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Big Ten Weekly Men's Basketball Central - Dec. 10-16
BIG TEN BASKETBALL | BIG TEN STATISTICS | NCAA STATISTICS
BIG TEN SCHEDULE & RESULTS | BIG TEN STANDINGS
NCAA AP TOP 25 POLL | NCAA USA TODAY TOP 25 POLL | NCAA NET RANKINGS
- The Big Ten will play its second of two weeks of conference play, as this week’s slate features a trio of league contests. The schedule also includes six neutral slate games, with teams visiting New York City, Atlanta, Phoenix, Milwaukee, and a doubleheader in Indianapolis.
- The Big Ten will enter this week’s action with a combined 113-27 overall record in nonconference play. The conference’s 113 wins and .807 win percentage are second most of any conference, behind only the SEC (120-18/.870).
- Ten different B1G teams were ranked or received votes in the Associated Press and/or USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls released on Dec. 9th. Purdue led the way at No. 11 on the media poll, followed by No. 12 Oregon, No. 14 Michigan, No. 20 Wisconsin, No. 21 Michigan State and No. 24 UCLA. The coaches included the Boilermakers at No. 11, the Ducks at No. 12, the Wolverines at No. 14, the Spartans at No. 19, the Bruins at No. 21 and the Badgers at No. 22. Illinois, Maryland and Penn State received votes in both polls, and Indiana received votes in the media poll.
- Seven Big Ten teams were ranked in the top 25 and 11 in the top 50 in the NET Rankings, released on Dec. 9. Illinois was the league’s top ranked team at No. 12, followed by No. 13 Maryland, No. 14 UCLA, No. 15 Oregon, No. 18 Penn State, No. 23 Ohio State and No. 25 Michigan. Purdue (#27), Michigan State (#28), Wisconsin (#36) and Iowa (#47) were also included in the top 50. The Big Ten and the SEC are tied for the most teams in the top 25 (7). Only the SEC has more teams in the top 50 (12) than the Big Ten (11).
- Twelve of the Big Ten’s 18 teams rank in the top 50 of the Kenpom Ratings through Monday’s games. Purdue leads the way at No. 13, followed by UCLA (#15), Illinois (#16), Maryland (#20), Oregon (#21), Michigan (#22), Michigan State (#23), Ohio State (#28), Penn State (#33), Wisconsin (#37), Indiana (#40) and Iowa (#46). Only the SEC has more teams in the Kenpom Top 50 (13) than the Big Ten.
- On Monday, the Big Ten announced its Player and Freshman of the Week honors. Michigan’s Vladislav Goldin was named Big Ten Player of the Week, while Maryland’s Derik Queen claimed his second Freshman of the Week honor of the season. Goldin Averaged 22.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and shot 62.5 percent (15-for-24) from the field, helping Michigan start Big Ten play with a pair of wins against No. 11 Wisconsin and Iowa.
- Queen averaged 21.5 points and 11.5 rebounds as Maryland opened Big Ten play 1-1 with a win against Ohio State (83-59) and a road loss at No. 8 Purdue (83-78). Overall, Queen shot 60.7% (17-28) from the field and was 7-8 from the free throw line, while adding three steals, two assists and two blocks. He tallied a career-best 26 points and 12 rebounds with two blocks, one assist and one steal at Purdue.
- The Big Ten slate got off to an exciting start on Tuesday, as Josh Dix’s buzzer-beating three pointer game Iowa an 80-79 win over Northwestern in the first conference contest of the season. The conference also closed the week with a buzzer-beater, as UCLA’s Dylan Andrews drained a three in the game’s final seconds to secure a 73-71 win at Oregon.
- Penn State’s 81-70 win over Purdue on Thursday was the Nittany Lions’ first over an AP top 10 ranked opponent since Dec. 10, 2019 when Penn State topped No. 4 Maryland 68-61. The win was also the program’s first over Purdue since Feb. 11,2020 and just the second since Feb. 2, 2014.
- In Maryland’s 83-59 win over Ohio State on Wednesday, the Terps led 50-17 at halftime. Its 50 points were the most in a Big Ten regular-season game in program history. The +33 first-half margin was Maryland’s largest ever in a Big Ten game. It also tied the largest Big Ten lead in any conference game for any team since 1996-97. It tied Purdue’s +33 margin (59-26) that Purdue boasted over Rutgers on Jan. 18, 2016.
- Michigan State’s 89-52 win over Nebraska was tied for the priogram’s second-largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game and is the largest margin of victory in a league game since an 86-49 win over Penn State on Feb. 2, 2008 at the Breslin Center.
- 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+.