2/26/07 - Weekend Recap

Ohio State 49 Wisconsin 48 Sunday's mega matchup between the Big Ten's top two teams turned out to be as close as everyone expected, and probably a lot uglier than most would have thought. But in the end, it was the Buckeyes clinching the Big Ten Regular Season Title for the second straight season with a 49-48 victory over Wisconsin. Defense, or bad offense (however you like to look at it), was the name of the game on Sunday. Ohio State shot 42% on the afternoon and held the Badgers to just 35.1% shooting in what had to be the ugliest #1 vs. #2 matchup ever! Speaking of ugly...the status of Wisconsin's Brian Butch is still unclear after suffering what the Badgers are calling a "right elbow injury". I'd call that an injury alright! Michigan State 66 Indiana 58 It was just three weeks ago when nearly everyone had written the Spartans off for good after losing their 4th straight game and scoring only 12 points in the 2nd half in a loss at Purdue. Now, MSU is 8-6 in conference and tied for 4th place in the league. What happened? Four straight games in the Breslin Center is all. Four games, four wins, back in fourth place. Illinois 68 Penn State 50 The Illini took care of business in their first must-win road game at Penn State on Saturday. Illinois has now won three straight games, despite all the controversy surrounding new details on Jamar Smith's car accident. Illinois now has a week off to prepare for their season finale at Iowa this Saturday. The Illini may already be in the dance, but a loss at Iowa would certainly put them back on the bubble. As for Penn State, they try to avoid losing their 14th in a row on Wednesday night when they host the Hawkeyes. Purdue 75 Northwestern 68 Purdue, another Big Ten bubble team, went on the road this weekend and got a much needed win at Evanston. The Boilers out rebounded Northwestern 39 to 19. David Teague scored 26 for Purdue and everyone's favorite Wildcat Tim Doyle scored 26 points on 9-12 shooting for the Wildcats. How that guy even gets a shot off against Big Ten opponents amazes me every time I watch a Northwestern game. He seriously reminds me of my dad trying to play basketball AFTER his shoulder surgery for bursitis. Michigan 62 Minnesota 51 Tommy Amaker shuffled up his starting lineup and the Wolverines responded with a must win at Minnesota. Michigan now has two more "must win" games remaining, home tilts against Michigan State and Ohio State. If the Wolverines can win both, they will most certainly be going to the NCAA Tournament. Rumors have been swirling around Minnesota that Detroit Pistons head coach Flip Saunders will be walking away from his contract with the Pistons at season's end to become the Gopher's next head man. Rumors that Saunders himself calls "ridiculous".