Big Ten Basketball: Looking at Last Week
Northwestern at Illinois under 144.5 2/16
Big Ten Basketball: Illinois shot close to 52% from the field lead by Kofi Cockburn who notched his 14th double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. This teammate Ayo Dosunma added 13 points.
Unlike Illinois who was riding a winning streak, Northwestern was on a very cold streak losing twelve straight. Chase Audige scored 22 points in the losing effort while his teammate Pete Nance put up 14 points in the losing effort.
Illinois looked like they were going to run away with the game with an early 25-7 lead; however, the momentum shifted to the away team. Their seemly big lead was cut to two points with 1:30 left in the game.
It seemed like overtime was a possibility until Big Ten Player of the Year candidate who was relatively quiet the whole game, Dosunma, drained a three-pointer that would end NorthWestern’s comeback hopes. This goes to show you that you can’t take any team for granted in the Big Ten.
Ohio State -5 at Penn State 2/18
No matter who the opponent is, Penn State is always solid at home. E.J. Liddell scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half. Penn State was only down by 4 at the half 47-43.
The Big Ten is a conference known runs as one swing that can change the momentum in an instant. Penn State came out strong in the second half, taking an eight-point lead.
Penn State had four players in double figures which included Myreon Jones, Izaiah Brockington, Seth Lundy, and Jamari Wheeler. However, Ohio State had the last laugh.
Duane Washington who had 21 points and his teammate C.J. Walker had 13 points started a 15-0 run midway through the second-half to seal a win.
Penn State almost upset Ohio State in Columbus earlier in their last matchup in late January. Penn State is not a team any opponent can take lightly as they are known to put a fight on most nights.
Michigan State +8.5 at Rutgers 2/20
Aaron Henry of Michigan State had a career-high tying night in points. He scored 16 of his 27 points in the second-half. The team picked up its first win at Indiana in over three years (Febuary 3, 2018).
Gabe Brown and Joshua Langford had 14 points each combining for 21 points in the second half. The Spartans had two polar opposite halves in terms of shooting the basketball as they shot 33% in the first-half and 57% in the second-half.
They were also lights out from the charity stripe in the second-half (13-15) after having no trips to the free-throw line in the first.
Trayce Jakson-Davis had 34 points (career-high) with 9 rebounds for Indiana. The Hoosiers jumped out to a huge 16-4 early lead;however, Michigan State went on a 13-2 run with eight minutes left to take the lead.
Michigan State needs to stay hot in order to not miss the tournament. The last time the school missed the tournament was 2016. As of right now (Febuary 26, 2021), their hopes of making it back are high as they also beat #5 Illnois and #4 Ohio State in the same week.
