A Hectic, Important Week In The Big Ten
What we learned in a jam-packed set of days heading into Big Ten-ACC Challenge week
Big Ten women’s basketball had its most intriguing week to date, with many of the teams competing in national tournaments.
There were storylines to be found all over the place, most of which reflected on the conference positively. This is a look at a handful of the most notable results, in order of what I think are the most notable, from the past seven days.
Michigan 84, Baylor 75
I thought regression was bound to happen for Michigan, who lost the best player in program history. So far, it’s not happening.
The Wolverines remained undefeated thanks to a remarkable victory over Baylor that saw Michigan squander a late lead, just to make an impressive fourth quarter surge to win it anyway.
Michigan trailed 70-64 with 4:39 to play off an 8-1 Baylor run. The Wolverines outscored the Bears 20-5 the rest of the way for a big time tournament win. This was a great team effort, but it was Laila Phelia who again found herself making the right play at the biggest moment thanks to an unbelievable pass by Leigha Brown.
Phelia had 20 points and Brown had 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The star, though, was veteran forward Emily Kiser, who tallied 26 points and 13 rebounds on 10-of-13 shooting. Kiser needed to step up with Naz Hillmon in the pros, and she has done more than that in the early parts of the season.
Kiser is averaging 20.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.7 blocks per game while shooting 64.3 percent from the field and 91.2 percent from the free throw line. Hell, she’s even hit half of her four three attempts. All of that leads to a jaw-dropping 3.4 win shares already this season, tops in the Big Ten and third-best in the NCAA. To say Kiser has been one of the best players in the country this season would be an understatement.
UConn 86, Iowa 79
This is one of those losses that feels like a win, at least from the outside.
Yes, Iowa has the talent this year to be a Final Four team, so losses of any sort are not a best-case scenario. But after some shaky results early on, seeing the Hawkeyes fully compete with UConn was extremely promising, as this one was close most of the way.
Iowa had an explosive second quarter, outscoring the Huskies 27-15, but lost the momentum in the third quarter. UConn was never able to pull away, but Iowa also couldn’t quite keep up by the end, and ended up falling by seven.
The Hawkeyes did this without a great showing from either of their stars. Caitlin Clark had a relatively solid showing for her expectations, finishing with 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists to just three turnovers. The problem, again, was the efficiency: 9 of 24 overall, 2 of 11 from three. Monika Czinano had been the more reliable of the duo as of late, but she was held to just eight points on seven field goal attempts. Kate Martin’s 20 points on a perfect 6 of 6 from three was huge to keep Iowa in this one.
UConn plays smothering defense but, broken record here, Iowa needs Clark to be more efficient to reach this team’s ceiling. But the fact that the Hawkeyes are not playing their best basketball and nearly taking down the Huskies is a good sign.
Nebraska 73, Mississippi State 65 (OT)
After two straight blowout losses to teams considered about on par with Nebraska, the Cornhuskers needed to get a big-time victory to gain back some momentum. Thanks to star guard Jaz Shelley, Nebraska did just that, taking down a very good Mississippi State in overtime.
Shelley had a slow start to this season, but broke out in a big way here, matching her career high with 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting, adding three rebounds and eight assists. She scored Nebraska’s first 14 points in the extra frame, making a pair of free throws and burying four threes in 103 seconds.
This was a big, big win, especially big considering the Huskers get Virginia Tech and Maryland in back-to-back road games this week.
DePaul 76, Maryland 67
This is an odd one.
DePaul is a solid team with a true star in Aneesah Morrow, but the Blue Demons also have already lost to Northern Illinois, Cleveland State and Towson. But DePaul, behind 22 points from Morrow and a trio of double-doubles, took down the Terps by nine.
How did this happen? Maryland couldn’t shoot. The Terrapins shot 31.6 percent from the field and 20.7 percent from three. Diamond Miller shot 3 of 12, Abby Meyers shot 4 of 12. A combined 7 of 24 from your stars is not great.
It is more likely that this game is an anomaly — Maryland beat its next two opponents by double digits and took down Baylor the game before — but seeing that a team not named South Carolina can completely shut down this talented offense is at the least a yellow flag.
Indiana 79, Memphis 64
This is a result that a team like Indiana should expect, but it was the circumstances around the game that made this one noteworthy.
Not related, but for starters, Indiana played a tournament in a hotel ballroom. It is embarrassing and shameful, and the NCAA needs to do better.
On the court, Indiana won both games at the tournament by 15 points: first Auburn, then Memphis. But the Hoosiers lost star guard Grace Berger to a knee injury in that first win, and the timetable (at the time of writing this) for her return is unknown.
