-for-24 = 58.3%). They didn’t shoot many free throws, and they didn’t shoot them particularly well (6-for-11 = 54.5%). They (barely) won the rebounding battle (32-30), and they tied in the turnover battle (11-11). The 3-point shooting was the difference. In the Wisconsin game, Michigan shot poorly overall (28-for-71 = 39.4%), but they shot really poorly from 3-point range (5-for-18 = 27.8%). They only shot 2 free throws (!), and made one of them (50.0%). They tied in the rebounding battle (39-39), and they won the turnover battle handily (7-14). The big difference was 3-point shooting again, but this time in the negative sense.

Individually, 3 players hit double figures in both games:

  • Trey Burke – 16 points vs. OSU, and 19 vs. Wisconsin.
  • Tim Hardaway Jr. – 23 and 18 points. As I mentioned above, Tim was on fire vs. OSU, and he played well against Wisconsin as well.
  • Mitch McGary – 14 and 12 points. Those 14 points vs. OSU were a new career-high for Mitch. Mitch is playing very well recently.

2 players hit double figures in one game:

  • Glenn Robinson III – 10 and 4 points. GR3 had another sub-par game vs. Wisconsin.
  • Nik Stauskas – 11 and 5 points. Nik also had a miserable game vs. Wisconsin. Michigan will have trouble beating the other contenders when both GR3 and Nik are having bad games at the same time.

The only starter who failed to hit double figures in either game was Jon Horford, who started both games in place of the injured Jordan Morgan. Jon had 2 points in each game. He only played 13 and 7 minutes, compared to 29 and 32 minutes played by Mitch McGary. Even though Jon is listed as the starter, Mitch is the main player at center, at least until Jordan returns to the starting lineup.

Besides McGary, the bench players didn’t have much success scoring:

  • Spike Albrecht – 0 and 0 points.
  • Max Bielfeldt – DNP and 2 points. Max played 18 minutes in the Wisconsin game, to give UM more “beef” underneath.
  • Caris LeVert – 0 and 0 points.
  • Jordan Morgan – 0 and DNP points. Jordan only played 4 minutes against OSU, and it was obvious that he wasn’t ready to go full speed yet.

Other than McGary, who is essentially the starter at center, Michigan only got 2 points from all the other bench players in both games combined. This is a recipe for disaster. The starters can’t carry the team for the rest of the season.

This Week

Michigan is finally at the end of a brutal 4-game stretch. So far, they are 1-2, with one game left. On Tuesday (02/12/2013, 9:00 p.m., ESPN), they play (#12) Michigan State in East Lansing, then on Sunday (02/17/2013, 12:00 noon EST, BTN), they play Penn State in Crisler Arena. Michigan State is currently tied for 1st place in the Big Ten, one game ahead of Michigan, so this is a crucial game. Michigan has had a tough time winning in East Lansing, but they stand a good chance this year. Oh yeah: the Penn State game will be a slaughter. PSU is 0-11 in the Big Ten so far, and they are very weak.

Check back next week to see what happened, and why.

Go Blue!

Posted on

Big Ten Report – Week #06 (02/11/2013)

Standings

Here are the current Big Ten standings, after Week #6:

Team (AP Rank)

Big Ten

Overall

Wins

Losses

Percent

Wins

Losses

Percent
Indiana (#1)

9

2

0.818

21

3

0.875
Michigan State (#12)

9

2

0.818

20

4

0.833
Michigan (#3)

8

3

0.727

21

3

0.875
Wisconsin

8

3

0.727

17

7

0.708
Ohio State (#10)

7

4

0.636

17

6

0.739
Minnesota (#18)

5

6

0.455

17

7

0.708
Purdue

5

6

0.455

12

12

0.500
Illinois

4

7

0.364

17

8

0.680
Iowa

4

7

0.364

15

9

0.625
Northwestern

4

7

0.364

13

11

0.542
Nebraska

3

8

0.273

12

12

0.500
Penn State

0

11

0.000

8

15

0.348

Results

Here are the results from last week’s games (Week #6):

