Big Ten Weekly Men's Basketball Central - Feb. 11-13

WEEKLY RELEASE - FEB. 11

Big Ten. Big News.

Entering this week’s action, Purdue was at the top of the B1G standings with an 11-2 mark in conference play. They were followed closely by Michigan State and Michigan in a tie for 2nd at 10-2, then UCLA and Wisconsin in a tie for 4th at 9-4, Maryland in 6th at 8-5, Illinois in 7th at 8-6, and Nebraska and Ohio State in tie for 8th at 6-7. All 18 teams in the league had registered at least 3 league wins this season.
Congratulations to Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, who tied Bobby Knight’s record of 353 Big Ten victories on Saturday. Izzo has two chances to break the record this week, as the Spartans host Indiana on Tuesday and visit Illinois on Saturday.
Milestone Watch... Congratulations to UCLA’s Tyler Bilodeau scored his 1,000th career point in Saturday’s win over Penn State... UCLA’s Mick Cronin stands just two victories from becoming the fourth Big Ten head coach with 500 career wins.
On Monday, the Big Ten announced its weekly men’s basketball awards. Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn claimed his third Player of the Week award, while Illinois’ Will Riley and Maryland’s Derik Queen were named Co-Freshmen of the Week. Kaufman-Renn posted 24.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, as Purdue went 2-0. The junior forward shot 18-of-30 (.600) from the field and 11-of-12 (.917) from the free throw line, while securing 11 offensive rebounds. Kaufman-Renn scored 25 points with seven rebounds and a steal in a 90-81 win at Iowa then paired 25 points, 10 boards, and a pair of blocked shots in a 90-72 victory over USC. Kaufman-Renn was also named one of five National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
Riley claimed his second consecutive Freshman of the Week award and second in a row after averaging 22.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.5 assists, as the Illini split a pair of games. Riley posted 27 points, along with a career-high tying nine rebounds and a career best seven assists in a 95-74 win over Minnesota, becoming the first NCAA freshman with a game of at least 27 points, nine boards, and seven assists without a turnover since the 1996-97 season. Riley closed the week with a team-high 18 points, including 11 in the second half, to go with six assists in an 82-73 loss at Rutgers.
Eight B1G teams were ranked or received votes in the Associated Press and/or USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls released on February 3. Purdue remained at number seven in the AP poll, followed by No. 11 Michigan State, No. 16 Wisconsin, No. 20 Michigan and No. 25 Maryland. The coaches also listed the Boilermakers and Spartans at No. 7 and 11, respectively, with the Badgers at No. 15, the Wolverines at No. 17, and the Terps at No. 25. Illinois, Oregon and UCLA also received votes in one or both polls.
The Big Ten has collected 73 wins against Quad 1 opponents and 137 victories against Quad 1 and 2 teams combined. Oregon, Purdue, and Wisconsin lead the Big Ten with seven Quad 1 victories and are three of only nine teams in the country with seven such wins. Five Big Ten teams have at least 10 combined Quad 1 and 2 wins, led by Purdue’s 14. Wisconsin has 12, while Illinois, Michigan, and UCLA have 10 each.
Nine Big Ten teams were ranked in the top 40 and 15 in the top 75 in the NET Rankings through games on February 10. Purdue leads the way at No. 10, followed by No. 12 Illinois, No. 15 Maryland, No. 16 Michigan, No. 17 Wisconsin, No. 20 Michigan State, No 27 Ohio State, No. 28 UCLA, and No. 36 Oregon. Nebraska, Penn State. Northwestern, Iowa, Indiana, USC, and Rutgers also claimed spots in the top 75. Only the SEC has more teams in the top 40 (12), while its 15 top 75 entrants are one more than the Big Ten.
Ten of the Big Ten’s 18 teams rank in the top 40 of the Kenpom Ratings entering games on Feb. 11, including six in the top 20. Purdue leads the group at No. 7, followed by No. 12 Wisconsin, No. 15 Illinois, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 18 Maryland, No. 20 Michigan, No. 25 UCLA, No. 28 Ohio State, No. 39 Nebraska, and No. 40 Oregon. Only the SEC has more teams in the top 40 with 11.
