The Michigan Wolverines took care of business against NAIA neighbor Concordia with an 86-65 victory, but their interior defense certainly could have been better. Corcordia's 6'6'' big man Rocko Holmes, who came in averaging 13.4 points per game, exploded for 29 points on 13 of 19 shooting. It would be one thing if Holmes were knocking down tough shots over good defense, but he got a lot of layups and easy looks. Clearly, this will need to be cleaned up before Big Ten play begins--JaJuan Johnson and Jared Sullinger must have been watching this game licking their chops.

Basically everything else went well for John Beilein's team--they made shots, limited turnovers, and controlled the glass on their way to 1.20 points per possession. Jordan Morgan continued his fine offensive play with 23 points on 15 shots and 8 rebounds (4 offensive), while Zack Novak made like a mini-Rodman (12 points, 14 rebounds). Darius Morris put up 19 points, 12 assists, and just 2 turnovers. Morris is suprisingly leading the Big Ten in assist rate, ahead of last year's national leader Demetri McCamey (whose rate is actually up from last season as well).

The Big Ten gets the nonconference season back into full swing tonight, with four interesting games:

An already thin Penn State squad goes without two of their regulars against Mount St. Mary's (6:30pm CT, BigTenNetwork.com), while Iowa begins the battle for in-state supremacy as they host a solid Northern Iowa team (7:05pm CT, Big Ten Network).

In the night's marquee matchup, Michigan State faces Syracuse in Madison Square Garden (8pm CT, ESPN), and Purdue plays a true road game at Valparaiso (8pm CT, ESPNU). There's the possibility of a close game in all four of these matchups, so it should make for an entertaining evening.

- Posted by Mike Portscheller