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2005-06 Official Big Ten bball Thread

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2/1/06


(6) Illinois 66, Wisconsin 51Preview - Box Score - Recap
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Wisconsin
By CHRIS JENKINS, AP Sports Writer
January 31, 2006
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- For every other Big Ten team, Wisconsin's Kohl Center isn't the place to go for a little peace and quiet. But for the second year in a row, Illinois was able to enjoy the silence.
Dee Brown and Rich McBride scored 16 points apiece and the sixth-ranked Illini beat the Badgers 66-51 Tuesday night, picking up their fourth straight victory over the Badgers and second straight in one of the nation's toughest road venues.

"That's what you want to hear on the road -- silence," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "You start seeing the people start walking up the stairs, and now you're starting to feel good."
Illinois remains the only Big Ten team to beat the Badgers at home in five seasons under coach Bo Ryan.
Senior guard Dee Brown has been humbled at Wisconsin -- "my sophomore year, I got 30 put on me by Devin Harris," he said -- but his last memories there will be victories.
"Bo Ryan does an excellent job in this arena," Brown said. "So for us to come in here and win two years in a row is special to me."
Illinois (20-2, 6-2) took sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with the win, moving a half-game ahead of Michigan and Iowa.
Brown had 12 in the second half and forward Brian Randle had a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The Badgers (15-6, 5-3) have lost four of their last five.
"You look at their faces after a loss, it's tough," said Alando Tucker, who scored 19 for Wisconsin. "You lose one at home in the Big Ten, it's always tough. You have to realize that this is still early."
The Badgers shot 3-for-20 from the 3-point line.
"When the threes aren't falling, you have to find other things to help you get points," guard Kammron Taylor said. "I think we need to do a better job of getting to the free-throw line."
Illinois' leading scorers, Brown and James Augustine, struggled to score in the first half, but Illinois got contributions from its up-and-coming role players to turn an 11-point first-half deficit into a six-point halftime lead.
"Now, we're not just the Dee team,"' Weber said.
McBride said the Illini responded to a road deficit better than they did in a Jan. 17 road loss at Indiana.
"Coach called timeout and he just told us that we have to play more aggressive or it was a going to end up like it was at Indiana, and we turned it around," McBride said.
Illinois began the game shooting 7-for-22 and trailed 24-13 after Tucker's drive and layup with 9:25 remaining in the half.
But the Illini took a 26-24 lead on Augustine's fast-break slam dunk off a Brown lob pass and extended the lead to 32-24 on McBride's 3-pointer with 1:17 to play. The Illini had four steals during their 19-0 run.
Taylor's three-point play ended the run, but Illinois went into halftime with a 34-28 lead.
"When a team's making a run, you've got to be able to respond," Tucker said.
The Badgers rallied in the second half, but it wasn't enough. Ray Nixon missed a 3-pointer that would've given them the lead.
The Illini responded with Augustine's layup, and Jamar Smith's 3-pointer off a McBride steal gave the Illini a 49-42 lead with 8:50 to play.
A McBride 3-pointer extended the Illinois lead to 55-43, causing the Badgers to call a timeout with 7:12 remaining.
Two Brian Butch free throws brought the Badgers within 58-49 with 2:18 left, but Wisconsin couldn't get any closer in the final two minutes.
"When you take a bump, you can't say we'll enjoy this tonight, so we won't enjoy (losing)," Ryan said. "But the next day you get right back to doing what you have to do."
Notes New Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema addressed the crowd during a first-half timeout. ... Illinois beat Wisconsin three times last year -- twice in the regular season and in the Big Ten tournament title game. ... Wisconsin held Illinois' top two scorers in check in the first half. Brown had four points and Augustine had two points.
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2/2/06

No. 21 Michigan 71, Penn St. 65 —

Dion Harris scored 23 points and Daniel Horton hit some key baskets down the stretch as Michigan (16-3, 6-2) held off Penn State in a Big Ten game in State College, Pa.

Horton made a three-point basket and then drained two key free throws to thwart the Nittany Lions (10-9, 2-6), who trailed by 12 with six minutes left.

