It’s already been a wild couple of nights in college basketball to start the week. On Monday, No. 1 Purdue was handed its first loss of the season, by Rutgers.
Tuesday brought an offensive explosion in the Big 12, in which Kansas State marched into Austin and took down No. 6 Texas, 116-103. The evening also saw Pitt put up a second consecutive Top-25 win, 68-65 over Virginia, while New Mexico became the last unbeaten to suffer a loss this season with a defeat at Fresno State.
On Wednesday, the flair for the dramatic continued. Providence handed No. 4 UConn its second straight loss — and Ed Cooley’s Friars have now won eight in a row. No. 16 Duke fell behind 15-0 and got run out of the building on the road at NC State. Georgia Tech continued a wild night in the ACC by knocking off No. 12 Miami, which was previously 13-1. TCU went on the road and beat Baylor in dramatic fashion to go to 13-1, while Arkansas took a top-20 showdown from Missouri and No. 23 Charleston stretched the nation’s longest winning streak to 14 games.
Now, let’s shift our focus to the Big Ten, which led all conferences in Mike DeCourcy’s latest bracket forecast with nine teams projected to make the NCAA Tournament.
While there’s still a lot of basketball to be played, this league more than proved itself with a tremendous non-conference season.
Wisconsin has been a pleasant surprise. After losing a top-10 NBA Draft pick in Johnny Davis, the Badgers haven’t missed a beat and are 3-0 in Big Ten play. While Michigan shockingly fell to Central Michigan at home on Dec. 29, the Wolverines have rolled to double-digit victories over Maryland and Penn State, and look like they will play a factor behind Hunter Dickinson. Penn State looks like a dark horse, while Rutgers showed in Monday’s win at Mackey Arena that it is still one of the toughest teams in America. With a win over suddenly reeling Illinois, don’t count out 11-3 Northwestern either. Chris Collins’ team has no bad losses and a road win at Michigan State. Speaking of the Spartans, Tom Izzo needs his group to keep getting healthy, but it’s a solid squad that has a top-50 offense and a defense with experience. And of course, Indiana should factor into the top three of the league with Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino at the forefront.
All this being said, it’s early in conference play, and Purdue doesn’t appear to be as dominant as one might have thought. I think we’ll end up having a real regular-season race in this league.
So, what’s in store for Thursday? A Big Ten doubleheader highlights the night’s action on FS1.
No. 1 Purdue at No. 24 Ohio State (7 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app)
This is the 184th meeting between the two programs, and it comes at an intriguing time on the calendar. How will the Boilermakers respond to their first loss of the season? They meet a Buckeyes team that appears to be ahead of schedule to this point, sitting at 10-3 and 2-0 in Big Ten play.
This will be a large assignment for 6-foot-8 junior forward Zed Key, who must find a way to defend national player of the year front-runner Zach Edey (21.7 points, 13.4 rebounds per game). The Buckeyes’ success has come with a balanced offense and a freshman leading scorer, Brice Sensabaugh (15.9 PPG). Speaking of freshmen, it’s important that the duo of Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith bounces back on Thursday night. They combined to shoot 3-for-9 in Monday’s loss to Rutgers. Edey needs his guards on the perimeter to give him some more assistance on the road. Expect great offense in this matchup. Purdue ranks fifth in KenPom adjusted offensive efficiency while Ohio State currently sits in second in that column.
No. 15 Indiana at Iowa (9 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app)
The Hoosiers have not been tested in 19 days. They played two buy games over the holiday break, winning both of them and going to 10-3, but Thursday night revs conference play back up for Mike Woodson’s team. They meet an angry Iowa team that is desperate for a win after an 0-3 start to Big Ten play. It’s a great star matchup as Jackson-Davis (16.4 PPG, 8.2 RPG) meets Kris Murray (20.4 PPG, 9.8 RPG). With Xavier Johnson out indefinitely with a foot injury, it just magnifies the role of five-star freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino, who continues to come on. Iowa needs junior point guard Tony Perkins to be in control of the game for the Hawkeyes to pull off the win at home.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten …
Maryland visits Rutgers at 6:30 p.m. ET on BTN. The Terrapins will try to flush away an 81-46 loss at Michigan on Sunday, but the atmosphere only gets tougher inside Jersey Mike’s Arena, where the Scarlet Knights have gone 51-9 over the last four seasons. Steve Pikiell has a senior guard who can do it all in Paul Mulcahy. In Monday’s win at Purdue? A master class: 16 points, eight rebounds, six assists, four steals, no turnovers. For the Terps to have a shot, they have to find effective offense and the length of Donta Scott and Hakim Hart has to make a difference.
Saturday’s games to watch:
- Noon ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app: Creighton at No. 4 UConn
- 1 p.m. ET: Kentucky at No. 7 Alabama
- 1:30 p.m. ET: No. 14 Wisconsin at Illinois
- 2 p.m. ET: No. 25 Iowa State at No. 17 TCU
- 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app: Michigan at Michigan State
- 4 p.m. ET: Clemson at Pitt (both are 4-0, and tied atop the ACC!)
- 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app: No. 18 Xavier at Villanova
- 6 p.m. ET: No. 3 Kansas at West Virginia
- 6 p.m. ET: Kansas State at #19 Baylor
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John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.
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