Weasel Weekly is Meet at Midfield’s weekly look at Big Ten men’s basketball presented by guest contributors Drew Hamm and Stefan Zonia.
You can find Drew on Twitter at his personal account, @drewhamm5, where he talks Philly sports, Wisconsin sports, and other nonsense. You can also subscribe to his Wisconsin basketball/football/volleyball newsletter @BadgersBallKnow where it’s all UW, all the time.
Stefan can be found on Twitter @iamstefanzonia where he discusses Michigan sports (college and pro), sports betting and entertains any and all internet absurdities.
We split up the conference in a fantasy draft format. Here’s a quick recap of who is covering who:
Stefan – Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Nebraska, Ohio State, Purdue and Rutgers
Drew – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Penn State and Wisconsin
The Badgers took part one of the Weasel War. Northwestern and Nebraska are the two hottest teams in the conference, and the Wildcats have put themselves in a position to win(???) the regular season conference title. Ohio State is so far off the rails that it has completely given up. This conference does not deserve multiple bids and is spiritually a bad mid-major league. Drew and I are dying.
Illinois
KenPom rank: AdjEm 25, AdjO 52, AdjD 28
Results: (L) at Penn State, 93-81; (L) at Indiana, 71-68, (W) vs. Minnesota, 78-69
The Week That Was: After a tough road trip last week that saw them drop two straight games, a home game against the lowly Gophers was just what the Illini needed on Monday night. Although, they actually lost the last 30 minutes of the by two points, which is hilarious because Minnesota is awful, so maybe things aren’t actually better in Champaign?
The Week Upcoming: The Illini welcome the best team in the Big Ten, Northwestern, on Thursday and then travel to play the worst team in the league, Ohio State (who lost to Minnesota), on Sunday.
Indiana
KenPom rank: AdjEm 20, AdjO 25, AdjD 35
Results: (L) at Northwestern, 64-62; (W) vs. Illinois, 71-68
The Week That Was: The fact that IU only lost to NU by two points after being down 19 at halftime is pretty impressive, though they did still lose. Trayce Jackson-Davis continues to be excellent and his 26 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, five blocks and three steals against Illinois helped the Hoosiers come back to win in their second game of the week.
The Week Upcoming: Back-to-back road games against Michigan State and Purdue will present a challenging week for Mike Woodson’s crew, but surely a team like the Indiana Hoosiers won’t crumble under increased expectations from their notoriously laid-back and patient fanbase.
Iowa
KenPom rank: AdjEm 39, AdjO 5, AdjD 153
Results: (W) vs. Ohio State, 92-75; (L) at Northwestern, 80-60
The Week That Was: Speaking of teams who lost to Northwestern, the Hawkeyes’ vaunted offense was held to 60 points by the ‘Cats as they lost by 20 points in Evanston. Fran McCaffery was tossed from the game after receiving double technicals in the second half, and a few minutes later his son Patrick also picked up a T for arguing with the officials. It’s nice to see kids excelling in the family business.
The Week Upcoming: I, for one, can’t believe that McCaffery got ejected in an extremely important game that his team was getting blown out in. He’s usually such a calming influence on his team. Iowa travels to Wisconsin on Wednesday and hosts MSU on Saturday. I wonder how many technical fouls he’ll get at the Kohl Center. Seven?
Maryland
KenPom rank: AdjEm 18, AdjO 43, AdjD 24
Results: (W) vs. Purdue, 68-54; (L) at Nebraska, 70-66, OT
The Week That Was: The Terps picked up a season-defining win last Thursday by blowing out No. 1 Purdue and then, in true Maryland fashion, went on the road and lost to Nebraska in overtime. With about seven minutes to go in the game, Maryland had a 91 percent chance of winning, immediately before Sam Hoiberg and Keisei Tominaga stuffed the Terps in the trash. Great stuff from Kevin Willard
The Week Upcoming: A two-game homestand against Minnesota and Northwestern could get Maryland to 20 wins, but nothing is certain with this team and it would be really funny if they lost to the Gophers at home.
Michigan
KenPom rank: AdjEM 49, AdjO 36, AdjD 72
Results: (L) @ Wisconsin 64-59; (W) vs Michigan State 84-72
The Week That Was: Michigan got the classic Kohl Center experience, with truly heinous officiating and an engaged crowd that wound up resulting in yet another close loss for the Wolverines. I’m sure Drew will write a bunch of judgy words about Hunter Dickinson’s pre-game behavior, but honestly, it brought juice to an otherwise horrid matchup. There is no denying that Dickinson is a knucklehead, but he doesn’t play dirty and he has fun as the heel. I don’t think that hurts anyone [Ed. Note: No, but it is really funny when he eats shit because his entire schtick is being annoying].