No. 22 Indiana 72, Northwestern 63 —

Roderick Wilmont scored a career-high 23 points in his first start this season, and host Indiana (13-5, 5-3) snapped a twogame Big Ten losing streak, beating Northwestern (10-9, 3-5) in Bloomington, Ind.

No. 23 Iowa 77, Purdue 68 —

Jeff Horner scored a career-high 32 points and set a school record for career threepointers, leading Iowa (17-5, 6-2) to a Big Ten win over Purdue (7-13, 1-8) in West Lafayette, Ind.

Horner’s seven three-pointers gave him 230 for his career, breaking the record of 226 set by Chris Kingsbury from 1994-96.
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crazybuckfan40 said:
Big TenConf
Iowa (18) 7-3 18-6
Illinois (10) 6-3 20-3
Michigan (22) 6-3 16-4
Ohio St. (19) 5-3 16-3
Michigan St. (12) 6-3 18-5
Indiana (24) 5-4 13-7
Wisconsin 6-4 16-7
Penn St. 3-6 11-9
Northwestern 4-6 11-10
Purdue 2-9 8-14
Minnesota 1-7 10-9

A 5 way tie at the top and IU and WIsky on the outside looking in with 4 losses.

Very even conference. It is there for anyone to take it. Hopefully we step up and put some big games togehter.
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Just remember how tough these next three games are going to be starting tomorrow...
 
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Dispatch

2/9/06

BIG TEN ROUNDUP

Wildcats hold on, bump off Hawkeyes

Thursday, February 09, 2006


ASSOCIATED PRESS

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NAM Y . HUH | ASSOCIATED PRESS Northwestern’s Vedran Vukusic, top, and Bernard Cote, bottom, put the squeeze on Iowa’s Greg Brunner in the first half.


Northwestern 51, No. 18 Iowa 48 —

Vedran Vukusic scored 26 points and converted the go-ahead three-point play to help Northwestern upset Iowa last night in a Big Ten game in Evanston, Ill.

Fans stormed the court after the Wildcats beat the Big Ten-leading Hawkeyes for the fourth time in five games.

Vukusic drove to his right for a layup and free throw that gave the Wildcats a 49-48 lead with 29.3 seconds left, and Northwestern (11-10, 4-6) hung on for its second win in eight games.

Iowa’s Adam Haluska missed a baseline drive and Northwestern’s Michael Jenkins knocked the ball off a Hawkeye and out of bounds with nine seconds left.

Vukusic hit two free throws to make it 51-48 with 6.4 seconds left.

Vukusic was 9 of 16 from the field, including 5 of 9 on three-pointers to move into a tie for second on Northwestern’s all-time list with Winston Blake at 200.

Greg Brunner hit 2 of 11 shots but led Iowa (18-6, 7-3) with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Jeff Horner scored 10 for the Hawkeyes, whose four-game winning streak ended.

Wisconsin 72, No. 24 Indiana 54 —

Alando Tucker scored 29 points and Wisconsin (16-7, 6-4) routed Indiana (13-7, 5-4) in Madison, Wis.

The Badgers snapped a three-game losing streak. They had lost two of their past three games in the Kohl Center.

The Hoosiers made only nine of their first 32 shots and shot 16 of 56 (28.6 percent) for the game. They have lost four of their past five games.

Marco Killingsworth, the Hoosiers’ leading scorer at 18.4 points per game, had an off night. He scored 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting but fouled out with 8:16 left to play.

Killingsworth missed layups on back-toback possessions to begin the second half. The Badgers extended their lead to 45-29 after Killingsworth picked up his fourth foul and the Badgers’ Joe Krabbenhoft completed a three-point play. Tucker’s driving layup extended the lead to 18.

No. 12 Michigan St. 77, Purdue 52 —

Paul Davis scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half to help Michigan State (18-5, 6-3) pull away from Purdue (8-14, 2-9) in East Lansing, Mich.
Maurice Ager had 16 points, Shannon Brown 14 and Drew Neitzel 11 for the Spartans, who outrebounded the Boilermakers 38-18 and shot 61 percent from the field in the second half.