I was curious to see how a Berger-less Indiana team would respond, and it responded extremely well. Specifically, Mackenzie Holmes erupted for 27 points on 12-of-15 shooting. Yarden Garzon added 17 points and Sara Scalia tallied 16. Sydney Parrish entered the starting lineup and played well with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
Getting Parrish in the transfer portal was always huge, but now it is more crucial than ever. Indiana’s starting lineup remains elite with her, but the Hoosiers now have a depth problem similar to last season. A home game against North Carolina this week will tell us a lot, as will Berger’s expected return date.
Purdue’s Week
Purdue 85, Harvard 63
Florida State 76, Purdue 75
Purdue 71, Oklahoma State 65
A 2-1 week for the Boilermakers against pretty strong competition is a great sign that this team has NCAA Tournament potential.
Rutgers transfer Lasha Petree has been a revelation for this team. She scored 58 points across the three games, finishing with at least a share of the team lead all three games. Petree’s 18.3 PPG so far this season blows away her 8.2 PPG output from her one season with the Scarlet Knights.
Jeanae Terry’s return has also been significant. Her three-game totals from the tournament were very fun:
24 points (8.0 per game)
32 rebounds (10.7 per game)
22 assists (7.7 per game)
6 steals (2.0 per game)
She is not a primary scorer, but her all-around utility is deeply impressive, and what makes the Boilermaker engine run.
Penn State 82, Syracuse 69
The Big Ten has four undefeated teams left. Three of them — Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State — are not all that surprising. Penn State, the fourth team, is.
The Nittany Lions, outside of the opening Norfolk State win without a number, have outperformed what Her Hoop State has projected in all seven games. That includes a one-point win over Toledo, which HHS had the Nittany Lions projected to lose.
But the most impressive victory from my view was this 13-point win against Syracuse. Makenna Marisa made a sizable impact (22 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) but shot 8 of 21 from the field. That used to be enough to sink Penn State against a decent team.
Instead, the Nittany Lions got complementary scoring, held Syracuse in check defensively and forced 19 turnovers. All of those are significant early improvements from the Penn State of year’s past. Carolyn Kieger’s team could be ready to make the dance.
What To Watch
Last week was great, but this week has the Big Ten-ACC challenge, followed by the first in-conference matchups on Sunday. There is so, so much to watch.
Instead of picking the five to watch, I am going to do two things.
Tell you to watch the Sunday conference games. There are five on starting from noon to 2 p.m. on either BTN or B1G+.
Somewhat try to predict how many Big Ten teams win against their ACC opponents. These are sorted based on how much I expect a win by the Big Ten team, phrased as if it’s a political race for whatever reason.
Likely Win
Purdue vs. Syracuse
This is the only one I feel extremely confident in. Purdue is the better team and is at home, this should be an early victory for the conference.
Lean Win
Illinois @ Pittsburgh
Minnesota vs. Wake Forest
Michigan State vs. Georgia Tech
No. 10 Iowa vs. No. 12 NC State
No. 17 Michigan @ Miami (Fla.)
I have five games here, more than any other section. The Big Ten really needs all of these to feel confident in beating the ACC. Iowa-NC State may be a hot take here, but I like the Hawkeyes at home against a Wolfpack team that, like Iowa, hasn’t yet proven themselves this season.
Toss Up
Penn State vs. Virginia
No. 4 Ohio State @ No. 18 Louisville
No. 5 Indiana vs. No. 6 North Carolina
Three total bangers here that should swing this battle one way or another. Penn State and Virginia are both undefeated, Ohio State has been red hot but goes on the road to a very talented Louisville team and the Hoosiers, likely without Berger, have to stave off a top 10 opponent. Watch as much of these three as you can.
Lean Loss
No. 20 Maryland @ No. 7 Notre Dame
Wisconsin vs. Florida State
Wisconsin has cooled after a strong start, but is losing close to solid opposition. That, plus being at home, makes it a little interesting against a Noles team better on paper. Maryland, on the other hand, has the talent to battle Notre Dame, but shouldn’t be favored on the road with how the Fighting Irish have played thus far.
Likely Loss
Rutgers @ Boston College
Northwestern @ Duke
Nebraska @ No. 9 Virginia Tech
The Big Ten needs to capitalize on the lean wins, because a victory in any of these three matchups would be very surprising. These are three teams going against much stronger opponents on the road. Nebraska has the most potential here, but I am very high on this revamped Virginia Tech roster, so I don’t see it.
Prediction
Wins: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue
Losses: Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Northwestern, Rutgers, Wisconsin
I’m giving the Big Ten a narrow 8-6 edge. I think Ohio State gets the job done on the road and Penn State takes down Virginia at home to secure the nod. Indiana also easily could, but a Berger-less team beating a very, very good North Carolina squad is a tall task, even at home.
Feature photo credit: @umichwbball on Twitter
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