Big Saturday for trio of Big Ten teams
With the Hoosiers idle this weekend, it was with love for both college basketball and the Big Ten in general that I checked out a trio of Big Ten teams come away with impressive wins Saturday.
Minnesota 70, Louisville 64: The knock on the Golden Gophers coming into a neutral court matchup with the Cardinals was an absence of a “signature” win. The response from Tubby Smith’s club was to dismantle one of the top teams in the Big East with stifling defense. Minnesota limited Louisville to 39 percent shooting and held freshman sensation Samardo Samuels to seven points. Look for the 10-0 Golden Gophers to be ranked in both polls come Monday. {The Gopher Report has a detailed recap here.}
Purdue 76, Davidson 58: As hard as it might be as an IU fan, I’ve gotta give Purdue credit for putting the clamps on one of the best players in the country. Stephen Curry took a ridiculous 26 shots in this game and only hit five. He finished with 13 points, six assists and six turnovers in 39 minutes. If that’s not the best defensive job a team has done on Curry this season, it’s gotta be close. {Boiled Sports says that mid-majors are not worth all of the hype.}
Michigan State 67, Texas 63: My pick to win the Big Ten is finally rounding into form. The presence of Delvon Roe and Goran Suton to go with Raymar Morgan suddenly makes the Spartans a team that can beat you inside or outside. And that’s exactly what they did to Texas. Suton scored 18 points in his second game back from arthoscopic knee surgery and Durrell Summers (14 points) and Kalin Lucas (11 points) held it down in the backcourt. Tom Izzo’s club shot 50 percent and Travis Walton limited A.J. Abrams to eight points. {Steve Grinzcel recaps the upset.}
Elsewhere: Michigan drops Oakland, 89-76; Ohio State moves to 8-0 with a win over Iona; Wisconsin holds Coppin State to 46 points; Illinois crushes former Indiana assistant Ray McCallum and Detroit Mercy.

First, the good things about tonight (or last night depending on when you read this.)
This is weird. Isn’t it? Isn’t it strange to be in this position right now? To gather, as I did last night, with friends at a bar, to celebrate another game with a Fat Tire and a sandwich, and to know all along that no matter what happens, your team’s coach is going down? He can beat your most hated rival (who just so happens to be the Big Ten’s top team) and still, against his will, it will be the last win of his tenure.
Eric Gordon scored 22 points, D.J. White added 19 points and 15 rebounds and Armon Bassett chipped in 16 as Indiana moved into a three-way tie in the loss column for first place in the Big Ten with a 77-68 win over Purdue.
Opponent: Purdue
We’re essentially at the halfway point of the Big Ten season and that means it’s time to handicap the conference race and try to figure out how it’s all going to shake out.
- The Hoosiers played a laugher of a game Saturday night as they whipped Western Carolina, 100-52. Coach Sampson thanked the fans (including me) for braving the elements to watch a blowout. The only important thing we learned from the game is that Eric Gordon is back and ready to go. Gordon looked to be 100 percent and showed no signs of the lower back injury that kept him out of the Kentucky game.
First, an admission: I’ve always followed recruiting very closely. The main reason it piques my interest is the importance it plays on the overall health of the program. Because let’s face it, without good players, you’re not going to win. So I use it as a gauge of the direction the program is headed. So far, so good with Coach Sampson at the helm.