The Spartans won for the sixth time in seven games and beat Purdue for the seventh straight time at home.

Marcus White led Purdue with 14 points and Gary Ware 11. Matt Kiefer, the Boilermakers’ top scorer in conference play, was held to six points.

Minnesota 77, Penn St. 66 —

Adam Boone made six three-pointers in the second half and totaled 20 points, leading Minnesota (11-9, 2-7) over Penn State (11-10, 3-7) in State College, Pa.

Vincent Grier hit all 10 of his free throws and finished with 16 points and eight rebounds for Minnesota, which did not score for the first six minutes and fell behind 10-0.

Travis Parker led Penn State with 19 points and nine rebounds before fouling out late.
All of Boone’s field goals were threepointers. He missed two threes in the first half before hitting 6 of 7 after the break.
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2/10/06

TIM BRANDO: Big Ten heads list of top hoops conferences

It's the time of the year to rank the conferences.

While it is worthwhile conversation, strength of conference is not as much a barometer of success in the NCAA Tournament as it once was because of the amount of talent spread across the country.

The promotional idea of bracket busting for mid-majors sounds good, but the truth is you can find a bracket buster in a major conference just a little further down in their standings.

That said, as we approach mid-February, we look at the conferences and their strengths and weaknesses. You measure the strength of a conference, not from the top down, but from the bottom up.

1. Big Ten. The reason the Big Ten is the toughest conference is when you see teams like Penn State and Northwestern pulling off upsets, it tells you how difficult it is to get wins anywhere on the road in that conference.

The Big Ten should have every reason to believe it will get seven teams into the NCAA Tournament.

Teams like Michigan are beginning to turn the corner and still have some work to do to make it happen. But I believe they'll have as many as seven in the NCAA Tournament. The conference may be worthy of more than that.

The league is incredibly talented. There are some veteran players in the league.

Michigan State is a team that would be Final Four worthy after having a difficult start to its season. With center Paul Davis and guard Maurice Ager, you're talking about an inside-outside combination.

Once coach Tom Izzo gets his team through its difficult periods, his team really gets in rhythm and has good chemistry.

If I had to pick a team out of that conference to the Final Four, it would be Michigan State.

Keep your eye on Ohio State and Indiana.

Although the Hoosiers have struggled some lately, they have outstanding shooters and Marco Killingsworth could get hot at the end of the year. If they get the right matchups, the Hoosiers could go relatively deep as well. They've just struggled on the road.

2. Big East. The reason the Big East can't be No. 1 is it really isn't a league. It is a section. They should rename the Big East Tournament, a sectional qualifier at the Garden in New York.

When everybody doesn't play everybody once, we've got a problem. Somebody in a position of authority needs to tell all conferences they need to at least play everyone once. When you don't play everyone once what you are saying is we know the regular season doesn't matter at all.

Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese is a friend of mine and I'll applaud him for forward thinking and saying here is a way to beat the system and get nine or 10 teams in the NCAA Tournament if you have a 16-team tournament.

I give him credit for thinking ahead. I really believe college basketball purists should stand up and say the regular season should mean something.

A 12-team Big East Tournament instead of 16 is understandable. But at the very least split it into divisions so someone doesn't get stuck in 16th.

Clearly, Connecticut is the top team in the country and the beast of the Big East this year.

But kudos to Georgetown for giving America the blueprint for how to beat Duke. Even John Thompson can't believe his son has such a difficult nonconference schedule to get ready for the Big East regular season.

Georgetown is also an incredibly dangerous team as is Connecticut. It would not be surprising to see two Big East teams at Indianapolis for the Final Four this year.

West Virginia is also a Final Four possibility that has been picking up LSU's image with every game the Mountaineers win.

Mike Gansey is one of the best-kept secrets in college basketball. This is a team that could make it to the Final Four or the Elite Eight.

I see them getting no more than eight teams in the NCAA Tournament.

No. 3 ACC. It is still the most influential conference in America, but it has hampered by the loss of incredible point guards -- John Gilchrist at Maryland, Jarrett Jack at Georgia Tech and Chris Paul at Wake Forest.

