Quick Recap

The Big Ten had some high highs and low lows during Feast Week, and we're just about 25% of the way through the regular season. The quantity of games decreases a lot to start December, only having 19 games this week involving a Big Ten team. However, the quality goes up with 17 being conference play or against high major competition.

1.) Michigan Is A Final Four Caliber Team

After back to back close wins against Wake Forest and TCU (although those wins have improved over the last week or two), Michigan finally had their game(s) that put the nation on notice, winning The Players Era by a combined 110 points against San Diego State, Auburn, and Gonzaga.

Michigan shot 40% over the three games, but it was their defense that feels much more sustainable. The offense can be elite on any given night, but the defense feels much more replicable on a consistent basis. They have the best 2P% defense in the country, enforced by their trio of rim protecting bigs in Aday Mara, Morez Johnson, and Yaxel Lendeborg. Mara and Morez have been two of the best drop big defenders against pick and roll, and their ability to force mid range shots has been a big part of it.

The interior defense is accompanied by a solid group of perimeter defenders that allow Michigan to switch a lot of actions and keep the ball in front. With Mara and Morez protecting the paint, the guards don't always have to send as much help, allowing them to stay connected on the perimeter more.

2.) USC wins Maui

USC won the Maui Invitational by beating Boise State, Seton Hall, and Arizona State. There may still be some questions surrounding the Trojans given that they haven't played a top 50 Kenpom team, but regardless, this is a much better start to year 2 than year 1 for Musselman at USC.

Rodney Rice's injury will be the biggest thing to monitor going forward, but another thing to watch is how long USC is able to stay undefeated. They currently sit at 7-0, and they'll be favored in their games until January. They do have 2 conference matchups next week at Oregon and against Washington, but then they have 4 buy games after that.

Hopefully Rodney Rice is able to come back very soon, but it is interesting to see how Musselman is going to handle not really having a true point guard healthy. Jerry Easter got the start against Arizona State, and he handled some of the PG responsibilities. Jordan Marsh can take care of some when he is in, but there may be more that falls on Chad Baker-Mazara.

Ezra Ausar has been quietly averaging 17.3 points a game, forming a trio of big time scorers with Baker-Mazara and Rice. He's currently leading the country in fouls drawn per 40 minutes, and he's getting to the free throw line at an insane rate. USC has been fine letting Ausar iso and drive to the rim over and over. This was highlighted by him going for 25 points and taking 19 free throw attempts against Seton Hall.

3.) Indiana and Iowa are solving defensive concerns in similar but different ways

Coming into the season, two of the biggest questions I had surrounded how Indiana and Iowa, both undersized teams with a lot of up-transfers, were going to be able to defend against high major competition. That question may still be a bit unanswered as neither have played Big Ten competition, but the formula for both gets similar results in different fashions.

Indiana and Iowa are in the 100th and 97th percentile for forcing mid range shots respectively. Teams are taking 20.9% of their shots from mid-range shots against Indiana, and teams are taking 17.7% of their shots from mid-range shots against Iowa per cbbanalytics.

Both teams are limiting shots in the paint and from three, but they do it in different fashions. Indiana is playing generally in drop coverage, and they have defenders stunt on drives but still get back to the three point line. They are fine with the offense taking open mid range shots, knowing they have either 1 or 2 bodies waiting at the rim.

Iowa is hard hedging and applying pressure to guards out on the perimeter. They'll consistently put two on the ball, and then they'll have multiple bodies waiting in the paint. If a team decides to hit the short roller or try to attack a closeout, that means that they'll have space until about 10-15 feet away from the rim where they'll run into multiple Hawkeye defenders.

4.) The top of the Big Ten is elite, the bottom... not so much

As of this writing, there are currently 5 Big Ten teams ranked worse than 80th in Kenpom. The Big Ten also 13 teams in the top 60 of Kenpom with 11 teams being in the top 50. There's also 7 in the top 25.

The Big Ten has some elite teams, but the depth of the Big Ten isn't currently where it's been the last few seasons. Last season only had 2 out of the 18 teams be outside of the top 80 of Kenpom.

The Big Ten is always known as a grind, and potentially part of why they could be getting in their own way for winning a National Championship. Although there still will be nights with plenty of tough games, and even the teams towards the bottom will sneak out a few wins they shouldn't, one pushing a Big Ten National Title agenda could point out that maybe this year won't be quite as much of a grind for the top Big Ten teams. Will that help in March... who knows? But one can be hopeful.

5.) Wisconsin once again got a guard in the portal who is turning into an elite scorer for the Badgers

Nick Boyd transferred to Wisconsin from San Diego State this off season. He's currently averaging 21.0 points while shooting 59.7% from 2 and 34.1% from 3. John Tonje went from 14.6 points at Colorado State during his senior season to 19.6 points at Wisconsin in his last year. Nick Boyd has jumped from 13.4 ppg, following in the mold of elite perimeter scorers for Wisconsin.

Wisconsin has had an offensive renaissance the last few seasons, becoming one of the better offenses in the country. This has usually been headlined by one or two elite perimeter scorers. Nick Boyd and John Blackwell have been feasting with their ability to operate in Wisconsin's modern-day, continuity pick and roll system.

Boyd is currently shooting nearly 15% better from 2s than he did last season at San Diego State, and this would be the best percentage of his career. He's currently shooting 65.3% at the rim on the year, and he's getting there at a really good rate. What is maybe even more impressive is that Boyd's doing this while also maintaining a similar assist rate to what he did last year.

Team of the Week

Michigan Wolverines

This may be the easiest decision all year. No team looked better than Michigan as they won their three games of the Players Era Festival by a combined 110 points. Michigan has to be able to become a more consistent team, but this was an incredible step in the right direction.

Player of the Week

Yaxel Lendeborg - Michigan

After struggling relative to expectations to start the season, Lendeborg has fully had his breakout over the last four games. Last week at The Players Era, Lendeborg averaged 17.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 turnovers, 1.3 blocks, and 2.0 steals a game. He also shot 10/11 from 2s (90.9%), 7/16 from 3s (43.8%), and 11/15 from the free throw line (73.3%).

Week Schedule

Note - All times listed are in Eastern Standard Time

Tuesday December 2nd

  • Penn State vs Campbell - 6:00 - Big Ten Network
  • Iowa @ Michigan State - 7:00 - Peacock
  • Purdue @ Rutgers - 8:00 - FS1
  • Maryland vs Wagner - 8:00 - Big Ten Network
  • USC @ Oregon - 10:00 - FS1

Wednesday December 3rd

  • Indiana @ Minnesota - 7:00 - Big Ten Network
  • Northwestern @ Wisconsin - 9:00 - Big Ten Network
  • UCLA @ Washington - 11:00 - Big Ten Network

Saturday December 6th

  • Michigan State vs Duke - 12:00 - FOX
  • Purdue vs Iowa State - 12:00 - CBS
  • Wisconsin vs Marquette - 2:00 - FS1
  • Ohio State @ Northwestern - 2:00 - Big Ten Network
  • Indiana vs Louisville (in Indianapolis) - 2:15 - CBS
  • Maryland @ Iowa - 4:00 - FS1
  • Rutgers @ Michigan - 4:00 - Big Ten Network
  • Oregon @ UCLA - 6:00 - Peacock
  • Washington @ USC - 6:00 - Big Ten Network
  • Illinois vs Tennessee (in Nashville) - 8:00 - ESPN

Sunday December 7th

  • Nebraska vs Creighton - 5:00 - FS1