The Wolverines then returned home and played in an emotionally charged affair with their in-state rivals in Michigan State’s first game since the horrific shooting that befell its campus. Michigan did a nice job of trying to build some bridges in what has become a toxic and ugly rivalry, there were t-shirts, green lighting, the Michigan band played the MSU fight song and students held Spartan Strong signs and chanted “Spartan Strong” multiple times throughout the game. It was the closest I’ve seen the two programs in a long time, and that was a good thing.
Michigan had some great performances from their young guys in this game, as Kobe Bufkin continued his superb second half of the season, but this game was marked by Dug McDaniel’s great first half and Tarris Reed’s phenomenal second half. MSU had no answer for Michigan’s two-big lineup, and after the Spartans tied the game at 72 with about 2:00 left, Michigan closed the game on a 12-0 run.
The Week Upcoming: Michigan heads to Piscataway for its one and only game with Rutgers this season. The Weasel Bowl Part Two comes to Ann Arbor next weekend and should again be a juiced affair. I would guess that after feeling like they got screwed in Madison, the Wolverines will be in a lather for that game.
Michigan State
KenPom rank: AdjEM 35, AdjO 75, AdjD 27
Results: (L) @ Michigan 84-72
The Week That Was: It’s impossible to say whether playing the game in Ann Arbor was a good idea or not. I respect all those guys for going out there and trying to bring some sense of normalcy to a situation that has everything but.
The Spartans’ loss followed a similar script to many of their defeats this season. They have no interior presence whatsoever, and when Michigan went to the two big-look of Reed and Dickinson it only further emphasized MSU’s struggles on the interior. Michigan crushed MSU on the offensive glass and Reed overpowered every player they put on him.
The Week Upcoming: MSU now returns to East Lansing to face Indiana in what is sure to be another very emotional affair before heading to Iowa. Those are two tough games for a team that has struggled offensively in its last 10 games (No. 91 by Barttorvik in that span). If they drop both games, they’ll fall to 8-9 in the conference, and while they’ll probably still get into the tournament, it’ll be as a double-digit seed with little hope of making any noise.
Minnesota
KenPom rank: AdjEm 222, AdjO 290, AdjD 144
Results: (L) vs. Penn State, 76-69; (L) at Illinois, 78-69
The Week That Was: After Monday night’s loss to Illinois, the Gophers are on a 10-game losing streak and sit at 1-14 in the Big Ten. The “1” in their record? Oh, that was just a little road win against a team called The Ohio State Buckeyes. I hope the Bucks keep Chris Holtmann forever.
The Week Upcoming: Road games against the enigmatic Maryland Terrapins and the streaking Nebraska Cornhuskers sound like two more losses to me. Really great second season at the helm for Ben Johnson.
Nebraska
KenPom rank: AdjEM 91, AdjO 162, AdjD 53
Results: (W) @ Rutgers 82-72 93-72; (W; OT) vs Maryland 70-66
The Week That Was: The Huskers have become the most fun team in the conference to watch. I can’t explain it. You can’t explain it. Just go with it, reader.
Keisei Tominaga once again grilled a superior opponent, even when Rutgers put much-heralded defender Caleb McConnell on him. It just. Didn’t. Matter. Keisei went for 22. The Huskers then returned home to face the red-hot Terps and after getting out to a seven-point halftime lead, faltered, falling behind by five points late in the game.
But, some late-game heroics kept Nebraska in the mix and sent the game to overtime, where Tominaga hit a pull-up from the logo and Nebraska pulled out the win. It’s a shame the Huskers won’t make the big dance because the nation deserves to see Tominaga cook.
The Huskers have a very real chance of avoiding playing on day one of the Big Ten Tournament. Amazing.
The Week Upcoming: Huskers get a one-game week, which is really tantamount to a bye week because their only game is at home against Minnesota. Tominaga drops 50, who says no?
Northwestern
KenPom rank: AdjEM 42, AdjO 100, AdjD 20
Results: (W) vs Indiana 64-62; (W) vs Iowa 80-60
The Week That Was: Can Northwestern win the conference? I mean yeah, I guess. They just toppled two top-half teams after last week’s dismissal of Purdue, and there’s nobody on the remainder of their schedule they CAN’T beat, but the slate is still pretty tough with three of the final four games on the road. Still, there’s no question they have earned their spot in second place, and I can’t help but cheer for this unlikely group of future corporate executives.
