The 11 Big Ten teams will meet in Indianapolis this week and crown a conference tournament champion. Play begins Thursday at noon in Conseco Fieldhouse and concludes with the conference championship game Sunday at 3:30 p.m.
Ohio State
After winning a share of their third regular season conference title in five years, the Buckeyes arrive in Indianapolis as the tournament’s No. 1 seed. Led by the Big Ten Player of the Year Evan Turner, OSU has won 13 of its last 14 games.
After their first-round bye, they will play the winner of the Thursday’s Michigan-Iowa game at noon on Friday. OSU beat Iowa twice this year, and split the season series with the Wolverines. However, in their loss at Michigan, the Buckeyes were without Turner, who was recovering from a back injury.
Biggest Strength: Starting Five
With Turner on the court, the Buckeyes will have the best player in any game they play this weekend. However, the other four OSU starters cannot be ignored.
Jon Diebler and William Buford combined for 36 points in last week’s win over Illinois, 21 of which came on Diebler’s seven 3-pointers. Junior David Lighty, who was once known solely for his defensive prowess, has gotten better and better on the offensive end as the season has progressed. Throw in Big Ten All-Defensive center Dallas Lauderdale and you have a starting five that rivals anybody’s in the country.
Biggest Weakness: Depth, or Lack Thereof
If there is a weakness to this OSU team, it is the virtual absence of a bench. The only reserve to play in every game this season was senior Kyle Madsen, and fellow seniors P.J. Hill and Jeremie Simmons are the only other Buckeyes who have any hope of entering the game.
Because the starting five is so strong, extensive bench play has not been essential to this point. None of the Buckeye regulars have shown any ill effects of playing nearly every minute, but if any of them were to get into foul trouble, it could spell trouble for OSU.
Purdue
Last year’s tournament champion took a serious hit late in the season when junior Robbie Hummel was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
With Hummel, Purdue was all alone atop the conference standings. Without him, they went 2-1, including a loss at home to Michigan State and just a four-point win against Penn State.
Without their first-team All-Big Ten forward, Purdue could have a hard time repeating last season’s title.
Biggest Strength: Experience
Purdue will start four players who also started on last season’s tournament championship team and had Hummel not gotten hurt, they would have returned all five. These guys know what it takes to win three games in three days.
Hummel or no Hummel, Purdue should still be a contender.
Biggest Weakness: Outside Shooting
Hummel was Purdue’s best outside shooter and without him, junior E’Twaun Moore is the only real threat the Boilermakers have from beyond the 3-point arc. The lack of a long-distance scorer will put a lot of pressure on center JaJuan Johnson.
Johnson is plenty capable, and might be the best big man in the conference. But without help from the outside, teams will be more willing to collapse inside and make things more difficult for him. It will be interesting to see how he handles the added responsibility, and the Boilermakers will need him to be nothing short of spectacular if they hope to win the tournament.
Michigan State
The Spartans entered February undefeated in the conference and likely had their sights set on an outright conference championship. So after going just 5-4 to end the season, earning just a share of the title may feel to many in East Lansing as a less-than-consoling consolation prize.
They will be looking to redeem themselves with a tournament championship and will start by playing the winner of Minnesota-Penn State.
Biggest Strength: Rebounding
Michigan State leads the conference in both offensive and defensive rebounding.
Led by their front line of senior Raymar Morgan and sophomore Delvon Roe, as well as Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year Draymond Green, the Spartans have out-rebounded their opponents by an average of more than nine a game. In comparison, Penn State is second in the conference averaging just three more rebounds than its opponents.
Michigan State’s ability to get second and even third chances on the offensive end could be key if it hopes to make a run this weekend.
Biggest Weakness: Suspended Guard
Michigan State announced Tuesday that junior guard Chris Allen would be suspended indefinitely because of unfulfilled responsibilities, coach Tom Izzo said. Allen will miss at least his team’s opening game.
Allen averages nine points per game, but is perhaps the Spartans’ best perimeter defender. In MSU’s regular season finale, Allen held Michigan’s Manny Harris to just four points.
In a conference with such an abundance of great guards, any deficiency on the defensive perimeter could be costly.
Wisconsin
The Badgers have quietly gone about their business all year and should not be overlooked. They play Illinois, a team they beat by 15 earlier this week, in their first game on Friday. If they top the Illini again, they will move on to the semifinals where OSU could be waiting.