Tuesday (02/05/2013)

Purdue won at Penn State, 58-49

Ohio State lost at Michigan, 76-74 (overtime)

Wednesday (02/06/2013)

Minnesota lost at Michigan State, 61-50

Iowa lost at Wisconsin, 74-70 (2 overtimes)

Thursday (02/07/2013)

Indiana lost at Illinois, 74-72

Saturday (02/09/2013)

Michigan lost at Wisconsin, 65-62 (overtime)

Northwestern lost at Iowa, 71-57

Michigan State won at Purdue, 78-65

Penn State lost at Nebraska, 67-53

Sunday (02/10/2013)

Indiana won at Ohio State, 81-68

Illinois won at Minnesota, 57-53

The home teams did pretty well this week, going 7-4. There were a few surprises this week:

  • Indiana lost at Illinois on Thursday. Indiana was ranked #1, and Illinois looked to be done for the season.
  • Illinois won at Minnesota on Sunday. Minnesota was a contender, but not any more. It was a big week for Illinois.
  • Ohio State lost twice. They lost to two good teams, but it was still a bad week for them. They are on the brink of dropping out of the title hunt.

The Upcoming Week

Here are the games scheduled for the upcoming week (Week #7):

Tuesday (02/12/2013)

Michigan at Michigan State

Wednesday (02/13/2013)

Nebraska at Indiana

Purdue at Illinois

Thursday (02/14/2013)

Northwestern at Ohio State

Wisconsin at Minnesota

Iowa at Penn State

Saturday (02/16/2013)

Purdue at Indiana

Michigan State at Nebraska

Sunday (02/17/2013)

Penn State at Michigan

Ohio State at Wisconsin

Minnesota at Iowa

Illinois at Northwestern

There are two big games this week:

  • Michigan at Michigan State on Tuesday.
  • Ohio State at Wisconsin on Sunday. Last call for Ohio State.

Full Schedule

Here’s the entire Big Ten schedule, with the teams in alphabetical order. I’ll include this table every week, with the wins and losses filled in:

Team

Record

 Wins Losses Remaining Games
Illinois

Total:

4-7

 Ohio State (H)
Nebraska (A)
Indiana (H)

Minnesota (A)

 Purdue (A)
Minnesota (H)
Wisconsin (A)

Northwestern (H)

Michigan (H)

Michigan State (A)

Wisconsin (H)

 Purdue (H)
Northwestern (A)
Penn State (H)

Michigan (A)

Nebraska (H)

Iowa (A)

Ohio State (A)

Home:

2-4

Away:

2-3
Indiana

Total:

9-2

 Iowa (A)
Penn State (A)
Minnesota (H)

Northwestern (A)

Penn State (H)

Michigan State (H)

Purdue (A)

Michigan (H)

Ohio State (A)

 Wisconsin (H)
Illinois (A)
 Nebraska (H)
Purdue (H)
Michigan State (A)

Minnesota (A)

Iowa (H)

Ohio State (H)

Michigan (A)

Home:

4-1

Away:

5-1
Iowa

Total:

4-7

 Northwestern (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Penn State (H)

Northwestern (H)

 Indiana (H)
Michigan (A)
Michigan State (H)

Ohio State (A)

Purdue (A)

Minnesota (A)

Wisconsin (A)

 Penn State (A)
Minnesota (H)
Nebraska (A)

Purdue (H)

Indiana (A)

Illinois (H)

Nebraska (H)

Home:

3-2

Away:

1-5
Michigan

Total:

8-3

 Northwestern (A)
Iowa (H)
Nebraska (H)

Minnesota (A)

Purdue (H)

Illinois (A)

Northwestern (H)

Ohio State (H)

 Ohio State (A)
Indiana (A)
Wisconsin (A)		 Michigan State (A)
Penn State (H)
Illinois (H)