Boo Buie went for 21 and 23 in two games this week, including the game-winner against Indiana. NW had jumped out to a huge lead in that game and the Hoosiers were able to claw all the way back to tie it with 28 seconds left, but Buie hit a tough runner with two seconds to play. No such heroics were needed against Iowa, who they ran off the floor.
Iowa shot 3 of 24 from three and Fran got ejected, which are the classic hallmarks of an Iowa loss. In each of his last seven games, Chase Audige has shot worse than 40 percent from the floor, and yet the Cats have won five straight.
The Week Upcoming: The tough run of play doesn’t stop, as Northwestern travels to Illinois and Maryland this week. Go Cats.
Ohio State
KenPom rank: AdjEM 64, AdjO 29, AdjD 115
Results: (L) @ Iowa 92-75; (L) @ Purdue 82-55
The Week That Was: The degree to which this team has quit on their coach and on each other is stunning. Their average margin of defeat in their last three games is 22.7 points. They’ve lost eight in a row and 13 of 14. They’ve all but locked themselves into a No. 13 finish, despite having a player expected to go in the first round of the draft. There isn’t any analysis I can offer from these games. These players are going through the motions to get to the end of the season.
The Week Upcoming: OSU hosts Penn State and Illinois this week. It’d be pretty surprising if this team won another game this year.
Penn State
KenPom rank: AdjEm 50, AdjO 18, AdjD 130
Results: (W) vs. Illinois 93-81; (W) at Minnesota 76-69
The Week That Was: With their tournament hopes fading into the rearview mirror, the mighty Penn State Nittany Lions responded with a big week and two wins. Jalen Pickett scored 41 (!!!) points in a win over Illinois and followed that up with a measly 32 points, nine rebounds and eight assists against the Gophers. Pathetic.
The Week Upcoming: They travel to Ohio State and then host regional rival Rutgers on Sunday. A pair of wins this week and PSU has to be right back in the NCAA Tournament conversation, because no one has actually watched this conference.
Purdue
KenPom rank: AdjEM 4, AdjO 8, AdjD 22
Results: (L) @ Maryland 68-54; (W) vs Ohio State 82-55
The Week That Was: Purdue was playing their worst basketball of the season mid-week. The loss to the Terps was their third in four games, and what once looked like a formality for this team to win the conference is now at least somewhat in question. Zach Edey remains the only consistent performer on the roster and he needs someone else to show up in support for them to win.
The Boilermakers obliterated a lifeless Ohio State team, and we’ll see if that gets them clicking again. It’s hard to say, as OSU is truly not a test by any measure at this point, but sometimes just seeing the ball go in can help you find your confidence again.
The Week Upcoming: Purdue has a big one-game week as it hosts Indiana in a rematch of the tense in-state rivalry that went IU’s way in Bloomington. A loss, coupled with a perfect week from Northwestern, would see Purdue fall back into second place.
Rutgers
KenPom rank: AdjEM 27, AdjO 128, AdjD 4
Results: (L) vs Nebraska 82-72; (W) @ Wisconsin 58-57
The Week That Was: Look, Nebraska is definitely playing better lately, and Tominaga is the conference’s hottest player… but Rutgers can’t give up 82 at home to THAT team (the Huskers are still No. 162 in AdjEM). They did sneak a win out against a mediocre Badgers team to salvage their week, but the Scarlet Knights are not playing great ball right now. The loss of Mawat Mag has crippled what was already a limited bench.
The Week Upcoming: Rutgers comes home to face Michigan then travels to Penn State. It needs both to get back into the conversation among the conference’s top teams, which doesn’t seem especially likely.
Wisconsin
KenPom rank: AdjEm 71, AdjO 153, AdjD 31
Results: (W) vs. Michigan 64-59; (L) vs. Rutgers 58-57
The Week That Was: This team is so fucking dumb. After going 2-6 in the month of January, they needed a big February to prove that they belonged in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, they’ve alternated between wins and losses all month, with no rhyme or reason. Last week, they beat Michigan and ski-masked Hunter Dickinson – who claimed he was coming to Madison to “steal a win” then didn’t make a field goal the entire second half like the monstrous loser he is – and then they lost to a severely short-handed Rutgers team by one.
The Week Upcoming: At least we know exactly how this week will go, though! The Badgers will beat Iowa on Wednesday and then lose at Michigan on Sunday. This also means that they’ll beat Purdue and lose to Minnesota the following week, which would be really good.