Iowa scored the biggest upset of the season when it took down Purdue 67-65 in a 71 possession game.  The Hawkeyes dominated the glass, limiting the Boilermakers to grabbing just 25 percent of their misses.  Iowa also hounded Purdue on the perimeter, limiting the Boilers to a 5-25 performance from behind the arc.  E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson were both rather pedestrian as well, needing 34 shots to get to 33 points.  Purdue also didn’t help themselves with their 59 percent accuracy from the free throw line.  
 
But give the Hawkeyes credit.  They took down a top-10 team that was playing for a share of the conference crown.  Fran McCaffrey’s squad denied them that banner, and there’s Jarryd Cole to thank for that.  The senior’s final home game was a memorable one, with 16 points and 10 rebounds.  Cole’s time in Iowa City has been tumultuous to say the least--he was recruited by Steve Alford, who left before Cole hit campus.  He then played three seasons for Todd Lickliter,  witnessing a slew of transfers.  Now he’s the elder statesman on McCaffrey’s rebuilding effort, and he’s had a nice season to finish off his career.  While I’m sure Cole wished he could have won more games over the past four years, it’s great to see him put up such big numbers in the biggest win he’s had as a Hawkeye.  
 
Obviously, Iowa’s win took the air out of Ohio State’s matchup with Wisconsin.  It probably also eliminated all hope for Purdue locking up a #1 seed.  The Boilers seem headed for a #2 or #3 seed, and that’s a really great result for them considering the fact that they’ve been without an all-conference performer all season.  Of course, none of this would be possible without the herculean efforts of JaJuan Johnson.  After my co-pilot tabbed Jordan Taylor as the conference’s player of the year, we got a lot of feedback along the lines of “that’s great, but what about defense?”  Fair enough--what about defense?  Obviously, defense is a bit tougher to track than offense, and +/- certainly has its limitations.  But we can look at some things, such as Stops.  Now, I’m going to show a bunch of numbers here, but I want to get some caveats out of the way.  First, this is a counting stat, meaning the more you play, the more stops you get.  Second, while using Stops is a lot better than looking at nothing, it’s certainly far from perfect in terms of measuring defense.  OK, let’s get to the numbers.  Here are the Stops for the POY candidates Mike looked at last week:

Well, well, well.  It looks like those Purdue fans certainly have a reason to be calling us out.  Johnson has been great on defense, there’s no question about that.  And Jordan Taylor is far behind the Purdue big man.  So while Taylor’s offense has been superb--frankly, it’s the best offensive season since we’ve been covering Big Ten hoops, and it’s not close--Johnson’s defense has been fantastic.  So if you want to give Johnson some hardware instead, have at it.  But just to satisfy my curiosity, I just want to look at one more thing:

Hmm.  Well.  While there’s no denying Johnson has been a great defender, it’s at least an open question whether he was the best defender in the conference.  So who gets my vote?  Well, after some deliberation, I’m going to stick with Taylor.  After looking at the defensive numbers though, I don’t think a vote for Johnson is wrong.  It’s just not as right (seriously though, I think Johnson is a worthy choice as well.  But it’s definitely a two-man race).
 
Oh, and I’m definitely moving Trevor Mbakwe to the 1st team.

 
Purdue’s loss ended up not mattering much, as Ohio State absolutely footstomped Wisconsin 93-65.  The Buckeyes’ offense was absolutely ridiculous: 1.6 points per possession.  That’s the highest mark any Big Ten team has posted in conference play this season, and probably the highest in a few seasons.  But that’s what happens when you combine 56 percent on twos with an incredible 14 of 15 from three point range.  Jon Diebler in particular was on fire, knocking down 7 of 8 treys en route to scoring 27 points in his final home game.  For their part, Wisconsin’s offense was pretty good too, but, well, it was like bringing a knife to a gunfight.
 
Congrats to Thad Matta, who won his 4th Big Ten title (in just his 7th season).  This is definitely a team that can do some damage in March.  So is Wisconsin, frankly, though they’ve been prematurely exiting the Dance in recent seasons.  
 
