Big Ten Teams Show Their Substance
By Mike Johnson, Men’s Basketball Writer
At the Big Ten preseason press conference, the face of Purdue head coach Gene Keady turned red right up to his trademark toupee as he voiced his disapproval for the nationwide lack of respect for the Big Ten. Even the usually mild-mannered Bo Ryan began to question the media’s criticism of the Big Ten late in the regular season, as only Illinois and Wisconsin finished in the nation’s Top 25.
But Illinois head coach Bill Self perhaps brought a voice of reason throughout the preseason media day. No matter how low the national opinion of the Big Ten dipped, he felt, the Big Ten teams would be the most prepared come March due to the physical nature of Big Ten basketball.
And this is a hard fact to argue considering the last six Final Fours have featured a total of seven teams from the Big Ten.
Self’s words were vindicated in the opening round of this year’s NCAA tournament, as the Big Ten compiled a 5-0 record. Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Michigan State — the five teams representing the Big Ten in the tournament — all lived to see the second round.
Out of those five, it was Self’s Illini who were expected to go the farthest. But following its championship performance in the Big Ten tournament, Illinois still had to settle for a No. 4 seed in the tough West Region, which contains Arizona, Kansas and Duke as its top three seeds, respectively.
Perhaps looking ahead to the fierce competition down the road, the Illini were nearly upset by No. 13 seed Western Kentucky, as they rallied to come away with a 65-60 win. Big Ten Player of the Year Brian Cook posted 17 points and 10 rebounds in that game, while freshman sensation Dee Brown tallied 16 points and eight assists. Only forward Nate Williams, scored in double figures for the opposing Hilltoppers.
But Illinois’s bid for a third straight Sweet Sixteen appearance ended with a 68-60 loss to No. 5 seed Notre Dame in what could be considered a mild upset. The Fighting Irish knocked down a staggering 13 three-pointers, led by five from Maryland transfer Danny Miller, who tied a career-high with 23 points. Despite scoring 19 points, Cook shot a dismal 6-23 from the field. As his shots repeatedly rolled off the rim, Illinois’ chances of rolling out of Indianapolis and into Anaheim for the regionals slowly disappeared.
An 8-8 regular season conference record relegated the Indiana Hoosiers to a No. 10 seed in the Midwest region, which proved to be too high of a seed for them to overcome in the second round. In the first round, however, senior guard Tom Coverdale poured in 23 points, 12 of them from the free-throw line, to spark Indiana to a come-from-behind 67-62 win over No. 7 seed Alabama. For the Crimson Tide, ranked No. 1 in the nation early in the year, it was a fitting end to its epic freefall.
For Indiana, the tournament magic ended in a second round 74-52 loss to the physical Pittsburgh Panthers, the No. 2 seed in the region. The Hoosiers had no answer for spectacular point guard Brandin Knight, who posted 17 points and seven assists.
The other Big Ten representative from Indiana was Keady’s Purdue Boilermakers, who staggered into the tournament after a poor finish to the regular season and an early loss in the Big Ten tournament. In the first round they managed to knock off No. 8 seed LSU behind a sweltering 52 percent team shooting and 20 points from freshman Melvin Buckley in an 80-56 blowout.
The Boilermakers then proceeded to nearly pull off what would have been the biggest upset of the tournament. They led the Texas Longhorns, the No. 1 seed in the South Region, 60-59 midway through the second half, but couldn’t stop national Player of the Year candidate T.J. Ford down the stretch. Ford wound up with 21 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in what may have been the best individual performance of the tournament so far as Texas pulled away to a 77-67 victory.
Without question, however, Michigan State has been the most impressive Big Ten team in the tournament. After a poor start, the Spartans dusted themselves off to finish with a 10-6 conference record and a No. 7 seed in the tournament’s South Region. They cruised to a 79-64 opening round victory over Colorado behind 14 points and seven assists from sophomore guard Alan Anderson, who’s finally healthy for perhaps the first time all season.
But the Spartans saved an even better performance for its second round matchup with No. 2 seed Florida. The Spartans shot a torrid 55.6 percent from the field as three players scored in double figures in a shocking 68-46 massacre of the Gators, who were ranked No. 1 in the nation at one point during the year.
At the conclusion of the second round of the tournament, two Big Ten teams, Wisconsin and Michigan State, remain among the Sweet 16. The Spartans face an intriguing game with defending champion Maryland Friday in San Antonio, while the Badgers will try to upset tourney favorite Kentucky Thursday in Minneapolis.
And if the Big Ten looks to garner some of that national respect they’ve been craving throughout the year, they better be pulling for the Badgers and Spartans.