The Badgers beat the Buckeyes handily in the teams’ first game, but Turner was out with an injury. In the rematch, Wisconsin was without junior Jon Leuer and the Buckeyes controlled the game.
Biggest Strength: Senior Leader
For the second year in a row, the Big Ten’s All-Conference Team was absent of seniors. But unlike many teams in the conference, Wisconsin’s best player is also its most experienced.
Guard Trevon Hughes averaged a team-high 15 points in his final year in Madison. Hughes led the Badgers to wins over Ohio State, Purdue and Michigan State this season, so it is certainly feasible that he could carry Wisconsin to a tournament championship.
Biggest Weakness: Playing Away from Home
The Badgers were an impressive 16-1 on their home floor this year, but when they ventured away from Madison, things proved to be much more difficult.
They went just 7-6 in their road- and neutral-court games, including a loss at Wisconsin-Green Bay in December. For one reason or another, Wisconsin is simply not the same team when not at home and they will need to find away to shake those tendencies when they arrive in Indianapolis.
Illinois
Sunday’s loss to Wisconsin completed a brutal final three weeks for the Fighting Illini. After beating the Badgers in Madison Feb. 9, Illinois lost five of its last six games to end the year.
Needless to say, they won’t enter the tournament with much momentum.
Biggest Strength: Point Guard Play
The Illini live and die with the play of All-Conference point guard Demetri McCamey. McCamey leads Illinois with nearly 15 points per game. More importantly, however, he leads the conference with 6.8 assists per game, and handed out a school record 16 in a game at Purdue.
Biggest Weakness: Streaky Shooting
In their win at Wisconsin earlier in the year, the Illini shot 53 percent from the field. Five days later, however, Illinois shot an abysmal 34 percent, including a 4-24 mark from beyond the 3-point line.
It has been up and down all year for the Illini and, unfortunately for them, their shooting may have hit rock bottom at the absolute worst time.
Minnesota
Like Illinois, the Golden Gophers have also had a roller coaster season of sorts. They have a win at home against Wisconsin but a pair of heartbreaking losses to two of the conference’s best teams, Purdue and Michigan State. However, Minnesota
also registered a loss at Northwestern and a 28-point defeat at the hands of Michigan.
They begin tournament play Thursday night against Penn State and with a win would play Michigan State Friday.
Biggest Strength: 3-Point Shooting
The Golden Gophers led the conference in 3-point shooting. The effort was led by junior Blake Hoffarber, who OSU coach Thad Matta called the best outside shooter in the entire country.
Both Hoffarber and senior Lawrence Westbrook shoot better than 42 percent from beyond the arc and both will have to string together four days of hot shooting if Minnesota has any chance at working its way through the field.
Biggest Weakness: Inconsistency
Their last two games serve as the perfect example: Minnesota beat Iowa by 33 on Sunday, but before that came the blowout loss at Michigan.
Depending on which team shows up in Indianapolis, the Gophers may not need to make reservations beyond Thursday.
Northwestern
Many predicted before the season started that Northwestern had a chance to reach the program’s first NCAA tournament. However, at 7-11 in Big Ten play, the Wildcats did not have quite the season they had hoped for.
They will play their first round game against Indiana on Thursday.
Biggest Strength: Budding Star
Sophomore John Shurna averaged just seven points and three rebounds a season ago, but more than doubled that output during his second season in Evanston.
Shurna was by far the brightest spot of the Wildcat’s disappointing season and was named second-team All-Big Ten. It’s hard to believe that Shurna alone will be enough for Northwestern to make a run this weekend, but if they were to get by Indiana, a Hummel-less Purdue will be waiting. Stranger things have happened.
Biggest Weakness: Preseason Injuries
Quite frankly, the majority of Northwestern’s struggles this season were due to nothing more than bad luck. Before the season started, the Wildcats lost seniors Kevin Coble and Jeff Ryan, who both suffered season-ending injuries.
Their absence left little for coach Bill Carmody to deal with, and with a lack of top talent left on the roster, they could be expecting a short stay in Indianapolis.
Michigan
As disappointing as Northwestern’s season was, Michigan stole the show as far as underachievers go. Many expected the Wolverines to at least finish in the top half of the conference, and with junior Manny Harris returning from an All-Conference sophomore season, it was thought they had an outside shot to compete for a conference title.
