Senior guard Willie Deane of Purdue nabbed Big Ten Player of the Week honors after leading the Boilermakers to a big road win over Michigan Saturday.
Deane scored a career-high 36 points (including four three-pointers), setting a season record for Big Ten Conference players. In addition, he grabbed four rebounds and three steals. Deane’s leadership was crucial as Purdue’s second leading scorer, Kenneth Lowe, sat out his third straight game because of a shoulder injury.
“We had no answers for [Deane],” said Michigan head coach Tommy Amaker. “He was too explosive, too tough, and I thought he was able to do anything he wanted to do on the floor.”
Deane and the rest of the Purdue guards were also able to restrain Michigan freshman of the year candidate Daniel Horton and senior LaVell Blanchard to 9-28 shooting, while forcing seven turnovers out of Horton.
“[Horton and Blanchard] are their key players,” Deane said. “If you are able to contain them then you are able to contain Michigan.”
The win launched Purdue into a three-way tie with Michigan and Michigan State and clinched them the fourth seed in this weekend’s Big Ten tournament. It was also a huge victory in the fact that it all but assured the Boilermakers of a spot in the upcoming NCAA tournament. Purdue now has ten conference wins, and since the beginning of the NCAA tournament, no Big Ten team with ten wins has ever been denied a berth in the tournament.
This is the third time that Deane has won Player of the Week, becoming only the second Boilermaker in school history to win the award three or more times in a season after Glenn Robinson won five in the 1993-94 season. Deane finished second in the race for the Big Ten scoring title, just four points shy of title winner Brian Cook of Illinois.
Big Ten Tournament: The schedule is set for the sixth annual Big Ten tournament this weekend at the United Center in Chicago. Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Purdue and Michigan State all secured first round byes for being the top five seeds in the conference. However, seeding seems to mean nothing in this tournament.
Iowa has made it to the championship the last two years as the No. 9 and No. 6 seeds, while the No.4 seed has advanced to the final game three times. In 1999, Illinois pulled off a major upset, getting to the championship despite being seeded No. 11.
The tournament will open Thursday with the six lowest seeds vying for an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. No. 8 Ohio State will face No. 9 Iowa in a rematch of last year’s title game, a game that the Hawkeyes won. Thursday’s series will conclude with No. 7 Minnesota against No. 10 Northwestern and No. 6 Indiana playing No. 11 Penn State. Indiana is looking to avenge Saturday’s loss to Penn State, which hurt the Hoosiers’ chances for an NCAA tournament bid.
Friday’s match-ups will begin with No. 1 Wisconsin squaring off against the winner of the Ohio State/Iowa game. The Badgers won the top seed last season, only to be taken down by Iowa in their first game.
Following that game, No.4 Purdue will take on No. 5 Michigan State, followed by No.2 Illinois against the winner of Minnesota/Northwestern. The last game of the day will feature No.3 Michigan facing the victor of the Indiana/Penn State game.
The semifinals will take place Saturday afternoon, with the winner of those games facing off in Sunday’s championship game. ESPN and ESPN Plus will televise the early rounds. The semifinals and championship will be covered by CBS.
