Big Saturday for trio of Big Ten teams

  • 12/20/2008 11:37 pm in

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.

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