Four Senior Starters Pushing Steady Hawkeyes Through Big Ten Schedule

The Iowa and Maryland games are virtual locks for losses, but the MI game could be the first win.

Purdue hasn’t really been able to dominate the Big Ten in a way that many thought they were capable of. In one, the three teams are fighting for a conference title and potentially a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

After feeling pretty good about itself with a 7-2 record essentially without Caris LeVert, the wheels fell off this week in Ann Arbor with a pair of home blowouts. All four of the wins have been by 9 points or more, including an 89-73 win at MI this weekend.

There are three Big Ten games being played tonight, and three of the better teams in the conference will be playing tonight and two of the teams be facing off. In the other, the three teams are fighting for respectability, or least minimizing the embarrassment of another ugly season.

The Golden Gophers are 0-11 in the Big Ten for the first time in 93 years and their current 12-game losing streak is the longest the program has suffered through since the 1986-87 Gophers lost 16 in a row. Purdue has a very impressive front line with A.J. Hammons, Caleb Swanigan (who almost was a Spartan), Vince Edwards and Isaac Haas coming off the bench.

Denzel Valentine willed Michigan State to its biggest comeback of the season, but committed a critical error that prevented his team from sealing the deal at Purdue. Northwestern has not gotten that statement win this season. That final series against Ohio State at home could be big in that regard.

The KenPom probability that Rutgers completes a winless Big Ten season is up 19.1% after the Scarlet Knights dropped a triple-overtime game to IL last week.