After finishing 7-11 in Big Ten play, however, the Wolverines earned the No. 8 seed in the tournament. They begin play Thursday against Iowa.
Biggest Strength: Versatility
Though both have struggled at times this year, Harris and senior DeShawn Sims have the potential to provide a one-two punch that could give the opposition fits.
Harris has the ability to beat people off the dribble, as well as shoot from the outside. Similarly, Sims can score both in the low-post and on medium to long-range jump shots. If Michigan hopes to make a splash in the tournament, both will have to be at the top of their games.
Biggest Weakness: Lack of Rebounding
The Wolverines rank last in the conference in rebounding margin. For a team that has struggled so mightily at times this season shooting the basketball, it is imperative that they find away to get second chances, and stop their opponents from doing the same.
If they continue to be dominated on the glass, however, don’t expect much of a run from Michigan.
Iowa
Just four seasons ago, the Iowa Hawkeyes beat Ohio State in the finals to become Big Ten champions. The current Hawkeyes, however, are a much different story.
Iowa recorded losses to Texas-San Antonio, Duquesne and Northern Iowa among others before entering conference play, and things hardly improved. They finished 4-14 in Big Ten play and failed to beat a single team in the top half of the league.
They tip off the tournament Thursday against Michigan.
Biggest Strength: Youth
As bad as the season has been for the Hawkeyes, the future appears to have some promise. Iowa has only one senior on the roster so, if nothing else, this weekend’s tournament could serve as valuable experience for Iowa’s youth-laden team.
Biggest Weakness: Youth
The very reason that could give folks in Iowa City a hint of optimism for what lies ahead is the same reason why the Hawkeyes will likely have no impact on this year’s tournament. Without any significant experience on this team, it would be nothing short of a miracle to see Iowa playing more than one or two games this weekend.
Indiana
Surprisingly enough, as storied as Indiana’s basketball program is, they have yet to win a Big Ten Tournament title. Don’t expect that to change this season.
The Hoosiers ran off a streak of 11 straight losses en route to a 4-14 conference record and the tournament’s No. 10 seed. They will play Northwestern in the first round.
Biggest Strength: Guard Play
Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, guard Maurice Creek was injured before Big Ten play began. Creek averaged more than 16 points a game before the injury, but in his absence, sophomore Verdell Jones III has stepped up.
Jones is averaging nearly 15 points a game, and has scored at least 20 points eight times in Big Ten play. There isn’t much in store for the remainder of this season in Bloomington, but with both Creek and Jones in the program, perhaps there is reason to believe Indiana is on its way back.
Biggest Weakness: Sharing the Basketball
The Hoosiers are last in the conference in both assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. The problem was on full display when Indiana turned the ball over 23 times in a December loss at Ohio State. They handed out just nine assists that night, and if they expect to challenge Northwestern on Thursday, they must do a better job.
For a team with several deficiencies both offensively and defensively, they can ill afford to be that careless with the basketball.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions won just three games in conference play this season, but it was some of their losses that were most impressive. Time and time again this year, Penn State has played up to or down to their level of competition, including losses to Michigan State and Purdue last week by a combined six points.
They have given every team in the conference nearly all they could handle at least once this season, but rarely executed well enough down the stretch to earn a win. They will begin their campaign for redemption Thursday against Minnesota.
Biggest Strength: Talor Battle
In a season of disappointing loss after disappointing loss, Talor Battle has been the lone bright spot this year in Happy Valley. As the only Penn State player to average double-digit points, Battle scored 18.8 points a game.
Battle has proven to be one of the better players in the league, and if he was on a more successful team, he probably would have been a strong contender for first-team All-Conference. Nonetheless, if Penn State hopes to make a miracle run this weekend, it will likely be Battle that carries the bulk of the load.
Biggest Weakness: Inability to Finish
Penn State led by as many as 16 points at Wisconsin before eventually losing in overtime. They lost on a last second shot against Minnesota. They nearly upset Purdue twice, and lost to Michigan State by just two in East Lansing.
As close as these games were, they were still losses. They showed that Penn State has the potential to hang with any team in this tournament, but they clearly have to figure some things out if they hope to
do so this weekend.
However, a couple of well-timed baskets down the stretch, and the Nittany Lions could potentially turn a lot of heads in Indianapolis.
