Wisconsin used an unlikely tactic--forcing turnovers--to pull off a big 66-59 home victory over Purdue last night. The Badgers normally do everything well on the defensive end except force turnovers, but they managed to coax miscues on 22 percent of Purdue's possessions. Coupled with supreme defensive rebounding (a Wisconsin staple), it was enough to hold the Boilermakers right at a point per possession--Purdue's second lowest output of the Big Ten slate.

The longstanding criticism of the Purdue offense has been that it relies too heavily on JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore. That hasn't really been true this season, with role players like Lewis Jackson, Ryne Smith, and D.J. Byrd stepping up in unforeseen ways, but it certainly appeared to be the case last night in Madison. Johnson and Moore combined for 38 points on 34 shots and 6 turnovers--a rather pedestrian performance for the Big Two--and they got almost no help, save for some nice play from Byrd (11 points on 6 shots). Everyone else showed no interest in shooting the ball, combining for 10 points on 8 shots in 97 minutes. What's worse is that all these offensive non-entities still combined for 7 turnovers--it's one thing to get out of the way and let the future pros work, but it's another thing entirely to turn it over while trying to get out of the way.

Wisconsin got their points as they usually do--by making threes and maximizing shots. The Badgers hit 39 percent from downtown and turned it over on just 12 percent of their possessions, the lowest turnover rate anyone has posted on Purdue all season. Wisconsin's overall shooting wasn't very good (43 percent on twos), but it didn't matter--the Badgers scored 1.12 points per possession against one of the Big Ten's best defenses.

Jon Leuer posted a 24-13 double-double (18 shots), a great line that was marred by 4 turnovers. Jordan Taylor had 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists, while Josh Gasser had about the best game a role player can have: 11 points (4 shots), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and no turnovers. Ryan Evans chipped in 10 points on 9 shots, including some very big plays down the stretch.

This result makes it very unlikely that anyone can catch Ohio State for the Big Ten title, with Purdue and Wisconsin now both three games back in the loss column, but the door hasn't slammed completely shut. It's certainly not impossible for Wisconsin to win their next eight games to set up a potential title-clinching game at Ohio State, and Purdue has the potential to win out with trips to Columbus and Madison already out of the way. Of course, Ohio State has to lose at least three games for these scenarios to even matter, but the Buckeyes do still travel to Wisconsin, Purdue, Minnesota, and Penn State. Ohio State is clearly the prohibitive favorite from here, but there's plenty of basketball to be played.

In the night's other matchup, Illinois turned up the defensive heat in a 68-51 win over Penn State. The Nittany Lions showed their usual ballhandling prowess with a sparkling 10.2 turnover rate, but they shot so poorly it didn't matter. Penn State made just 2 of 17 from three (12 percent), and one of those makes was a shot-clock beater from Billy Oliver that actually shouldn't have counted. At one point, Penn State had airballed three deep shots in a four minute span, showcasing their main issue of the night. The resulting 0.86 efficiency is the second worst posted by the Nittany Lions all season, better than only their awful showing against Maryland.

It should be noted that Penn State's offense fell apart after losing Jeff Brooks to a shoulder injury late in the first half. When Brooks left, the Nittany Lions were scoring right at a point per possession (28 points on 28 trips). For the rest of the game, they scored just 23 points on 31 possessions for a 0.74 efficiency. Jeff Brooks is a huge part of this Penn State offense, so his availability going forward looms large.

With all those misses, Illinois did their part to make sure Penn State wouldn't get extra chances to figure out their stroke, limiting the Nittany Lions to a 22 percent offensive rebounding rate--their second-lowest of the season. This follows logically from Bruce Weber's decision to start freshman Jereme Richmond alongside Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale--each player grabbed at least 5 defensive rebounds. Richmond has really come into his own in conference play, as he now leads the Big Ten in field goal percentage and offensive rebounding percentage, and he is currently seventh in defensive rebounding percentage. Richmond is now playing like a McDonald's All-American, and he certainly gives Illinois hope for a good stretch run.

Illinois used a low turnover rate of their own, along with a plethora of Mike Davis dunks, to score 1.17 points per possession. Most encouraging about this total is that it was done without much contribution from Demetri McCamey. The senior guard continued his slump with 6 points on 9 shots, though he did register 5 assists to 1 turnover. Illinois' biggest runs came with McCamey on the bench, something we're used to seeing go the other direction. Illinois still needs McCamey to break out of his recent slump, but they managed to work through it on this night.

Mike Davis scored 22 points on 14 shots, including at least five dunks. Bill Cole came off the bench for 10 points on just 5 shots. Talor Battle and Tim Frazier led Penn State with 12 points each.

This was a win Illinois had to have, and they got it in convincing fashion. The Illini now start a five-game stretch that contains four toss-ups--the home game against Michigan is the only one that doesn't look like a coin flip on paper. If things break right, Illinois could find themselves with 10 conference wins before their Feburary 22 trip to Ohio State, and they'd mostly be playing for seeding over the season's final two weeks. If things break poorly, Illinois could end up needing improbable wins at Ohio State and Purdue just to stay on the bubble. To say this is an important five-game stretch would be an understatement. The two weeks that could define Illinois' season start Saturday at Northwestern.

Tonight, it's another Super Wednesday on the Big Ten Network, and we're again liveblogging the festivities. At 5:30pm CT, Minnesota visits a depleted Indiana squad that will now be without Christian Watford, followed by Michigan State's visit to Iowa. As of this writing, both games are still expected to proceed as scheduled. Drop in and join us.

- Posted by Mike Portscheller