1. Wisconsin Badgers (16-2, 4-1) – The Badgers avenged their embarrassing loss to Rutgers on Jan. 11th by easily handling Nebraska at home 70-55 last Thursday night. Player of the Year candidate Frank Kaminsky, whose presence was sorely missed in the Rutgers loss, returned from an injury to lead the way with 22 points and five rebounds. Bronson Koenig performed well in the Badgers first game since losing starting point guard Traevon Jackson for at least 6 weeks, scoring 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting with four rebounds. The Badgers have a big home game on Tuesday against No. 25 Iowa.
2. Maryland Terrapins (17-2, 5-1) – The Terrapins have looked much more focused since their loss to Illinois earlier in the month, and continued their run last week with wins over Rutgers and Michigan State, both at home. Freshman guard Melo Trimble continued his stellar play with a 24-point performance against the Spartans, which included making six threes out of eleven attempts, upping his average to a respectable 38.2 percent on the year. Maryland gets a big test on the road against Indiana on Thursday before coming home to host Northwestern on Sunday.
3. Iowa Hawkeyes (13-5, 4-1) – Iowa blew a 17-point lead against Minnesota on Tuesday, allowing the Gophers to score on 15-of-16 posessions. Jarrod Uthoff’s jumper with just under four seconds left ending up being the difference in a close 77-75 win. The Hawkeyes were a little more consistent in a 76-67 home win against Ohio State that featured senior forward Aaron White scoring 12 points in a row at one point after returing off the bench due to foul trouble. He finished with 22 points while adding six rebounds and three steals. Iowa has a tough stretch this week with road games against both Wisconsin and Purdue.
4. Indiana Hoosiers (14-4, 4-1) – The absence of starting forward Hanner Mosquera-Perea was apparent in the Hoosier’s 76-73 win at home against Penn State on Tuesday. Indiana adjusted well in an 80-74 road win against Illinois that saw the Hoosiers out-rebounded the Illini 31-25 despite not having anyone over 6’8″ on the court. Their lack of size will be tested against both Maryland and Ohio State this week, but expect the Hoosiers to hold up well until Mosquera-Perea returns in a few weeks.
5. Michigan State Spartans (12-6, 3-2) – Saturday’s ugly 75-59 loss to Maryland was a big departure from the Spartan’s loss to the same team on Dec. 30th, a 68-66 double overtime thriller. The Spartans get a chance to correct their dismal shooting as of late this week with some easier games against Penn State and Nebraska.
6. Ohio State Buckeyes (14-5, 3-3) – The Buckeye’s defense was outstanding in a 71-52 dismantling of Michigan this past Tuesday. Ohio State held the Wolverines to just 33 percent shooting from the field, and limited their lane penetration as well, allowing only six free-throw attempts. Things didn’t come as easy in a 76-67 road loss to Iowa on Saturday that saw the Hawkeyes make over half of their shot from the field while limiting the Buckeyes to 38 percent shooting. Ohio State has Northwestern and Indiana up next.
7. Purdue Boilermakers (11-7, 3-2) – An 84-77 overtime win at Penn State this past Saturday is certainly nothing to brag about, but the Boilermakers will take it. Purdue’s three conference wins have come against lower tier teams, while their two losses, albeit somewhat close, have come to Maryland and Wisconsin. A road game against Illinois and a home game against Iowa this week will provide a better gauge as to what this team is capable of.
8. Michigan Wolverines (11-7, 4-2) – Michigan’s disappointing season took another hit last week when it was announced that junior starting guard and team leader Caris LeVert is going to miss the rest of the season after injuring his foot in the closing seconds of the Wolverine’s 56-54 win over Northwestern. The win was preceded by a terrible performance against Ohio State on the road. A trip to Rutgers on Tuesday night will provide Michigan with a good opportunity to figure out their new rotation after losing their most productive player. They’d better figure it out fast, with Wisconsin looming for Saturday’s contest.
9. Nebraska Cornhuskers (10-7, 2-3) – The Cornhusker’s 70-55 defeat at the hands of Wisconsin was a good indicator of thier team this season: Not all bad, but not there yet. Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields account for 35.9 points of Nebraska’s offense each game, but get little help from the rest of the lineup. The Cornhuskers have Minnesota and Michigan State at home this week.
10. Illinois Fighting Illini (12-7, 2-4) – Kendrick Nunn has filled in well in the absence of Rayvonte Rice, and the Illini were actually very competitive in their action last week, topping Northwestern on the road on Wednesday before being edged 80-74 at home by Indiana. Nunn has averaged 24.5 points in Illinois’ last two games. The Illini have Purude and Minnesota up next in this week’s action.
11. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-9, 2-4) – The Scarlet Knights were brought back down to reality this week after thier upset win over Wisconsin, but remained competitive in road losses to both Maryland and Minnesota, losing by eight and nine points, respectively. Rutgers is an unpredictable and dangerous team that seem to show up best against tougher competition. The Scarelt Knights can even their conference record this week with two winnable games against Michigan and Penn State.
12. Minnesota Golden Gophers (12-7, 1-5) – After two near-misses against Michigan and Iowa, Rutgers provided the Golden Gophers with their first conference win of the season Saturday by a score of 89-80. Minnesota has a rather easy five-game stretch ahead of them that could easily allow them to at least even their conference record and provide some much-needed confidence before the final portion of their schedule. That portion kicks off this week against Nebraska and Illinois.
13. Northwestern Wildcats (10-8, 1-4) – Doug Collin’s team continues to struggle with inconsistency during his quest to bring the program back to relevance. The close loss to Michigan was yet another near-miss for the Wildcats, and was their fifth loss by 10 points or less on the season. Northwestern has Ohio State and Maryland up next this week.
14. Penn State Nittany Lions (12-6, 0-5) – The Nittany Lions are longing for the days of their non-conference schedule, when they went a respectable 12-1 with a double-overtime loss. Aside from their conference-opening loss to Wisconsin, Penn State has been fairly competitive in their four losses since. They might actually be better than Northwestern and Rutgers, but until they can actually win a conference game, they will occupy this spot. Games against Michigan State and Rutgers this week could provide the team with their first Big Ten win.
