Quick Recap

The Big Ten got some big time wins, highlighted by Purdue's win at Alabama and Illinois' home win against Texas Tech. There have been only four losses in the Big Ten so far, and all have been to power conference teams.

The Big Ten has 6 teams inside the top 25 of Kenpom as of this writing, and they have 14 of the 18 teams inside the top 50. All 18 teams currently are inside the top 100 of Kenpom.

1.) Purdue looks better when they have two All-Americans healthy

During the first week of the season, Trey Kaufman-Renn sat out, nursing some minor back injury. Purdue didn't look the part of being the best team in the country, and there were concerns that grew very rapidly.

Insert potential All-American Trey Kaufman-Renn back into the lineup, and Purdue looks to be just fine. TKR jump started the rebounding, and Purdue has quickly become a top 20 offensive rebounding team as they've rebounded over 50% of their misses in the two games that TKR has played in. In the two games, TKR had a total of 30 rebounds and Oscar Cluff added in 25 rebounds.

In addition to the rebounding, TKR has showed off the patented floater and touch in the post. Against Alabama, he got a few bounces to go that seemed like they should ricochet hard off the rim. He has such good touch that he can get these to go.

Is Purdue flawless with TKR back? No, not at all. The defense is still very much a work in progress, and it's something that'll be heavily monitored all season long. At the end of the day though, it becomes hard to bet against the trio of Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman-Renn, and Fletcher Loyer.

2.) Illinois has multiple guys that can be 'The Guy'

Illinois currently has 6 different players who've scored 20+ points in a game, and we're only 4 games into the season. This is a team that's willing to find the miss match and continually attack it over and over again. Against Texas Tech, Andrej Stojakovic was the guy, and Illinois ran almost everything for him down the stretch. They're comfortable running an initial action (like Horns Chin in the Texas Tech game) to get their guys in the correct spots before letting players go win the 1 on 1 matchup.

It isn't just Stojakovic though. David Mirkovic just had a 20/20 game against Colgate. Keaton Wagler has scored in double figures in all four games. Kylan Boswell has a 20 and 30 point game this season, while having 3+ assists in every game. This is a team with a lot of star power up top, and that means that they're likely to at least have one player going every game. This team is more built to withstand off nights from some of their stars because there's somebody else that can fill their place.

As of writing, Illinois ranks in the top 5% in pick and roll usage and the top 7% in isolation usage. Credit to Underwood and his staff for being able to find guys that can go get buckets, and trusting them to do so.

3.) Michigan is still figuring things out but dominating the areas they should

Michigan is sitting at 3-0, but it's one of the uglier 3-0 records in the country. After dominating Oakland in week one, they got a 1 point overtime win over Wake Forest and a 4 point win on the road against TCU. Neither of those teams currently are top 50 in Kenpom.

Michigan is figuring out how they all want to gel together, and that does take time. Michigan did this last year as well, where they looked not great early on before figuring things out later in the season. Right now it seems like the players are still thinking about what they need to do instead of just being able to rely on instincts.

Turnovers are still an issue for this offense, and it's hurting them at the wrong times right now.

It's also strange that Yaxel Lendeborg currently has a 18.5% usage rating, and he's taken more threes than twos. He's often just sitting in the corner right now as a spot up guy instead of using his size to try and create downhill.

The positive for Michigan is that they're dominating the areas they should be - rebounding and interior defense. Michigan is #54 in ORB% and #51 in DRB% while being #13 in the country in 2P% defense. This is a team that has multiple great defenders, especially on the interior, and their identity should reside in what they're able to do on the defensive side of the ball.

4.) Three point volume seems to be on the rise

Nine teams in the Big Ten are currently shooting 40%+ of their shots from three. Most teams have played either three or four games, so this number may drop eventually, but it's just felt like more threes are going up than usual. Per barttorvik, the Big Ten is shooting 40.5% of their shots from three as a conference. It would be the first time in Torvik's database that the Big Ten as a conference has taken over 40% of their shots from beyond the arc. Maybe the numbers don't hold as the season progresses, but it's something worth monitoring.

5.) Nick Martinelli and Arrinten Page may be the most underrated front court in the conference

Through four games, the duo of Nick Martinelli and Arrinten Page are averaging 36.5 points, 14.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.0 steals, and 1.8 blocks a game on 69% eFG%. To summarize, that's really good.

Northwestern is a team lurking right now after dominating their first three games, and getting a 2 point road win against DePaul. They get their first real test this week against Virginia, but Martinelli and Page look poised to be able to get this Northwestern team going.

Martinelli led the Big Ten in scoring last season, and he'll have the chance to do it again this season. The biggest question for the Wildcats coming into the season was the center spot though. With freshman Cade Bennerman looking like he may potentially redshirt, that leaves Arrinten Page as the only true center on the roster. Chris Collins has had a lot of confidence in Page and what he could bring to Northwestern, and so far he's been proven right. Page has been the perfect complementary piece to Martinelli with his ability to convert at the rim, rebound, and protect the rim defensively.

Team of the Week

Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue put together a very good week that included a true road win against Alabama and a controlling win against Akron, one of the best mid majors in the country. They move to 4-0 on the season and flashed why they are viewed as one of the best teams in the country.

Player of the Week

Braden Smith - Purdue

This was a tough choice this week between a handful of players who put up big time stats, like Rodney Rice with his triple double or David Mirkovic with a 20/20 game. Smith had 29 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists in the road win against Alabama, taking over the game in the 2nd half. He followed that up with 16 points, 10 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals against Akron in only 27 minutes. Smith showed why he's one of the best players in the country.

Games To Watch This Week

We start getting some bigger time matchups this week, and there'll be a Big Ten team against a high major opponent nearly every day.

Note - times listed in Eastern time

  • Michigan State vs Kentucky (in NYC) - Tuesday 11/18 - 6:30 - ESPN
  • Illinois vs Alabama (in Chicago) - Wednesday 11/19 - 9:00 - FS1
  • Purdue vs Memphis (in Bahamas) - Thursday 11/20 - 6:00 - CBSSN
  • Nebraska vs New Mexico (in Kansas City) - Thursday 11/20 - 7:00 - Peacock
  • Wisconsin vs BYU (in Salt Lake City) - Friday 11/21 - 4:00 - Peacock
  • Northwestern vs Virginia (in West Virginia) - Friday 11/21 - 5:00 - CBSSN
  • Purdue vs Texas Tech/Wake Forest (in Bahamas) - Friday 11/21 - 7:00/9:30 - CBSSN
  • Nebraska vs Kansas State/Mississippi State - Friday 11/21 - 7:00/9:30 - Peacock
  • Penn State vs Providence (in Connecticut) - Saturday 11/22 - 4:00 - TruTV
  • Northwestern vs South Carolina (in West Virginia) - Sunday 11/23 - 5:00 - CBSSN