2011-2012 Big Ten Men's Basketball |
|||||
![]() |
|||||
|
Big Ten Basketball Weekly Recap |
BigTen-fans.com has great deals on sold-out 2012 NCAA Tournament tickets and Big Ten Tournament tickets. Check out the great selection of tickets today! |
Illinois had led the Big Ten when Indiana began to falter, but the Illini, once 4-1 in the league, are now 4-4 after losing Saturday night at Minnesota in overtime. Illinois had beaten the Golden Gophers in double overtime at the beginning of the Big Ten season, but they couldn't dig out a single-overtime game four weeks later in Minneapolis. Speaking of Minnesota, coach Tubby Smith - whose team was drowning at 0-4 in the league - has now won four of five to catapult itself into that mushy middle and radically reshape its own postseason prospects. Minnesota looked like a fringe NIT team in early January, but the Gophers' resurgence makes them an NCAA bubble team, an impressive feat for a club that lost its best player, bruising forward Trevor Mbakwe, to an injury early in the season.
What else is different about the Big Ten? Nebraska won at Iowa, slowing down the Hawkeyes' momentum and reaffirming the notion that no team is safe on any night. Nebraska is the least talented team in the Big Ten, but coach Doc Sadler still has his boys playing with passion each and every time they hit the court. Purdue lost an important game to Michigan but then rebounded to win by a bucket at Northwestern, preventing its season from slip-sliding out of control.
By Matt Zemek |
> Find more Big Ten football news online at Big Ten Fans!