It was looking like Michigan State's frustrating season would continue, as the Spartans found themselves down 9 points to Wisconsin with under three minutes remaining. Against the Badgers--a team that runs clock as a normal part of their offense and rarely turns it over--that is a lead that's almost insurmountable. Somehow, someway, Michigan State flustered the Badgers, forcing turnovers on four of Wisconsin's final six possessions and knocking down a couple threes to force overtime.

In the extra period, Michigan State's offense came alive, scoring 11 points on 7 possessions to finish with a big (season-saving?) 64-61 win. Draymond Green was the catalyst, scoring 8 points in the extra period to finish with 26 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.

The real story here was the Michigan State defense--Wisconsin scored only 0.97 points per possession, just the third time this season they've been held under a point per trip. It was a welcome development for Tom Izzo's squad after allowing Penn State a 1.11 efficiency last time out. It seems appropriate that a Big Ten game showcased nationally on ESPN would feature a defensive struggle and plenty of missed shots. Really, everybody, Big Ten teams have been scoring well, I swear!

My in-game notes included a declaration that Kalin Lucas clearly isn't the best point guard in the Big Ten any longer, a statement I wrote down when Jordan Taylor was controlling the game at both ends in the second half. I still feel that's true, but Taylor faltered a bit down the stretch, contributing to his team's discombobulated close to regulation and not bringing much in overtime. Taylor finished with 21 points (20 shots), 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, while Lucas also struggled from the field (17 points on 17 shots, 6 assists). Jon Leuer was neutralized by some great Delvon Roe defense--Leuer finished with 10 points on 9 shots with 3 turnovers.

In a bonus for Spartans fans, MSU's loss at Penn State doesn't look quite as bad now, as the Nittany Lions shut down Illinois for a 57-55 win. The Illini got off to a horrific start, with 5 turnovers in their first 9 trips putting them in an 11-2 hole. Illinois got things somewhat together for the rest of the first half, and a 12-0 run pulled them into a tie at the break. The Illini had turned it over on 30 percent of their first-half possessions and were still even, so they had to feel like steadier ballhandling and slightly better shooting could carry them to a road win.

Unfortunately for Illinois, that steady ballhandling never materialized. Bruce Weber's team turned it over on 20 percent of their second-half possessions and were just never able to put distance between themselves and the Nittany Lions. As Illinois fans know all too well, it's not a good idea to let Talor Battle have a chance to win it. This time, Battle's penetration drew the defense, leaving the offensive glass wide open for Andrew Jones' follow-up dunk with a second remaining. Illinois, as seems to be becoming standard for them, failed to get a shot off in their final possession, and Penn State came away with their second straight big win.

A lot of talk will focus on Illinois' shooting in this game ("now we see what happens when the shots aren't falling," etc.), but the turnovers were clearly the bigger issue. Illinois actually shot well from three (44 percent), but the turnover rate (25 percent) and horrid two-point shooting (40 percent) doomed them. This turnover problem has been present in all four of Illinois' conference games--just masked by torrid shooting--and it's hard to understand why it's happening. After all, this is basically the same roster that took pretty good care of the ball last season, and turnovers weren't an issue during the nonconference slate either. Illinois fans have to hope their team can figure this thing out quickly with games against Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Ohio State looming.

Another important point is that this wasn't a crazy, out-of-nowhere, UIC-style upset. Sure, Illinois was favored, but Penn State is an experienced top 100 team playing at home. Pomeroy's ratings had Illinois favored by six points. Matchups like that are going to result in the upset a fair number of times, and it was just Penn State's night. If you doubt that last point, consider:

• Battle made a jumper from within the half court circle to beat the shot clock with 12 minutes remaining, halting a 5-0 Illinois run.
• Penn State, a 72 percent foul shooting team, made 14 of 14 from the line.

In a two-point game, anamolies like these make a difference. Credit Penn State for playing well enough to make these things matter in the end. Battle finished with 26 points on 15 shots, and you can expect Illinois fans to be dancing in the streets when he leaves State College with his diploma. Mike Tisdale was the only Illini to show up, as he posted a 16-14 double-double.

To further illustrate that this loss isn't as momentous as it may feel, note that Pomeroy's ratings didn't even drop Illinois a single spot because of it--they still sit at 16th nationally and their outlook for future games changed very little. Penn State has moved up to 70th, and the Nittany Lions have almost assured themselves of avoiding the Big Ten cellar. The projection now is for seven conference wins, and teams will not be looking forward to trips to University Park. Penn State is an experienced team that will not beat themselves, and their changing defenses seem to be gaining in effectivity. Who knows, maybe Penn State can make a nice NIT run with their four seniors, an outcome that seemed inconceivable after their loss to Maine.

Tonight, it's Super Wednesday on the Big Ten Network, and your favorite Geeks (along with web editor Brent Yarina) will be liveblogging both games! At 5:30pm CT, Ohio State takes their undefeated season to Michigan, followed by Northwestern at Iowa at 7:35pm CT. Both games should be interesting, so jump in and join us for some hoops discussion.

- Posted by Mike Portscheller