All of those guards were not replaced by the coaching staffs in the recruiting process.

In some cases, it was about misfortune. Georgia Tech had its replacement, but Austin Jackson signed with the New York Yankees and decided not to come to school. Maryland thought D.J. Strawberry was the answer and he wasn't.

The conference has the nation's best freshman low-post player in Tyler Hansbrough at North Carolina. As Pete Gillen, the former Virginia coach used to say, "Duke is Duke."

I could see as many as six teams out of the ACC getting in the NCAA Tournament.

No. 4. SEC. It's down but not out. It's young, but not raw.

The talent in the Southeastern Conference is incredible. It just happens to be freshman and sophomore laden. Their basketball skills are ahead of where past freshmen and sophomore players were. The problem is just about every team is saddled with freshmen and sophomores who are leading their teams.

At Florida, the emergence of Joakim Noah and Al Horford are one example. At LSU, Tyrus Thomas, Tasmin Mitchell and "Big Baby" Davis are another example.

Tennessee is overachieving with a team coached by the most refreshing new coach in the league since Daddy Dale Brown walked through the state as the pied piper with purple and gold nets. He has made a group of guards play at the highest level they've ever seen without much front-court capability.

I look for five teams to get in the NCAA Tournament -- Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, LSU and either Alabama or Arkansas, whoever finishes second in the SEC West. If both Arkansas and Alabama collapse, a team like Vanderbilt has a shot if it gets hot in February. But it's going to take an incredible month of February for that to happen.

No. 5 Big 12. The Big 12 would have been worse if not for the comeback of Kansas. Bill Self's team was slow in its learning curve this year and took a major hit because of its tough schedule. Now he has got his team playing a lot better, probably because it took its licks early in the season.

Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado appear to be NCAA Tournament bound. But the rest of the league has been a disappointment.

Many thought Oklahoma State would have found more ways to win games this year. The Cowboys are simply a year away.

No. 6. Missouri Valley Conference. This is the surprise league and it could take away spots from other conferences.

As many as four teams in this conference are worthy of NCAA consideration. I would expect no less than three to get in the tournament -- Northern Iowa, Creighton and Southern Illinois. Wichita State is sort of a late bloomer out of that conference.

No. 7 Pac-10. Hey, Tim Floyd is the Bruce Pearl of the Pac-10. With no more talent than he inherited, that tells me this league is really down.

Arizona is a shell of its former self. Washington can't beat Washington State. UCLA may have the best name on the jersey, but really, how good are the Bruins?

John Brady's LSU team showed why it is so good and why it is still so vulnerable come NCAA Tournament time.

The Tigers can beat anyone because of their front line. And guard Darrel Mitchell could be considered for SEC Player of the Year based on his numbers this year.

That said, while Mitchell's decision making has been much better than that of Tack Minor as a point guard, he is still not a pure point. So when a team like Arkansas decides to press and scramble, LSU has a tendency to turn the ball over. The memory of UAB in last year's NCAA Tournament is such that LSU is still a candidate for a quick ouster in the NCAA Tournament, provided it gets a bad draw. The Tigers desperately need to keep their roll going so they can be a No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament. If you're a No. 5 or a No. 6 and start playing No. 11 or No. 12, those are dangerous in the first round.

The Duke-North Carolina game is an example of why fans who get upset with their coaches for losing double digit leads should realize the game has changed.

If Mike Krzyzewski can lose a 17-point lead with 10 minutes to play, fall behind four and still realize victory at the end at Chapel Hill, then we realize any coach can have difficulty in trying to retain a double-digit lead.

Duke's J.J. Reddick is by far the most improved player in the country year by year. In the four years he has been at Duke, I've never seen anyone improve more in every year than Reddick.

Tim Brando can be heard weekdays from 2-5 p.m. on The Sporting News Radio and on 1340 AM. He can be seen on CBS Sports.


