Big Ten Weekly Men's Basketball Central - Jan. 28-Jan. 30

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NCAA AP TOP 25 POLL  |  NCAA USA TODAY TOP 25 POLL  |  NCAA NET RANKINGS

WEEKLY RELEASE - JAN. 28

Big Ten. Big News.

• As we approach the midpoint of the conference schedule, Michigan State remains atop the league standings with an unblemished 8-0 record, followed closely by Purdue at 8-2 and Michigan at 7-2. Illinois, Maryland, UCLA, and Wisconsin stand with six wins, while Indiana and Oregon own five victories.
• Michigan State enters this week’s action with just two losses. The Spartans are among a group of six teams in the country with two or fewer losses. Oregon and Wisconsin join a group of 31 teams nationally with four or fewer defeats.
• The Big Ten has collected 52 wins against Quad 1 opponents and 102 victories against Quad 1 and 2 teams combined. Oregon leads the Big Ten and ranks second in the country with eight Quad 1 victories, three more than Purdue and UCLA. The Boilermakers own 10 wins over Quad 1 and 2 opponents combined, one of just five teams with at least 10 combined Quad 1 and 2 wins.
• Eight B1G teams were ranked or received votes in the Associated Press and/or USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls released on January 20. Michigan State climbed to number seven in the AP poll, followed by No. 10 Purdue, No. 16 Oregon, No. 17 Wisconsin, and No. 18 Illinois. The coaches also listed the Spartans and Boilermakers at No. 7 and 10, respectively, with the Badgers at No. 17, the Ducks at No. 18, and the Illini at No. 20. Michigan, Maryland, and UCLA also received votes in one or both polls.
• Nine Big Ten teams were ranked in the top 35 and 14 in the top 70 in the NET Rankings through games on January 27. Purdue leads the way at No. 9, followed by No. 10 Illinois, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 19 Maryland, and No. 20 Michigan. Oregon, Ohio State, UCLA, and Northwestern also claimed spots in the top 50. Only the SEC has more teams in the top 40 (12), while its 15 top 70 entrants are one more than the Big Ten.
• Nine of the Big Ten’s 18 teams rank in the top 40 of the Kenpom Ratings entering games on Jan. 28, including six in the top 20. Purdue leads the group at No. 8, followed by No. 10 Illinois, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 19 Michigan, No. 20 Maryland, No. 28 Ohio State, No. 29 Oregon, and No. 32 UCLA. Only the SEC has more teams in the top 40 with 10. 
• Milestone Watch... Congratulations to Iowa’s Drew Thelwell, who recorded his 1,000th career point in Friday’s win over Penn State... Michigan State’s Tom Izzo has collected 351 Big Ten wins, just two shy of tying Bob Knight’s all-time conference wins mark... UCLA’s Mick Cronin stands just five 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. Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia was named Player of the Week, while Maryland’s Derik Queen earned this third Freshman of the Week honor. Garcia led the Gophers to a pair of wins with 25.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. The senior forward scored 31 points on 13-for-19 shooting from the field in leading Minnesota to a 77-69 win over Oregon, the program’s highest ranked win in four years. Garcia also posted 20 points in a 72-67 win at Iowa, Minnesota’s first win at Carver-Hawkeye Arena since 2015. Garcia as also named one of five Oscar Robertson Trophy National Players of the Week by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
• Queen averaged 16.0 points on 13-for-21 shooting, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.0 steals, and a blocked shot as Maryland scored a pair of road wins. Queen tallied 25 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the Terps’ 91-70 win at Illinois then paired six points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and a pair of blocked shots in Maryland’s 79-78 win at Indiana.
• Illinois grabbed 21 offensive rebounds in Sunday’s win over Northwestern, the most by an Illinois team in a conference game since Jan. 8, 2014, when the Illini registered 23 at Wisconsin. They were also the most by a Big Ten team in regulation in a conference game since Feb. 3, 2018, when Indiana also recorded 21 vs. Michigan State.
• After pairing 14 points and 10 rebounds in a win at Indiana, Maryland’s Julian Reese has 31 career double-doubles, third most in Maryland history since 1996-97, behind only Lonny Baxter and Jordan Williams, who are tied with 33. Overall, he ranks eighth in program history.
• In 2018-19, Michigan State opened its conference slate with nine consecutive wins and posted a 13-game win streak. With a win tonight against Minnesota, the Spartans would tie both of those marks.
• Minnesota’s win over then-No. 15 Oregon marked a win over the program’s highest ranked opponent in four years. Over their last three games, the Gophers have topped then-No. 20 Michigan, Oregon and won at Iowa for the first time since 2015.
• Nebraska’s Brice Williams finished with 11 points in a loss to Wisconsin. Brice and his father, Henry, became the seventh father-son combo to reach the 4,000-point mark at the Division I level. The pair now has 4,002 career points.
• Purdue’s Braden Smith scored 24 points with 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals, while also only having one turnover in the Boilermakers’ win over Michigan. He is the first player this century (men or women) to have at least 20 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, four steals and one or fewer turnovers against a top 25 opponent.
• In Sunday’s win over Nebraska, Wisconsin scored at least 80 points for the 13th time on the season, equaling the third highest such total and the most since surpassing 80 points 13 times in 1970-71.
• 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+.