Big Ten Keeps Rolling

Over the weekend we say many upsets, plenty from the Big East Conference. Not very many upsets came out of the Big Ten though.

Ohio State came through with a win in a close one at Northwestern. But, squeaking out a win is better than a loss as the #1 Ranked Buckeyes were victorious 58-57.

#12 Purdue had an up and down week after a 12 point victory over Minnesota on the 29th of January, followed up by losing to #18 Wisconsin at the Kohl Center in Madison.

This by no means should be looked at as a bad loss for the Boilermakers. The badgers under coach Bo Ryan are 141-11 at home in the Kohl Center, a record spanning back to 2001. This will be one of the toughest places in the country to play as long as Bo Ryan is at the helm.

Purdue's leading scorer JaJuan Johnson had another solid game with 23 pts, 4 assists, and 3 blks. However, the game was a one point into the final two minutes when an unlikely hero came through for the Badgers. Wisconsin's Ryan Evans had a total of 6 points in the first eight Big Ten games he had played. He came up with 10 points off the bench, with two buckets and a key defensive stop in the last two minutes of the game.

The Badgers got a solid game out of Senior Jon Leuer who had 24 points and 13 rebounds. Jordan Taylor chipped in with 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists.

Defense was the key here, as Wisconsin got the stops they needed down the stretch, leading to a 66-59 victory after losing to Penn State recently. Wisconsin plays Mich St. and Iowa before hosting #1 Ohio State on February 12 at the Kohl Center.

In other action, Illinois got back on track with a 68-51 victory over Penn State. Mike Davis led the way with 22 points, including 5 dunks, as #24 Illinois got a win despite the winter weather.

This team is too inconsistent enough right now to go deep into the tournament right now, they need a few wins in a row to get their confidence back.

The Big Ten is not quite beating each other up like the Big East is doing right now, but as the Big Ten season goes along, it is definitely a possibility. We'll see how long Ohio State can go undefeated with 9 games left to go and 5 against Top 25 teams.