Big Ten Weekly Men's Basketball Central - Jan. 24-27

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

WEEKLY RELEASE - JAN. 24

Big Ten. Big News.

• Michigan State, Michigan, and Purdue enter this weekend’s action perched atop the Big Ten standings at 7-0, 6-1, and 7-2, respectively. Behind them is a log jam of 12 teams with between three and five conference victories. Among that group, Oregon, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Oregon, and Wisconsin own five conference wins, while UCLA, and USC sit at 4-4.
• Milestone Watch... Michigan State’s Tom Izzo has collected 350 Big Ten wins, just three shy of tying Bob Knight’s all-time conference wins mark.
• The Fighting Illini dropped back-to-back games for the first time since the final two games of the 2022-23 season - vs. Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament followed by a loss to Arkansas in the team’s opening game of the NCAA Tournament. The Illini’s streak spanned 58 games without consecutive losses.
• Indiana’s Luke Goode scored 14 points in the Hoosiers’ loss to Northwestern. The senior has scored in double figures for three consecutive games for the first time in his career. He has also connected on at least three three-pointers in six Big Ten games, including five of the last seven league games.
• Iowa has the second-best field goal (.505) and effective field goal percentage (.586) in the Big Ten, ranking fifth nationally in both categories. The Hawkeyes have shot better than 50 percent from the floor nine times and are 8-1 in those games.
• Maryland’s Julian Reese and Derik Queen combined for 52 points and 23 rebounds in Maryland’s win over Illinois, their highest point total of the season. It was the first time Maryland had two players score 25 or more points in a game since Feb. 20, 2011 when Jordan Williams (26) and Terrell Stoglin (25) did it against NC State. The duo also helped the Terps score 62 points in the paint, the most buy any Big Ten team this season.
• Vladislav Goldin did not attempt a three-pointer in his 117 career games prior to transferring to Michigan. In his 18 appearances this season, the 7-1 center has made nine of his 16 three-point attempts (.563), including  3-of-6 in Sunday’s overtime win over Northwestern.
• Michigan State is the only team in the AP Top 25 with just one player averaging double figure points. Jaden Akins leads the team with 13.9 points per game. The senior is one of seven Spartans that scores at least 7.9 points per game and one off 10 players to see at least 14 minutes of action per contest.
• Minnesota’s 72-67 win at Iowa on Tuesday night marked the Gophers’ first win at Carver-Hawkeye arena since a 64-59 win over Iowa on Feb. 12, 2015. In the win, Minnesota held the Hawkeyes to their lowest offensive output of the season, more than 20 points below their season average.
• Nebraska’s Connor Essegian finished Wednesday’s loss to USC with 15 points, his ninth double-figure game off the bench this year. The Huskers now have 20 double-figure efforts from their bench in 2024-25 and rank fifth in the Big Ten with 26.21 bench points per game.
• Northwestern’s Ty Berry scored 23 points off the bench in the Wildcats’ 79-70 win over Indiana on Wednesday. His 23 points off the bench were the most by a Wildcat reserve since Boo Buie scored 26 points against Michigan State on Dec. 18, 2019. Berry is the first Northwestern player to make at least seven threes while shooting at least 70% from beyond the arc since Scottie Lindsey did so on Feb. 25, 2018 against Iowa.
• Ohio State’s last five games have been one possession contests, including a pair of overtime games. This is the first time that Ohio State has ever played five consecutive one possession games. The Buckeyes own a 2-3 record in those five games, marking the first time the Buckeyes have lost three consecutive one possession game since 1931 when the team fell to Columbia 30-29, Chicago 26-25 and Minnesota 22-21.
• Oregon’s bench has outscored their opponents in 15 of 20 games this season and 11 of the last 12. The Ducks’ bench is averaging 26.4 points per game, tied for the fourth-most in the Big Ten.
• Penn State’s Ace Baldwin is the only active Division I player and one of just nine Division I players since the 1947-48 season (77 years) with 1,500+ career points (1,561), 700+ career assists (763) and 300+ career steals (308). He is Division I’s active career leader in steals (308) and his 763 career assists are second amongst active Division I players.
• Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn is the only player nationally to average 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and shoot at least 58 percent from the field. In Big Ten history, only Chris Webber, Evan Eschmeyer, and Trayce Jackson-Davis have done that.
• Rutgers will face Michigan State on Saturday at Madison Garden on CBS. This will be the Scarlet Knight’s first game televised by CBS in 12,369 days, with the last appearance on CBS coming in a First Round NCAA Tournament loss to Arizona State on March 16, 1991. The last regular season game for Rutgers televised on CBS came on Jan. 22, 1983 against West Virginia.
• UCLA sophomore Aday Mara led the Bruins with 22 points, including 15 in the second half, as they scored an 85-83 win over Wisconsin. Marsa shot 7-for-7 from the field and 8-for-11 from the free throw line, becoming the first UCLA player to score at least 20 points with a perfect field goal percentage since Jrue Holiday in 2008.
• Saint Thomas is the only USC player to start all 19 games so far this season. Thomas leads the Trojans with 33.5 minutes per game and appeared in nearly 84% of the team’s minutes on the season, fifth most in the Big Ten. The senior forward also leads the Trojans with 6.0 rebounds and 1.4 steals, while his 11.0 points are good for third.
• Over the last three games, Washington’s Great Osobor is averaging 23.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. The stretch makes up three of four games this season in which Osobor has scored at least 20 points, collected at least eight rebounds, and dished out at least three assists. Osobor has made seven three-pointers (7-12) over the three games, after making just two over the first 16 games of the season
• John Blackwell’s 28-point performance in a win at USC marked the third time this season the Wisconsin sophomore has gone for at least 25 points this season. In the Badgers’ six games in 2025, Blackwell is averaging 21.3 points per game. For the season, he is averaging 16.4 points per game, more than double last season’s offensive output and is only one of five Big Ten underclassmen averaging over 16.0 points per game.
• 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+.