In Saturday’s win over Minnesota, Illinois’ Will Riley became the only freshman in the nation since at least 1996-97 to record at least 27 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists without a turnover in a game. He is one of nine NCAA DI players overall to reach those thresholds in the last 29 seasons and one of three in power conference game, joining Oregon senior Joe Young (29 p, 10 r, 8 a, 0 to) vs. Washington on Feb. 8, 2015, and Arizona senior Ivan Radenovic (37 p, 9 r, 7 a, 0 to) vs. Stanford on March 3, 2007.
Maryland’s Derik Queen scored a career-high 29 points while grabbing 15 rebounds in Sunday’s win over Rutgers, earning his seventh career double-double. Since 1993-94, he’s one of just 13 Terps to post a double-double in their rookie seasons. He has the third most double-doubles in that span behind Joe Smith (20 from 1993-94) and Jordan Williams (eight from 2009-10).
Michigan’s Danny Wolf -- the only Big Ten player to average a double-double (12.7 ppg, 10.0 rpg) -- has 35 rebounds over his last three games -- 14 at Rutgers, 12 against Oregon, and nine at Indiana. He has 13 games of 10-plus rebounds and leads the Big Ten with 10 double-doubles.
Michigan State is the only team in the country to have just two players averaging double-digit points (Jaden Akins and Jase Richardson) while playing under 26.5 minutes per game and joins Arizona as the only teams in the AP Top 25 with at least 7 players averaging at least 7.8 ppg (Arizona).
Nebraska has shot over 50 percent from the field in each of the past three games, the first time that has happened since Nov. 19-23, 2021, and for the first time in Big Ten play since a four-game stretch during the 2015-16 season.
Purdue’s Braden Smith is on pace to become the first player since California’s Jason Kidd (1993-94) to average 16.0 points, 8.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. The only other players to do so in NCAA history are Kidd, Terrell Lowery (Loyola Marymount; 1990-91) and Gary Payton (Oregon State; 1989-90). Smith enters this week averaging 16.1 points, 8.8 assists. 4.6 rebounds, and 2.6 steals.
UCLA’s win over No. 9-ranked Michigan State on Tuesday marked the Bruins’ first win over an AP top 10-ranked team since March 4, 2023, when No. 4-ranked UCLA defeated No. 8-ranked Arizona, 82-73.
Washington has gotten 45 percent of its scoring inside the paint this season. The Huskies outscored Northwestern 34-26 in the lane in Saturday’s win, falling just shy of their sixth game this season with 40 paint points. Washington has now outscored its opponents in the paint in 10 of its 12 victories.
Wisconsin leads the NCAA shooting 84.1% (398-for-473) from the free throw line. At this rate, UW is on pace to shatter the NCAA record as well as the Big Ten record - which UW set at 81.8% in 2010-11. The NCAA mark is 83.0% set by Villanova in 2022.
With one nonconference game remaining, the Big Ten owns a 160-37 record in nonconference games, besting last season’ 144 nonconference victories. Among those wins, the B1G was 122-7 (.946) at home. The Big Ten’s 160 wins and .812 nonconference win percentage sit behind only the SEC’s 185 wins and .889 (185-23) win percentage.
The 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 12-16. This will mark the 14th time the tournament has been held in Indianapolis. The tournament will be the first to feature a 15-team field and begin with three games on Wednesday, March 12. Peacock will televise the opening three games of the 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, with second-round and quarterfinal games on Thursday and Friday slated for Big Ten Network. For the 28th consecutive year, CBS Sports will broadcast the semifinals and championship game on CBS, with those games also streaming live on Paramount+.

Big Ten Weekly Men's Basketball Central - Feb. 11-13

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