4 Big Ten basketball takeaways, including Michigan’s COVID-19 pause and anticipation rising for an Illinois-Iowa rematch
Nothing is guaranteed — or even logical — in this Big Ten basketball season.
Indiana beat Iowa last week, but then tripped against Rutgers. Ohio State stumbled against Purdue before crushing Wisconsin. Minnesota beat Michigan by 18 points, then lost by 14 to Maryland.
Huh?
Six teams are still within 2 1/4 u00bd games of each other for the Big Ten lead, which perhaps just got more complicated because of one team’s pause.
Here are four takeaways from the Big Ten race.
1. Will Columbus, Ohio, be the home of multiple champions?
Ohio State’s basketball team has revealed itself as one of the most impressive in the Big Ten. Perhaps following in the footsteps of the football team?
The Buckeyes (12-4, 6-4) have beaten four of the five ranked opponents they’ve faced — all in the top 15. Their last three victories have come on the road against top-15 Big Ten foes and they’ve won four of their last five games.
A 67-65 loss to Purdue sandwiched between wins against then-No. 14 Illinois and then-No. 10 Wisconsin is perplexing. And the fact that Ohio State was swept by mediocre Purdue might be a red flag.
But the Buckeyes dominated Wisconsin in Madison on Saturday, never trailing for one of the most impressive victories in college basketball this week. It should serve as a warning of their ability to rise to the occasion.
“I just feel like when we go on the road, we have a different mindset,” forward E.J. Liddell said. “We’ve got to stay connected throughout the whole time because they’re going to have their runs. It’s their place. They’re used to it. They practice here every day. We just have to stay connected.”
Liddell, a Belleville, Ill., native, has been a difference-maker for Ohio State in a more prominent role as a sophomore. He’s developed a midrange game and become more consistent around the basket.
He scored 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting with seven rebounds to lead the way against the Badgers, even as Buckeyes’ leading scorer Duane Washington Jr. was limited to 1 of 9 shooting. Playing 11 more minutes per game, Liddell’s shooting percentage is up more than 4%, and he’s scoring 7.8 points more per game while grabbing three more rebounds on average in each outing.
The Buckeyes were able to score with relative ease (58.3%) against one of the Big Ten’s best defenses as the Badgers have allowed only 40.5% shooting and 62.2 points.
“The positions (Ohio State) put you in, and Liddell in the post, and him coming out and shooting I thought really got them going,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard told reporters after the game.
Expect Ohio State to remain strong. The Buckeyes just got back C.J. Walker, who scored eight points with three assists off the bench against Wisconsin after missing four games with a right hand injury.
Despite the loss to the Boilermakers, Ohio State has the most momentum in the conference thanks to its recent victories.
2. Michigan is playing the waiting game.
Many teams in the Big Ten have missed at least one game or had schedules reshuffled because of COVID-19 cases.
Michigan is the first to lock it all down because of confirmed cases of the more contagious B.1.1.7 COVID-19 variant virus within the athletic department. Despite no positive cases on the basketball team, according to the Detroit Free Press, it is grouped in with all other teams that will pause activities for at least 14 days.
The department shut down after they received notice from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHSS), according to the Detroit News. A spokesperson from the MDHSS told the paper it had only offered shutting down as a recommendation, not a mandate. Either way, the cautious approach should be appreciated and used as the standard for other programs.
“Canceling competitions is never something we want to do, but with so many unknowns about this variant of COVID-19, we must do everything we can to minimize the spread among student-athletes, coaches, staff, and to the student-athletes at other schools,” said Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel in a statement.
The state of Michigan has had nearly 595,000 COVID-19 cases reported and more than 14,000 deaths.
The decision to pause affects several Michigan programs, including the women’s basketball team which is off to its best start in school history and the No. 9 ranked men’s hockey team.
The men’s basketball team will have four games wiped from its schedule without much clarity on how — or if — those games will be made up. Games against Penn State, Indiana, Northwestern and Michigan State won’t be played as currently scheduled.
The No. 7 Wolverines (13-1, 8-1) also won’t be able to practice during their two-week quarantine.
While health is the priority, it’s certain Michigan will try to be back to make a push for the Big Ten crown after a strong start to conference play.
Big Ten teams are a mixed bag when it comes to how they perform in their first game back after a postponement, going 6-6 as a league in those games.
Penn State missed four games in January because of a COVID-19 outbreak within its program and lost at Purdue and at Illinois before winning its last two against Rutgers and Northwestern.
Nebraska is experiencing a four-game idle stretch with an outbreak, but is scheduled to resume play Feb. 3 at Michigan State. The Spartans have similar questions about bouncing back, missing three games because of positive cases within the program with their next game slated for Thursday against Rutgers.
If Michigan resumes play after two weeks, it faces a tough slate in its last seven games with competition against Illinois, Ohio State and Iowa.
3. Ready to rumble?
When Big Ten schedules were revealed, one of the most disappointing absences was a second game between Illinois and Iowa.
With just one game scheduled this season — Friday in Champaign — it feels like someone is turning up the burner under these teams.
After Illinois won 78-76 on March 8 , 2020 — unknowingly the Illini’s last game of the season before the pandemic shut down college basketball — Ayo Dosunmu honestly summed up the feelings between the Hawkeyes and Illini: “We don’t like each other,” he said. “Simple as that. They want to kill us. We want to kill them.”
Kofi Cockburn blocked Luka Garza’s last-second shot attempt. And Hawkeyes point guard Connor McCaffery got into it with Illini guard Da’Monte Williams during last season’s meeting, which resulted in technical fouls.
Anticipation is high for the rematch.
Dosunmu, Cockburn and Garza all considered leaving school for a shot at the NBA draft — with Garza being the most assured of being drafted — but all three returned, setting up a rivalry game. Even without fans in the arena, expect almost every house in Champaign and Iowa City — as well as throughout Big Ten college towns — to be tuning in.
Illinois and Iowa have been considered Big Ten championship contenders this season.
Both have taken some recent stumbles and are trying to chase down league-leader Michigan. Illinois has lost two of its last three games and sits two games out of first place. Iowa is coming off a surprising 81-69 loss to Indiana. The Hawkeyes are a 1 1/4 u00bd games out of the conference lead.
Illinois and Iowa have had to deal with schedule disruptions because of other team’s cancellations with COVID-19, and each has played only two games since Jan. 10.
Will another close battle add to the rivalry?
4. No team may be as unpredictable as Maryland.
If you can explain the Terrapins, you might also be able to explain quantum physics.
Maryland (9-7, 3-6) has earned only three Big Ten victories — and all are against ranked opponents. The Terrapins won 70-64 at Wisconsin on Dec. 28, beat Illinois on the road 66-63 on Jan. 10 and beat Minnesota in Minneapolis 63-49 on Saturday. Yes, all three of those victories were on the road.
Despite no crowds at Big Ten games, home-court advantage hasn’t been nullified with only four conference teams owning winning road records. The Terrapins aren’t one of them (3-4 on the road), but they’ve still been impressive.
Minnesota (11-4, 4-5) was undefeated at home until Maryland throttled the Gophers, holding them to a season-low point total. Maryland built a 17-3 lead and never trailed.
Now the Terrapins need to figure out how to beat other middle-of-the-road teams if it wants to end the season with a surge.
