The tight conference race continues as Michigan State falters at Purdue, Illinois stumbles against Penn State on their own court, and Ohio State loses to Northwestern in Evanston. Purdue is growing stronger by the week; Penn State seems to be back on track, and Northwestern wins a close one. We are in the final three weeks of perhaps the best Big Ten conference race in recent memory. A number of teams are on the bubble for post-season tournament invitations and their play in these final weeks, including the Big Ten Tournament, will determine whether they will continue to play through the Madness of March.
Boilers Steam the Spartans
Last week the “Paint Crew” packed Mackey Arena and the Boilers turned up the heat and steamed the Spartans bright red with a vicious man-to-man defense. The Spartans could not organize themselves into a good, patient half-court game and they forced up a lot of rushed and missed shots. Frankly, the Spartans did not play like a top ranked team.
Purdue’s JuJuan Johnson continued to dominate, both inside and on the perimeter. His soft touch both inside and outside is a special trait that most guys his size do not possess. The performance by this strong Spartan team was disappointing as they could not hit outside shots and were unsuccessful in getting the ball into the paint for easier shots.
The tough, man-to-man Purdue defense was at its best and it took away all of the weapons the Spartans use to rack up wins, including the fastbreak which they normally run to perfection. Clearly, the Spartans will have to re-organize if they expect to make a deep run in the tournament, as many of the ESPN gurus think is possible. They could even experience some difficulties in the Big Ten Tournament as they have had considerable difficulty competing in race for another conference championship.
The bottom line for the Conference is that there are no longer easy wins at home or away. Ask the Spartans about their home losses to Penn St. and Northwestern, which have been Conference bottom dwellers in recent years.
A key to the revival of the Spartans is the full recovery of Raymar Morgan who has had his strength and diverse set of basketball skills sapped by a viral infection. Unlike Purdue who have discovered other strong contributors (Johnson, Moore, Jackson, and yes “Buckets” Riddell) while Hummel healed his stress fracture, no one from the deep Spartan bench has not come forward to take up the Morgan slack with consistent play. Spartans, it is time to step forward and play up to expectations! While the Spartans like to fastbreak and they are good at it, it is not a weapon that can carry a team in a conference that emphasizes great defense and likes to run offenses that are deliberate and designed to engage all five players.
Illini Ambushed at Home
Let’s admit it, last week’s Illinois/ Penn State game was ugly. A half-time score of 17 to 15 was a football score. One expects these types of halves during a long season, but seldom do you see these types of halves back-to-back. Both teams continued to play ugly in the second half for a final football score of 38 to 33 and a win by the Litany Lions on the Illinois court. Ugly or not, the end result is a great “must” win for Penn State. They may well have put themselves in position for a NCAA tournament bid.
The Illini have been struggling to score in recent games and Coach Weber believes their problem is caused by the inability to penetrate into the paint area. He apparently has been exhorting McCamey and others to be more aggressive in taking the ball to the hoop rather than standing on the perimeter and firing up outside shots.
While Tisdale has a nice touch for a guy with his length, he is not able to exert physical presence in the paint. His 6,000 calorie intake of food per day will continue to allow him to gain some physical heft, but he is a season away from being a force in the paint. His promising teammate, Mike Davis, has a similar body build- long, lean, and athletic, but not a powerful force in the middle. The Illini will have to adjust their game for they can not win by only playing great defense.
Cats Bite Buckeyes
Northwestern has had some very close games on their home court this year including a 2 point loss to Purdue, a 1 point loss to Illinois, and a 3 point loss to Michigan. The Wildcats were down by 9 against the Buckeyes at the half, 37 to 28. The Buckeyes opened up a 12 point lead early in the second half, 40 to 28 and it appeared that the Buckeyes might pull away for a big victory on this night. But Northwestern went to work on a 21 to 3 run to grab a 49 to 43 lead with 10:15 to go. From then on, it was nip and tuck to the finish. Both teams were hitting their three point shots.
Diebler was on fire, making 8 of 10 threes. Coble and Moore combined for 11 threes, 7 by Moore. Factors in the game was the second half play of Kyle Rowley who made three lay-ups, unexpected production for this NU freshman project. When the big guys can shoot lay-ups in the Princeton offensive sets, good things can happen.
While Diebler was hot, Turner did not play a strong game even though he scored 14 points. He visibly protested all three of the fouls called on him, missed three crucial free throws and generally did not provide the level of leadership that has become consistent for him this season. Hoopraker has observed in the past that the Buckeyes lack a point guard and it was an obvious missing element in this loss. Turner is excellent in passing the ball to open team mates, but he likes to dribble and penetrate for close in shots. He is an effective passer in these situations, but his teammates must find the right spots to receive his passes if he choses to pass and he will when he sees the defense has collapsed to him.
Mullens in particular has been unable to position himself to benefit from Turner’s strong penetrating abilities. The Buckeyes must develop a more diverse offense if they wish to make a good run in the NCAA tournament, and if they do not finish strong in the Conference race, they could slip out of contention for a bid to the big dance.
The Cats big play came from freshman John Shurna who received a pass from Thompson and lofted a successful three-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining on the clock to go ahead 72 to 69 for the win. Shurna was suffering from the flu and had an IV prior to the game. This was the first Northwestern win over the Buckeyes in 11 years as well as Coach Carmody’s first win ever over a Buckeye team.
The Cats have lost three home games (Purdue by 2, Illinois by 1, and Michigan by 3 in OT) by a combined total of 6 points. Had they converted just one of these games into a WIN, they would be at 6 and 7, which would be a much stronger position from which to make a run for either the NCAA or NIT invitation. But close never counts in the winning column and the young Cats are learning how to close out wins in the final seconds of close games.
Senior Badgers Step Up
Clearly, the Badgers are playing great basketball after a very rough stretch when they lost 6 straight. In beating Indiana 68 to 51, they played their patented aggressive defense and their veterans turned in good games. Hughes led them with 21 points and Coach Ryan has been indicating that Hughes play will be key to their final run for another appearance in the NCAA. Krabbenhoft scored 18 points and Landry added 9; these two seniors have been providing the level of leadership one expects from seniors who have a wealth of game experience in their years as Badger starters. Indiana got 16 points from Jones, 12 points from Dumes (back after a stay in Crean’s dog house), and Story added 11.
Boilers Spank Indiana Neighbors
The Purdue squad continued to roll with a 81 to 67 win. Moore made 5 threes for a total of 26 points and Johnson added 14 points. They shot 57.1 percent, 53.8 percent from three point land, for the game. Indiana continued to get good play from Jones with 16 points and 12 points from Pritchard.
Hummel played sparingly and the good news for Purdue fans is that they do not suffer when he is not playing at his normal strength. Resting him and making certain that his stress fracture is healed fully has been a wise move by Coach Painter, but they will have to get him increasing minutes to build up his conditioning for tournament play.
The improvement of Johnson and the continuous improvements of Jackson, the freshman point guard, are all major reasons for Purdue fans to feel good about the future of this team. It is a young team and they continue to get better, living up to the pre-season expectations.
Original Story:
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