College basketball is finally back, and we have real, meaningful games to over-analyze, draw conclusions, and act like we knew what was going to happen all along.
Welcome to the Big Ten Round-Up, your weekly stop to catch up on all things Big Ten basketball. Every week, we'll discuss some of the bigger storylines going on across the conference that we all love, the Big Ten. Generally, this will cover an entire week's worth of games, but with there being thirteen Big Ten teams playing on opening day, we'll just be recapping day one in this one specifically.
Quick Recap
13 Big Ten teams played on opening day, and although no one played any other high major teams, there was still some excitement to the day.
Penn State used a late rally to get past Fairfield and avoid the catastrophic upset.
UCLA and Michigan State both were in games where they were mainly in control for the entire game, but they were never able to fully blow it open.
Illinois, Michigan, Washington, and Minnesota dominated from opening tip to the final buzzer, putting the game away within a few minutes of the opening tip.
Ohio State also scored over 100 points! But they also gave up over 100 points! It was a truly wild game between them and IU Indy that featured 86 possessions and a combined 220 points in just a 40 minute, regulation game.
Maryland, USC, Nebraska, Northwestern, and Wisconsin all had moments where it looked like the game could end up close, but all ended up winning by a wide margin.
It was only day one of the Big Ten Hoops, and it's difficult to thread the needle of what's real and what's simply because a team played a much worse team. This is setting up to be a big year for the Big Ten, one that could potentially end with a team from the conference cutting down the final nets.
5 Trends/Observations
1.) Jeremy Fears is even more important for Michigan State than one could imagine.
Michigan State ended up with an 80-69 win over Colgate, although the Spartans were never really able to extend any sort of lead until late. It was 47-45 with 13:04 left in the 2nd half, and then Fears helped spark the MSU run with a combination of timely steals, aggressive driving, and jaw-dropping lobs to Coen Carr.
It wasn't just that stretch for Fears though, he was the best player on both ends of the floor, all game long. He finished with 14 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds, and 5 steals. Fears is the straw that stirs the drink, every single time down the floor for this Michigan State offense that seemed like it was still trying to figure out the hierarchy of the system. Fears has only played 1.5 seasons of college basketball, but he seemed to be the most confident player out there without a doubt, and the rest of the team fed off of him. His ability to push the ball offensively is going to be so massive this season, as the half court offense for MSU will have some peaks and valleys throughout the year. Fears' ability to create 6-10 easy points a game just by pushing the ball will add up very quickly. Defensively, Fears was incredibly active both as a point of attack defender and as an off ball defender. He generated multiple steals by being able to apply nail help against drivers, ripping them as they went by.
In an off season that featured Carr getting all of the buzz as taking the leap, it feels like Fears is the one that Michigan State is going to follow.
2.) Penn State is going to have a LOT of growing pains.
To start with the good news, Penn State is undefeated. The bad news was that it took late game shot making to beat a Fairfield team that ranks 298th in the country per Kenpom. This is an incredibly young team that averages 0.6 years of D1 experience per player on the roster, and it looked like it on opening night. Kayden Mingo settled in for 15 points and 2 assists, but Melih Tunca was the star of the night for the Nittany Lions as he had 19 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals in 31 minutes off the bench. It's a long season, with a lot of games to be played, but Penn State looks like it may take a bit to really start putting it all together this year.
3.) UCLA has a case for best backcourt in the Big Ten.
Donovan Dent is the real deal, and although we already knew that, it was incredibly fun to watch him in the UCLA uniform for the first time. He's elite at being able to use his change of pace to seemingly get into the paint at will. From there, he's a great finisher around the rim, and he's someone that can make almost any pass you can think of. However, this backcourt isn't just Donovan Dent.
Skyy Clark has really found his role at UCLA. He picked up right where he left off from last season, being a two-way combo guard that can give UCLA a bit of everything. He's developed into a good shooter, a smart facilitator, and a great defender for the Bruins. He's found his home at UCLA, and he's in line for a really good year this season. He's gone a bit underrated this off-season, but he's going to continue putting up numbers.
Trent Perry rounds out the backcourt trio, being a spark plug off the bench. After an inconsistent freshman season, Perry returned to UCLA poised for a sophomore breakout. He had a solid outing against Eastern Washington, scoring 11 points while also being a good perimeter defender.
Obviously, this trio has to do it against better competition to truly be considered the best backcourt in the Big Ten, but the pathway is clear. Dent can be one of the best players in the country, regardless of position, Clark can be one of the better complementary guards in the conference, and Perry is a capable 6th man who can play starter minutes on any given night.
4.) This USC team is much more suited for Eric Musselman than last season.
Musselman found his success at Arkansas with teams that were defensive focused and able to figure out enough offensively. Last season was the inverse for USC as the offense was much better than the defense. Musselman got back to his roots this off season though, assembling a roster that is going to cause a ton of issues for opposing offenses, while still having some things to figure out on the offensive side of the ball.