©The Times
February 9, 2006
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(18) Iowa 70, (24) Indiana 67

(18) Iowa 70, (24) Indiana 67Preview - Box Score - Recap
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Iowa
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Indiana
By STEVE HERMAN, AP Sports Writer
February 11, 2006

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) -- Greg Brunner scored 19 points and No. 18 Iowa held off a late comeback for a 70-67 victory over No. 24 Indiana on Saturday, snapping the Hoosiers' 13-game Big Ten winning streak at home.
It was the sixth loss in nine games for Indiana (13-8, 5-5), which did not have coach Mike Davis on the bench as he stayed home with a flu-like illness.
Iowa (19-6, 8-3) kept its hold on first place in the Big Ten. The Hawkeyes led 38-30 at halftime and built their lead to as many as 16 points midway through the second half before Indiana's final rally.
Iowa's last 11 points were on free throws, but the Hawkeyes repeatedly squandered chances to widen their lead by making only one of two foul shots on seven straight trips to the line.
Indiana, meanwhile, pulled within 66-64 on a 3-pointer by Robert Vaden, and 67-65 on a free throw by Marco Killingsworth. Adam Haluska then hit two foul shots for the Hawkeyes with 12 seconds remaining and one of two free throws with 5 seconds left, giving the Hoosiers one last chance to tie.
A 3-point attempt by A.J. Ratliff went off the rim at the buzzer, giving Iowa its fourth straight win over Indiana.
Jeff Horner added 17 points for the Hawkeyes and Haluska finished with 13 points.
Killingsworth had 21 points and 17 rebounds for Indiana and Marshall Strickland added 18 points.
Iowa hit 10 of its first 14 shots, including 3-pointers by Horner, Mike Henderson and Haluska, and led all the way after a tie at 7.
A 3-pointer by Strickland pulled the Hoosiers within 28-26, but Indiana lost a chance to tie when Horner stole the ball and fed Henderson for a layup. Seconds later, Henderson hit two free throws for a 32-26 lead.
The Hawkeyes' next two baskets were 3-pointers, including one by Brunner in the closing seconds for their eight-point halftime lead.
Indiana came within six points early in the second half before Iowa started pulling away. Consecutive baskets by Brunner, Horner and Henderson gave the Hawkeyes their biggest lead at 57-41. A basket by Killingsworth and 3-pointer by Ben Allen brought the Hoosiers within 60-53 with 5 minutes to go. After Brunner hit one free throw, neither team scored until Horner made a foul shot with 1:54 left.
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Daniel Horton left this the game with an injury. scUM is getting killed with injuries right now.

Purdue 84, (22) Michigan 70

Purdue 84, (22) Michigan 70Preview - Box Score - Recap
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Purdue
By HANK LOWENKRON, AP Sports Writer
February 11, 2006

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -- Reserve freshman Marcus Green scored 18 points in the first half to lead Purdue to an 84-70 upset over No. 22 Michigan on Saturday, the Wolverines' third straight loss.
Green, who came in averaging 5.0 points a game, finished with 23, nine more than his previous high. The 6-foot-4 guard missed only one of eight shots from the field in the first half and was 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Purdue (9-14, 3-9 Big Ten) trailed only once after the game's opening basket and Michigan (16-6, 6-5) found itself down 47-27 at halftime. The Wolverines cut the deficit to 17 by scoring the first three points of the second half on free throws, but Purdue responded to increase the lead to 63-37. The Wolverines never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Free throws allowed Michigan to cut its deficit late in the game, as the Wolverines outscored Purdue 26-17 from the line. Michigan rallied to trail 79-66 and 81-68. Chris Lutz then hit three free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
Marcus White, who fouled out with 4:21 to play, added 15 points for Purdue, while Gary Ware and Lutz each scored 14.
Ron Coleman topped Michigan with 18 points and Chris Hunter had 16. The Boilermakers built their big lead by shooting 65.5 percent (19-of-29) in the first half. They helped themselves by turning the ball over only twice in the half, while Michigan had eight turnovers and shot only 41 percent. The numbers didn't change much in the second half. Michigan was held to 31 percent (9-of-19) shooting in the second half, while Purdue shot 55 percent and finished at 61 percent for the game.
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Minnesota up on Michigan State 31-25 at the half. I would not be terribly upset if Minnesota were to hold and win this one.
 
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