Penn State (A)

Michigan State (H)

Purdue (A)

Indiana (H)

Home:

5-0

Away:

3-3
Michigan State

Total:

9-2

 Purdue (H)
Iowa (A)
Nebraska (H)

Penn State (A)

Ohio State (H)

Wisconsin (A)

Illinois (H)

Minnesota (H)

Purdue (A)

 Minnesota (A)
Indiana (A)		 Michigan (H)
Nebraska (A)
Indiana (H)

Ohio State (A)

Michigan (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Northwestern (H)

Home:

5-0

Away:

4-2
Minnesota

Total:

5-6

 Michigan State (H)
Northwestern (H)
Illinois (A)

Nebraska (H)

Iowa (H)

 Indiana (A)
Michigan (H)
Northwestern (A)

Wisconsin (A)

Michigan State (A)

Illinois (H)

 Wisconsin (H)
Iowa (A)
Ohio State (A)

Indiana (H)

Penn State (H)

Nebraska (A)

Purdue (A)

Home:

4-2

Away:

1-4
Nebraska

Total:

3-8

 Penn State (A)
Northwestern (H)
Penn State (H)		 Ohio State (A)
Wisconsin (H)
Michigan (A)

Michigan State (A)

Purdue (H)

Illinois (H)

Minnesota (A)

Ohio State (H)

 Indiana (A)
Michigan State (H)
Iowa (H)

Wisconsin (A)

Illinois (A)

Minnesota (H)

Iowa (A)

Home:

2-4

Away:

1-4
Northwestern

Total:

4-7

 Penn State (A)
Illinois (A)
Minnesota (H)

Purdue (H)

 Michigan (H)
Minnesota (A)
Iowa (H)

Indiana (H)

Nebraska (A)

Michigan (A)

Iowa (A)

 Ohio State (A)
Illinois (H)
Wisconsin (H)

Purdue (A)

Ohio State (H)

Penn State (H)

Michigan State (A)

Home:

2-3

Away:

2-4
Ohio State

Total:

7-4

 Nebraska (H)
Purdue (A)
Michigan (H)

Iowa (H)

Penn State (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Nebraska (A)

 Illinois (A)
Michigan State (A)
Michigan (A)

Indiana (H)

 Northwestern (H)
Wisconsin (A)
Minnesota (H)

Michigan State (H)

Northwestern (A)

Indiana (A)

Illinois (H)

Home:

4-1

Away:

3-3
Penn State

Total:

0-11

 Wisconsin (A)
Indiana (H)
Northwestern (H)

Purdue (A)

Michigan State (H)

Nebraska (H)

Indiana (A)

Ohio State (H)

Iowa (A)

Purdue (H)

Nebraska (A)

 Iowa (H)
Michigan (A)
Illinois (A)

Michigan (H)

Minnesota (A)

Northwestern (A)

Wisconsin (H)

Home:

0-6

Away:

0-5
Purdue

Total:

5-6

 Illinois (H)
Penn State (H)
Nebraska (A)

Iowa (H)

Penn State (A)

 Michigan State (A)
Ohio State (H)
Michigan (A)

Indiana (H)

Northwestern (A)

Michigan State (H)

 Illinois (A)
Indiana (A)
Northwestern (H)

Iowa (A)

Wisconsin (A)

Michigan (H)

Minnesota (H)

Home:

3-3

Away:

2-3
Wisconsin

Total:

8-3

 Penn State (H)
Nebraska (A)
Illinois (H)

Indiana (A)

Minnesota (H)

Illinois (A)

Iowa (H)

Michigan (H)

 Iowa (A)
Michigan State (H)
Ohio State (A)		 Minnesota (A)
Ohio State (H)
Northwestern (A)

Nebraska (H)

Purdue (H)

Michigan State (A)

Penn State (A)

Home:

5-1

Away:

3-2