Michigan kept its at-large hopes alive with a 70-63 win over Michigan State, and simultaneously put the Spartans’ status in doubt.  Once again, the Wolverines did not allow shots to fall.  While MSU has taken some flak for being too much of a jumpshooting team this year, it’s not like the interior was all that welcoming against UM.  MSU shot just 31 percent on two pointers.  Compare that against a solid 36 percent from behind the line.  Michigan was precisely the opposite, shooting more two pointers with more success (52 percent) combined with frequent trips to the line.  Tim Hardaway Jr. continued his Salieri-esque freshman campaign with 20 points on 13 shots, while Kalin Lucas continued his unsung hero status with 25 points on 19 shots.
 
As for the bubble, I think if the Selection Committee met today, and all the mid-major favorites won their conference tournaments, then both of these teams are in the Dance.  But the Committee doesn’t meet today, and there are going to be some upsets.  And that’s where it gets dicey, and where a lot of balls are still up in the air.  Each of these teams could still use a win or two in the Big Ten Tournament to feel completely safe, though I’m not sure that a one-and-done performance eliminates either of them.  But it will lead to a few days of fingernail chewing and scoreboard watching.  
 
Illinois might have punched their ticket with a win over Indiana 72-48.  The Illini just played angry in this game, obviously there were some hurt feelings after the Hoosiers took them down earlier this season.  If the Committee cares about such things as the “eye test” and style points, then Bruce Weber’s team racked them up in bunches.  IU was held to a miserable 0.74 points per possession, but there was good news for Indiana: despite the lopsided loss, and Iowa’s upset, the Hoosiers narrowly avoided holding the conference’s worst efficiency margin for the third straight season.  
 
I guess that highlights my disappointment with this IU team.  I really expected them to at least compete for an NIT bid this year, but at 12-19, the Hoosiers didn’t come close.  Moreover, they failed to get a win away from Bloomington.  In fact, they’ve accomplished such a feat a mere three times over the past three seasons.  Sure, Indiana battled with injuries this year which definitely contributed to the lackluster performance, but I nonetheless expected more.  When Crean was building this team, I thought next season would be the one where IU would break through and get back to the Dance.  The way Indiana has finished this season, well, I’m not so sure about that.
 
Things haven’t gone as planned for Illinois either, but it looks like the Illini’s at-large bid is safe for now.  Of course, a win over Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament would seal it, but I feel pretty good about UI’s chances right now.  Of course, there’s enough talent on this team to do some real damage in March, if they continue to play like they did on Saturday.
 
Minnesota was ice cold from the outside in a 66-63 loss to Penn State.  The Gophers finished just 2-15 from downtown, negating a decided interior advantage (55 percent on two pointers).  Blake Hoffarber struggled for much of this game before waking up in the final minutes.  The Hoff finished with 17 points on 15 shots, but it wasn’t enough to get Minnesota a win on Senior Day.  The Hoff’s had a great career, and his senior season was a very good one.  He did something very few players do, which is substantially increase his usage without becoming inefficient.  Indeed, The Hoff saw a 50% rise in his possessions consumed, but still managed a fine efficiency.  Not only that, but he played a fine point guard for a team that seemingly has some sort of point guard hex hovering over the program.
 
Penn State, predictably, was led by seniors Talor Battle and Jeff Brooks.  The Nittany Lions aren’t in many brackets right now, and that’s mostly due to a bad non-conference slate.  It’s not just that they lost to Maine at home, but it’s that they entered conference play with four losses and no resume-building wins.  But all that aside, Ed DeChellis has done a great job in conference play.  Before the season, a 9-9 record seemed awfully optimistic, especially considering that the Lions only saw Iowa and Indiana once apiece this year.  It is unfortunate though, that in all likelihood March Madness will never feature Talor Battle.  PSU’s at-large hopes aren’t totally gone, but it’s going to take a heck of a run in the Big Ten Tournament to start jumping over some other teams.

Well, that does it for another regular season.  But no fear, Mike and I still have plenty left in the bag this season.  First and foremost, we’ll once again be in Indianapolis for the conference tournament this season liveblogging all of the games.  The Tournament starts Thursday with Northwestern facing Minnesota.  See you then.