Cal Poly finished the game averaging 0.77 points per possession as they shot 38.5% from 2, 27.3% from 3, and had 22 turnovers. The length of USC was very evident from the jump as they forces Cal Poly into plenty of turnovers early on. USC has even more versatility this season with the ability to switch 5 ways, press, play drop coverage, and everything in between based on their lineups. They're able to provide a lot of help in gaps to be able to poke balls free and make passing become a nightmare for teams. USC only had 7 steals out of the 22 turnovers they forced. Even though they didn't create a ton of live ball turnovers, they made life difficult for Cal Poly with their ability to eat up a lot of space on the defensive side of the ball. This is the Musselman way, and it'll be in full force in LA this season.
5.) Ohio State is probably who we thought they were, but also can anything be actually taken away from that game?
Ohio State vs IU Indy churned out what will probably be the most points scored in any D1 game this season that doesn't go into any overtimes. In just 40 minutes of basketball, Ohio State and IUI combined for 220 points as Ohio State won 118-102. Ben Howlett brought his unique system to IUI this off season that features a ton of pressing and fast paced offense.
That's where it's hard to take concrete thoughts away from this game regarding Ohio State. There seemed to be an emphasis this off season for Ohio State to push the ball more as they were a bit below D1 average last season in offensive tempo. However, I don't think they're expecting to have 86 possessions in a game again, and they probably don't expect to shoot 53 free throws in a game. How much of this is a facade? How much of it is truly that the Ohio State offense is elite while the defense has a lot of work to do, much like many thought heading into the season?
Regardless of the possessions and tempo though, the offense was clicking for both sides of the ball. Ohio State had their way offensively as they shot 81.2% from 2 during the game, and they had 3 players score 20+ points. This Buckeyes team has weapons in their starting 5 offensively, and they're going to use them. However, their strengths also cause their weakness. Ohio State features 5 great offensive players in their starting 5, but there's also a major gap to what they do on the defensive side of the ball. Devin Royal should be able to dominate offensively and take advantage of having smaller 3s have to guard him. On the flip side though, he now has to be a defender on the perimeter, something he isn't comfortable with. He isn't the only problem defensively, as a lot of the thoughts put to him at the 3 can also be applied to everyone else on the roster. Maybe the one thing to take away for sure from this game is that Ohio State (and IU Indy) is going to be must-watch tv.
Team of the Day
Michigan Wolverines
On a day where 13 Big Ten teams played (with none playing against high major competition sadly), Michigan looked every bit the part of national title contender as you can be in a game you're favored by 20+ points. They dismantled Oakland, even with Yaxel Lendeborg coming off the bench as he was nursing some hand injury. Everything that could've gone right for the Wolverines did as they dominated the glass, shot incredibly well from 3, and limited themselves to only 8 turnovers. They won 121-78 as they held Oakland to only 1.0 points per possession. There's still some things to clean up defensively, and they shouldn't expect to shoot 19/35 from 3 every game, but it was good to see that they have that capability to them.
Player of the Day
John Blackwell - Wisconsin
Stats - 34 minutes, 31 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 4/8 2s, 6/11 3s, 5/5 FTs
If you look at just the box score for the Wisconsin/Campbell game, it'd seem innocent enough. Wisconsin would have appeared to routed Campbell 96 to 64 in a game that was never really close. However, that wouldn't be the case. It was just a 5 point game with 10 minutes left, and then Wisconsin closed the final 10 minutes on a 31-4 run, headlined by Blackwell putting up a 14/4/3/1 statline in just the final 20 minutes of the game. Blackwell is a sleeper candidate for Big Ten Player of the Year, and his campaign for the postseason accolades started today with this performance.
1 Bold Prediction for the Week Ahead
Prediction - Penn State loses at New Haven
This may not be as bold of a prediction after Penn State nearly lost to Fairfield, but it's something that has stood out to me from the moment that Penn State's schedule came out. New Haven just moved up to D1 this season, and they'll be playing their second ever home game at the D1 level against Penn State. Credit to Mike Rhoades for scheduling this (more coaches should!!!).
This is a New Haven team that's ranked #359 per Kenpom, and they're going to be big underdogs. In all reality, this is a game that Penn State should be able to take care of, but they're a young team who feature a lot of players that have never played a road game in college. If New Haven can get it going early, this one could end up being really interesting.College basketball is finally back, and we have real, meaningful games to over-analyze, draw conclusions, and act like we knew what was going to happen all along.
Welcome to the Big Ten Round-Up, your weekly stop to catch up on all things Big Ten basketball. Every week, we'll discuss some of the bigger storylines going on across the conference that we all love, the Big Ten. Generally, this will cover an entire week's worth of games, but with there being thirteen Big Ten teams playing on opening day, we'll just be recapping day one in this one specifically.
