It was an up-and-down weekend for the Big Ten, with Minnesota and Iowa coming up as big winners.
 
Illinois finished its weekend in New York at 1-1, defeating Maryland 80-76 in a 72 possession game.  As wins go, however, this was not all that satisfying, as the Illini needed to shoot over 50 percent from three point range in order to walk away with the victory.  The defensive rebounding was abysmal, which was a theme throughout Illinois’ visit to the Big Apple.  Last year was the worst defensive season under Bruce Weber, and so far we haven’t seen much of an improvement against good competition.  I know **** Vitale was raving about Illinois’ athleticism, but this team still has a ways to go to reach its potential.  One thing that is in midseason form, however, is Demetri McCamey’s offense.  The senior scored 20 points on 9 shots, dished 7 assists, and did this with just one turnover.  There’s a lot of great point guards in the Big Ten, but McCamey stands above them all right now.

Also on Friday was Minnesota’s big upset over the 8th-ranked Tarheels.  The 72-67 win was played at a fast 77 possessions, which highlights just how good the Gophers’ defense was.  It’s probably more encouraging that Minnesota won this way as opposed to a high-scoring affair, for two reasons.  The first is that defense was an Achilles’ heel for Tubby Smith’s team last season, and kept Minnesota from having the breakout year that many (present company included) predicted.  The second reason this is significant is that the Gophers lost their best defensive player from last season in Damian Johnson.  So holding a top 10 team to 0.87 points per possession represents a pretty eye-popping effort.  That is, of course, assuming that UNC is a legitimate top 10 team.  Their ranking is based on the expectations of journalists and coaches, rather than any on-court result.  I’m sure many see Carolina as a team with a large number of 5-star athletes that not many other squads can match.  Myself, I see a team coming off an NIT appearance that lost four starters and a couple of key reserves in the offseason.  It’s too early to render a verdict on which line of thinking is more appropriate, however. After all, that NIT-bound UNC squad beat Ohio State around this same time last year.  

The Gophers followed up this win with a 74-70 victory over West Virginia to take the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament.  At 62 possessions, this was a very high scoring game.  Now, UNC might be a bit overrated (they followed up the loss with Minnesota with a consolation loss to Vanderbilt the following night), but the Mountaineers look like a pretty good team on paper.  Perhaps just to show they can win a shootout just as well as a defensive struggle, Minnesota allowed 1.13 points per possession, but you’ll take that on nights when you score 1.19 per possession.  Trevor Mbakwe continued his hot start, with 16 points (8 shots) and 7 rebounds. Minnesota’s frontline is suddenly looking imposing.  

I’m sure that UNLV’s 68-65 win over Wisconsin will be painted as an upset as well, but if it is, it’s a mild one.  The Runnin’ Rebels returned an overwhelming majority of the minutes that produced a 25-win season last year.  Throw in the home court advantage, and this really isn’t a terrible result for the Badgers.  After all, Jon Leuer isn’t going to be held to 10 points very often.  Bo Ryan continues to fidget with his lineup--Mike Bruesewitz started in the frontcourt alongisde Leuer and Keaton Nankivil, though Ryan Evans saw more playing time.  Evans had the better game, but both players ended up with four turnovers, which just won’t fly in Bo Ryan’s offense.  

Iowa scored its biggest win in the Fran McCaffrey era to date with a 55-47 victory over Alabama in the Paradise Jam.  Before the season I would have said that the Crimson Tide look like a middle-of-the-pack SEC team, and that still seems right, based on a close loss to Seton Hall (which in turn projects to be a middle-of-the-pack Big East team).  So for now, I think Hawkeye fans can feel really good about this win.  The only thing to be disappointed with, frankly, was the slower pace of this one (a Lickliter-friendly 63 possessions).  I’m not saying a slow pace is bad, but rather that I can understand why Iowans don’t want reminders of the previous regime around.  But Alabama plays relatively slow themselves, and certainly that had a lot to do with it.  There’s also the fact that this game was quite ugly--there were just 34 made shots between the two teams.  Freshman Zach McCabe led the Hawkeyes with 13 points on 7 shots.  The win on Saturday took the sting out of the 86-73 loss on Friday to Xavier.  Xavier figures to be a very good team this year, so it’s hardly a bad result, but it was certainly frustrating to watch, as the Musketeers shot lights out and attempted 37 free throws.  Matt Gatens led the way in his return to action with 15 points on 10 shots.  

The rest of the action was rather pedestrian.  Northwestern actually put together a good defensive performance, holding Arkansas-Pine Bluff to 0.70 points per possession in a 71-45 win.  Sure, it’s just Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but defense is defense.  Then again, Colorado State and Nebraska put up better defensive numbers against APB.  

Penn State actually forced some turnovers in a 15-point win over Fairfield, something I thought they should really focus on this season.  I don’t know if it represents a sea-change, however, as most of those turnovers were not off of steals.  As usual, Talor Battle led the way, finishing with 20 points.  

Ohio State beat the stink out of UNC-Willmington, 81-41 in a 68 possession game.  Dallas Lauderdale put up a “DO NOT ENTER” sign within the paint in the form of 5 blocked shots, which UNC-W ignored to their peril.  The result of this unwise decision was 37 percent shooting on two pointers.  Then again, it wasn’t like they were on fire from three point range, either (19 percent).  

Indiana’s turnover woes continued in a 67-54 win over Evansville.  The Hoosiers gave it away on 23 percent of their possessions, and frankly, this is becoming more than just a passing concern.  With the amount of experienced talent now in Bloomington, this was supposed to be big jump year for IU.  But if these extreme turnover issues persist, that’s not going to happen.  Verdell Jones came in averaging 6 per game, so I suppose seeing just 4 for him in the boxscore counts as improvement.  But the good news in this game came in the form of Maurice Creek, who finally looked like the player he was last year until his knee injury.  Creek lit up Evansville for 19 points on just 10 shots.  If he can just be three fourths of the player he was last season, Indiana should be much improved.  

Purdue beat up on Oakland, 82-67 in a 69 possession game.  It’s early, but so far it looks like John Hart and Terone Johnson are emerging as the offensive supporting cast to JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore.  The duo combined for 21 points on 15 shots.  Meanwhile, Johnson and Moore combined for 51 points on 39 shots.  

Michigan exploded offensively in a 80-58 victory over Gardner-Webb.  Darius Morris had his finest game as a Wolverine with a 21 point, 10 assist performance.  Morris was one of four players in double figures for the maize and blue.

Tomorrow, Iowa takes on Long Beach State, Penn State battles Central Connecticut State, and Michigan State tips off in Maui against Chaminade.  Yep, tomorrow is Hawaiian Shirt Day.