Four Big Ten Teams Dance Into Sweet 16
A weekend of vindication for the existence of this newsletter
When I started Hoopla this past summer, there was a bit of worry in my head that maybe the Big Ten wouldn’t be as good as I thought.
The conference had four teams in the Sweet 16 for the first time ever last year, and had only gotten three teams into the second weekend four times, all of which happened in the 2000s (2003, 2004, 2005, 2009).
What if last season was a fluke?
Those fears were mostly gone prior to what happened this past weekend, but they completely vanished by the time the Round of 32 was over on Monday.
For the second time in conference history, and the second consecutive year, there are for Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16. Three of the teams are the same: Indiana, Maryland and Michigan are all back. But the fourth, Ohio State, was also the one that had to make the most magic happen to get here, and my god they caught lightning in a bottle.
Ohio State’s Perfect Game
The Buckeyes stumbled out the gate in their first round game against Missouri State, scoring just 5 points in the first quarter to fall behind early. It wasn’t until a 14-2 run in a 2:31 span late in the second quarter where Ohio State got into its groove.
Those 151 seconds featured six Missouri State turnovers, all of which were forced by three of Ohio State’s starting guards: Jacy Sheldon (3 steals), Taylor Mikesell (2) and Braxtin Miller (1).
Sheldon, in particular, was exceptional in that opening matchup: 25 points (7/12 FG, 10/12 FT), 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. She was the driving force all game for the Buckeyes, and helped lead the team to a tight 63-56 victory.
So, when Ohio State again started slow against LSU (missed first six shots, scoreless for opening 3:24), I wasn’t sure if the Buckeyes would be able to just hit the gas against a terrific LSU squad with an all-time great coach in Kim Mulkey.
Well, Ohio State didn’t just hit the gas: The Buckeyes fucking floored it.
After going down 8-4, Ohio State immediately went on an 11-0 run. An 8-point halftime lead quickly became a 19-point advantage on the back of a 13-2 run to start the third. That lead ballooned to as much as 24 points, and the Tigers never got closer than 9 points on the way to a comfortable 79-64 upset win.
How did Ohio State do it? Despite everything I said to start the season, it was because of defense. LSU shot 36.7 percent from the field, including holding star guard Khalya Pointer, who scored half of her team’s points, to just 12 of 30 on the night.
But the Buckeyes were also tremendous on offense against a top 20 defense nationally (20th in Her Hoop Stats defensive rating). Ohio State shot 48.3 percent overall and 45.5 percent from deep on 22 attempts, exploiting LSU’s main weakness of defending the three ball. Unsurprisingly, it was Sheldon (23 points, 8 assists, 3 steals) and Mikesell (18 points, 4/7 3PT, 2 steals) who did the most damage.
This was as good of a game as Ohio State could have hoped for, minus a slow start. Getting here is a major victory for head coach Kevin McGuff and this program, especially considering what they lost to transfers and injury. Now, the Buckeyes get to battle Texas. I would favor the Longhorns, but not if Ohio State can replicate what it did on Monday.
Indiana and Michigan Survive
Both the Hoosiers and Wolverines have had very similar routes to getting to the second weekend.
Both teams had the benefit of playing in front of home crowds
Both obliterated lesser opponents in round one (sorry Charlotte)
Both faced double-digit seeds in both rounds
Both had some real fights in the Round of 32
Let’s start with Indiana, who laid an 85-51 smackdown on my 49ers behind 19 points from Mackenzie Holmes and 18 by Grace Berger. It was not that easy against Princeton, who followed up an upset of Kentucky by getting oh so close against the Hoosiers.
This was a bizarre game. Indiana (51.2 FG%) significantly outshot Princeton (33.9 FG%), held the rebound advantage 32-29 and completely put the clamps on Tigers star Abby Meyers, who was 4-15 with 11 points after averaging 17.9 PPG on 45.0 percent shooting all year.
But Princeton just kept fighting. The Tigers got 10 offensive rebounds to just one by the Hoosiers, and went from down 7 early in the fourth quarter to holding a 52-51 lead with 1:12 to go.
Indiana survived thanks to one of the most clutch performers in the conference, and likely in the country. It was Berger, who was quiet most of the second half, that stepped up once again. She was fouled on the ensuing possession, splitting the pair to tie the game. After a defensive stop, it was Berger who made a terrific move to the rim and put in a layup with 29 seconds to go to give Indiana the lead back.
Princeton then turned it over, Aleksa Gulbe hit what ended up being two absolutely pivotal free throws, and the Tigers drilled a three as time expired, falling to the Hoosiers by 1. It was a wild finish to a sloppy game that featured 17 Indiana turnovers, but finished with Indiana players celebrating in the student section.
The Hoosiers now get to play UConn, who looked more than beatable in a low-scoring slugfest against UCF. The Huskies may have the history, but I’m calling this one a coin flip.
Now, about those Wolverines.
