Big Ten Tournament To Be As Wild As Ever
So who do you think will win this year’s Big Ten Tournament in the Windy City?
Your guess is as good as any that’s for sure.
It was a crazy Big Ten season and the next five days in Chicago’s United Center could be just as hectic and chaotic as the regular season.
Purdue won the Big Ten title by three games, but it lost three of its last six games so are the Boilermakers, who spent nearly the entire season ranked among the top five in the nation the clear cut favorites to cut down the nets on Sunday?
Purdue, which lost to Iowa in last year’s Big Ten Tournament championship game, will be a handful with 7-foot-4 consensus national player of the year Zach Edey anchoring the middle. However, the Boilermakers’ chances to survive and advance are more dependant on limiting turnovers and hitting outside shots. How will their young guards play in a single-elimination tournament format? We’re about to find out.
What about IU? The Hoosiers, who have never won a Big Ten Tournament, accounted for two of Purdue’s five losses this season and certainly are talented enough to win this thing with first-team All-American Trayce Jackson-Davis leading the way. TJD’s supporting cast like ultra-talented guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, catalyst Trey Galloway and sharpshooter Miller Kopp will be key over the weekend and going forward.
Northwestern is everybody’s darling. What a year Chris Collins, the Big Ten Coach of the Year, has had. Thanks to exceptional veteran guard play from Boo Buie and Chase Audige, the ‘Cats are the highest seed (No. 2) they’ve ever been in the league tournament and are about to make their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament ever. The problem with Northwestern could be its offense. It really gets after it defensively, but can it generate enough points to get far along in this tournament will be the main question.
Michigan State is definitely a team to keep an eye on. It has won three of its last four games entering Friday. Its only two losses in the last month were at Michigan, coming off the terrible on-campus shooting, and Iowa’s miraculous home overtime 112-106 win over the Spartans.
Tyson Walker has been really good, especially as of late, for Tom Izzo’s Spartans. Joey Hauser can really shoot it from distance and A.J. Hoggard has topped the 20-point mark in two of MSU’s last four games so watch out for the Green and White.
After the aforementioned teams that get a double bye and don’t start conference tournament play until Friday, it’s anybody’s guess who might advance to the quarterfinals.
Illinois is as talented a team as there is in the conference, but which Brad Underwood team will show up? Terrence Shannon Jr. and Coleman Hawkins will be playing in the NBA next year and are more than capable of leading this team to the Big Ten title game. You add in the perimeter shooting of Matthew Mayer, who knows what it takes to win it all as he did at Baylor a couple years ago, and you have a team that could make a ton of noise this March.
First-year Maryland coach Kevin Willard, who came from Seton Hall, has turned things around quickly in College Park. His Terps went undefeated at home in Big Ten play. The problem? The Big Ten Tournament and NCAA Tournament are going to be played in College Park. Jahmir Young is about as good a point guard as you will find anywhere and Maryland doesn’t take a backseat to most teams when it comes to athleticism. If the Terps can lock in and find a way to play anywhere close to the way they play at home, they, too, could be a handful.
Iowa, the defending Big Ten Tournament champions, definitely could win this thing. Offensively the Hawkeyes can score with the best of them. Their problem is on defense where talented teams usually put up big numbers on Fran McCaffery. Any time you have a future NBA first-round pick like the Hawkeyes do in Kris Murray and a guard like Tony Perkins, who has scored 23 or more points in three of Iowa’s last six games, you have the ability to bounce just about any team out of a tournament. One thing is certain, don’t lose sight of McCaffery, he’s worth the price of admission when it comes to his sideline antics and how he goes after (or should I say stares down) officials.
Michigan is yet another team with NBA talent like future first-rounder Jett Howard and has a nice veteran post presence in 7-footer Hunter Dickinson, who is as colorful as any player in the league. However, can the Wolverines finish? Seven of Michigan’s losses this season have come by a total of 19 points.
In Year Two of Micah Shrewsberry’s tenure in Happy Valley, Penn State is headed to the NCAA Tournament, thanks to back-to-back thrilling wins in the waning seconds of its last two contests. If you like outside shooting, watch the Nittany Lions because they can really stroke it. Jalen Pickett is an All-American and arguably the best player to ever don a Penn State uniform. The Lions have little to no inside game so they must be connecting from distance, and if they do with regularity they can play with just about anybody.
Rutgers limps into the Big Ten Tournament, having lost six of eight games. Steve Pikiell’s team just isn’t the same without Mawot Mag, who tore his ACL earlier this season. This is a team that plays really good D, but struggles scoring. No doubt the Scarlet Knight now are a far cry from the team that knocked off No. 1 Purdue in January in Mackey.
Rutgers must beat Michigan if it wants to get into the NCAA Tournament.
Wisconsin is another team facing a must-win situation. They have four players who average in double figures, led by Chucky Hepburn’s 12.2 points per game, and they play a hard, methodical game that at times is hard to watch, but they’re in most every game because of their style.
After losing three of their last five, the Badgers really have to get hot in Chicago or they’ll be in the NIT. They’ve been in some really close ones, but have failed to close them out. There’s no room for error now, however, as a trip to at least the conference semifinals is a must if their NCAA Tournament hopes are to stay alive.
Fred Hoiberg’s Nebraska Cornhuskers are one team that wishes this season still had a month left of the regular season. They’ve caught fire towards the end, winning five of six games and could be very dangerous in Chicago. Derrick Walker gives the Huskers a presence inside and he averages about 14 points per game. A big reason Nebraska has resurrected its season is because of the stellar play of Japanese guard Keisei Tominaga. He’s been terrific down the stretch. Tominaga has scored 20 or more points in six of the Huskers’ last eight games and has unlimited range.
This is a Nebraska team that could very well win at least two games to get a date with IU in the quarterfinals and who knows after that.
One of the most puzzling teams this season has been Ohio State. The Buckeyes are young, but they were actually ranked 24th nationally at 10-4 when they suffered a two-point home loss to No. 1 Purdue. After that, the bottom fell out.
OSU has won just three games since Jan. 1, but two of those Ws have come in the last three.
The Buckeyes are led by freshman Brice Sensabaugh, who paces them in scoring (16.5 points per game) and will take his game to the NBA as soon as OSU is ousted.
The Buckeyes’ cause was really hurt when big man Zed Key hurt his shoulder in that first meeting against Purdue and would reaggravated it later in the season causing him to head to the sideline for good.
It’s been a long year for Ben Johnson’s Minnesota Golden Gophers. They’ve won two Big Ten games this season and their stay in Chicago should be very short.
So who do you like?
If you believe in history repeating itself, you’ll probably side with Izzo’s Spartans, who have won more Big Ten Tournaments than any other school (six). Ohio State has won it four times, followed by Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa with three each, Michigan two and Purdue once.
In case you didn’t know … Purdue and Michigan met in the inaugural Big Ten Tournament Championship Game back in 1998 in Chicago’s United Center … and believe it or not, I was there and covered the event.
DOUG’S BIG TEN TOURNAMENT PREDICTIONS
1st Round
Ohio State 73
Wisconsin 69
Nebraska 68
Minnesota 58
2nd Round
Michigan 61
Rutgers 60
Iowa 80
Ohio State 74
Illinois 72
Penn State 71
Maryland 72
Nebraska 59
Quarterfinals
Purdue 68
Michigan 64
Iowa 72
Michigan State 69
Illinois 67
Northwestern 59
Indiana 65
Maryland 60
Semifinals
Michigan State 71
Purdue 70
Illinois 66
Indiana 60
Finals
Michigan State 72
Illinois 67
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