Maryland Terrapin 66, Indiana Hoosiers 55
max sum: Welcome back Terps! After some time away mentally, they came back and pushed away the hot Hoosier team. In a case where the veterans trashed Luke, Jahmir Young dropped his 20 and Jalen Hood-Schifino dropped just 3 for a 1-14 from the field. Might give him swirly too.
BoilerUp89: JHS shoots badly, Maryland switches defensive looks to upset the Hoosiers, and the Terps take a big win at home.
illinois fighting illini 72, Nebraska Cornhuskers 56
max sum: This game wasn’t quite the batkick that the score suggests. Nebraska took the lead in the second half, and Illini’s lead didn’t reach double digits until very late. Still, it’s yet another win for Illinois, backed by his four men in double digits this time. T-Ranketology predicts them as the No. 6 seed, and they currently hold his No. 2 spot in the conference at half-game.
BoilerUp89: Nebraska took the lead with about 12 minutes remaining. From there, they scored just 6 points. Not an ideal strategy.
Tumpasaurus: Illinois finished 29-5 over the arc. I hope no one notices that she fires 25+ 3s without guarding the lane. This team against the pack zone is repulsive, so it doesn’t guard lanes and can’t create them.
On the other hand, they closed out the game by stealing a three from their opponents. We do this more effectively than most anyone in the country. The open three wasn’t there and Nebraska couldn’t abuse the Illini in the post the way Indiana can, so things got rough for the Huskers in the end.
Weird team. Weird team.
Iowa Hawkeyes 86, northwestern wildcats 70
max sum: I’m sorry, Northwestern believers. Go back to the mushy middle. But it’s better than a soggy bottom.
BoilerUp89: Iowa’s ball movement on offense is great and as much as I like to mock their defense, they did a good job with this one lulling Northwestern with a long two-point jump shot. bottom.
#37 Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lyons (14-7, 5-5) 6th purdue boiler manufacturers (21-1, 10-1), 5:30pm BTN
max sum: Nits travel to Purdue for a matchup between Gigantor and Oompa Loompa. Purdue won the first game pretty convincingly with his 76-63. Zach Edey dropped his 30 and Purdue’s freshman backcourt went from 3 to 7/13. When Purdue scores and Edy scores too, it doesn’t go very far. If I were Penn State, I’d put a guard on Edy and tell him to drop every time he moved towards the basket. Let’s test that flop rule. Either way, Torvik makes him Purdue 72-62.
BoilerUp89: I expect Penn State to attack Purdue like they did in Michigan a few days ago. For Purdue, it’s the definition of a trap game, sandwiched between two big basketball rivalries. As Indiana showed last night, the trap game is dangerous.
Tumpasaurus: Penn State, if you want me to take you seriously, beat Purdue tonight.
Active in ragstar hops
#202 Minnesota Gophers (7-13, 1-9) 16th place Rutgers Scarlet Knights (14-7, 6-4), 7:30pm BTN
max sum: Can I ignore the Gophers? If I do, will OTE throw me into the sea? The Gophs had mild competition against Indiana and Michigan, but were dumped by Northwestern University. Rutgers needs a win to keep winning in the conference’s central tiebreaker. He has nine teams with four or five losses, so dropping one team to Minnesota isn’t ideal.
BoilerUp89: Gophers are playing hockey. The Rutgers try to keep pace with the Illini.
