The first round play of the Big Ten Tournament offered no headlines to compete with various upsets in other conference tournaments. The teams that were expected to win in the first round games won. In each case, the winners put the finishing touches on their NCAA Tournament resumes while the losers skated into the off-season or into the NIT.
Minny Holds Off the Wildcats
In the first game, Northwestern had difficulty in waking up as they played a very passionless first half, lucky to be down only 6 at the half 31 to 25. The only bright spot for the Cats in the first half was the scoring of Coble, who had 19 of their 25 points. In the second half, Tubby had his team clamp down on Coble, holding him to only 2 points.
Unfortunately, no one else on the Wildcat team was able to step forward and sustain a scoring drive, though they actually went ahead briefly late in the second half. Moore had a major “off game” shooting making only 3 shots in 14 shots. Michael Thompson has, in the past, been able to step up when Coble and Moore are contained, but he battled foul problems and was unable to hit key shots in the late minutes. In this game, their post players contributed little in rebounds and scoring.
There is an unwelcome pattern in the way the Cats have been playing. In the last three games, they have had poor first halves and then have scrambled to come back to make games close. At Purdue, they were able to squeeze out a win, but against Ohio State and Minnesota, they were unable to sustain momentum when they captured leads late in the game.
One has to question whether the NU coaching staff has been able to make convincing cases for early game passion and attention to details that are essential to pull out close wins. The Wildcats have had a historic year in big wins (Michigan St., Purdue, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Florida State), but they have a long way to go in establishing a winning tradition.
Double D Boys
Michigan came to play as Coach Bielien had them ready to play. The ”Double D” boys, Harris and Sims, both from Detroit displayed their athleticism and shooting skills throughout this game. The remainder of the Wolverines were able to compliment these two stars with solid team defensive and rigorous adherence to the offensive sets in the Bielien spread offense. Frankly, I suspect that Iowa could pull the upset in this first round game, but clearly Bielien has established a new tradition for the Wolverines in that they do not overlook opponents.
The Wolverines will be a very tough out in the NCAA Tournament as teams that have not played against the effective 1-3-1 defense, or been called on to contain two very able scorers in Harris and Sims, may find themselves packing early for spring vacations. Ask Duke and UCLA who both lost to Michigan earlier this year. Jake Kelly, who has been as effective as any in recent Big Ten games, was contained and often did not handle the ball as he likes to do. If there is a weakness to Kelly’s game, it is his penchant to dribble continuously in trying to find holes in the defense. He was unable to find ones in this game and was held to 10 points. The only bright spot for Iowa was the return of a healthy Tate, who led the Haweyes with 12 points.
Lions Roar!
The Littany Lions had a easy time against the hapless Indiana team that set records for season wins. Not since the 1915-16 season has a Hoosier team won just 6 games. It has been impressive to watch Coach Crean never give up on his youthful team, but they simply do not have the talent level and experience to compete in this Conference. Coach DeChellis left nothing to fate as he had his team ready to respond to any effort on the part of the Hoosiers to pull an upset.
The play of Cornley and Pringle, two the strongest seniors in the small Conference senior class was impressive. While Indiana may a small run late in the first half, the Littany Lions responded with strong runs to put this game into the win column. While this win will not be surprise to the people who are looking at NCAA tournaement resume, imagine what a loss would have done to their strong case for a bid. Penn St. now must be ready to continue their strong play against a hungry Purdue squad who had two tough losses late in the season.
Original Story:
http://hoopraker.com/2009/03/13/first...