Michigan went down 8-4 to American early, then outscored it 70-31 the rest of the game. Naz Hillmon had a gross 24 points and 11 rebounds in just 25 minutes.
Its next game against 11-seeded Villanova was a war. The final score of 63-49 does not give justice to how close this game was for the majority of the 40 minutes. The Wolverines’ lead was just two, 42-40, with 93 seconds to go in the third. From that point on, Michigan outscored the Wildcats 21-9.
It was a defensive clinic in the final 13:44 of this game. By my count, Villanova went 3 for 17 from the field and had five turnovers in that span. Michigan’s offensive wasn’t exactly scorching with 21 points in almost 14 minutes, but the defense was so smothering that it didn’t matter.
Unsurprisingly, Hillmon was again excellent: 27 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals. Leigha Brown (20 points) was also a huge factor.
Through two games, here are Hillmon’s numbers:
51 points (25.5 PPG)
23/30 FG (76.7%)
22 rebounds (11.0 RPG)
8 steals (4.0 SPG)
It has been an ungodly showing from one of the best players this conference has ever seen, and she will need to do it again when Michigan battles 10-seed South Dakota, who just took down an excellent Baylor squad. I would favor the Wolverines, but the Coyotes are a slow-paced, efficient team that has an elite defensive center, Hannah Sjerven, to try and slow down Hillmon.
Maryland Cruises Back To Familiar Territory
My apologies to the Terrapins, who I counted out in my tournament preview. After a hot run entering the conference tourney, the Terps looked dead against Indiana, and it left a sour taste in my mouth.
Fast forward to now, and Maryland looks like one of the best teams in the tournament. After blasting Delaware for 102 points in round one, the Terrapins went up against Florida Gulf Coast, who deserved so much higher than a 12-seed — they’ve been ranked like all year.
But Maryland said ‘no’ and thumped the Eagles 89-65. The Terrapins trailed 39-36 with 3:32 to go in the second quarter. Head coach Brenda Frese must have then turned on the emergency button, because Maryland proceeded to murder this poor team.
It went from 39-36 to 53-39, a backbreaking 17-0 run that continued into the third quarter and took all the energy out of FGCU’s cinderella bid. It was never close again, and the Terrapins roll into a heavyweight bout with Stanford.
Maryland is doing this by doing what I thought it would do all year: spreading the scoring around. Diamond Miller (24 points), Angel Reese (21) and Ashley Owusu (20) all broke the 20-point barrier against Delaware, then the Terps had five double-digit scorers against the Eagles, with Katie Benzan and Chloe Bibby joining the party.
But if there’s one player that could lead the Terps over the defending national champions, it is Miller. She was just awful against Indiana (2 for 11, 4 points in 35 minutes) and has been Maryland’s leading scorer in both games this tourney. If she is on, she is the type of difference-maker that the Terps will need to get past the brick wall that is the Cardinal defense.
For how impressive Maryland has been this year, I can’t say I’d favor it against Stanford. This team has so many weapons and beat the Terps, without Miller to be fair, by 18 earlier in the year. This game should be closer, but I would give the edge to the Cardinal.
Nebraska and Iowa Falter
The Big Ten did have two teams fall, one of which was a major surprise.
Let’s start with the more reasonable one. Nebraska got a bad seeding and got an even worse first round matchup against a very good Gonzaga squad, and the Cornhuskers’ season ended in the first round.
The Bulldogs proceeded to lose to top-seed Louisville by single digits to prove how underseeded they also were. Regardless, Nebraska wasn’t even expected to be here by most, so this loss shouldn’t sting too bad. The roster, transfer portal pending, will be extremely solid next year, and a rebound from this defeat is almost certainly in the cards.
Now Iowa.
The Hawkeyes rode the momentum of winning the Big Ten Tournament into a dominant opening round victory, then lost an absolute heartbreaker to 10-seed Creighton in the Round of 32.
Of Iowa’s two stars, one is certainly not to blame. Monika Czinano, despite missing a potential game-tying bucket late, was superb in this game. She finished with 27 points on 12-of-20 shooting. Instead, the finger pointing will go to Caitlin Clark, who had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists.
Clark’s stat line is OK for her lofty standards, and committing just one turnover to the 11 assists is great. But, Clark’s shooting numbers were damning: 4 for 19 from the field, 3 for 10 from three, 1 for 8 from two.
Even worse, Clark shot 0 for 8 in the second half. She did some things well here, specifically that sparkling assist-to-turnover ratio, and she absolutely could have gotten more help from non-Czinano players. But as one of the best players in the country, you can’t go ice cold in the final 20 minutes like that.
Iowa will be back, and Czinano has already said she will be back. Clark is the conference’s most talented player, but it’s the consistency that will be the key for her to lead the Hawkeyes to a deep run next year.
Here’s hoping we have a Big Ten team in the Final Four. Before we find that out, I’ll talk some men’s tournament on Thursday. Regardless, we know one thing for sure now: The Big Ten is good. Vindication.
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