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Big Ten Basketball Notebook
By Randy Rosetta
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer
It’s been a while since Ohio State and Cincinnati got together on the basketball court, and today’s showdown ought to make the wait worthwhile.
Until today’s 3:30 p.m. ET showdown at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis in the John Wooden Tradition, the Buckeyes and Bearcats haven’t faced off since the 1962 national championship game. UC claimed that game 71-59 to even the series 4-4. Inexplicably, this is the first regular-season meeting between Ohio’s top hoops programs since 1921.
The fourth-ranked Buckeyes have bounced back from their only loss of the season (98-89 at No. 3 North Carolina) with lopsided wins against Cleveland State and Valparaiso, but Cincinnati will be a much tougher challenge.
Coming off an emotional 67-57 triumph against Xavier on Thursday, the Bearcats are 7-2. UC’s two losses are by three points total and they have the talent and motivation to upset OSU.
For Ohio State, the ballyhooed freshman class has been as good as advertised. Freshman guard Daequan Cook is the Buckeyes¢ second-leading scorer with 16.3 points a game and has emerged as one of the top 3-point shooting threats in the Big Ten, hitting 20-of-39 (51.3 percent).
Rookie point guard Mike Conley has logged 58 assists and 24 steals and is scoring 9.3 points a game.
But the most attention has been on 7-foot center Greg Oden, who finally made his college debut two weeks ago after sitting out with a thumb injury. Oden has produced 15 points, 9 rebounds and 4 blocked shots a game and has hit 11-of-12 field goals in 45 minutes.
The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten in scoring offense (85.2 points per game), field-goal shooting (52.5 percent), 3-point shooting (43.1 percent), assists (17.9 per game) and steals (8.8 per game).
Cincinnati will put up a good fight, but it’s hard to bet against Ohio State claiming the victory.
PURDUE: The Boilermakers are knocking on the door of the national rankings and could find their way in by beating the Hoosier State’s highest-ranked outfit in the less heralded game at the John Wooden Tradition. Heading into today’s battle with No. 18-ranked Butler, Purdue is off to its best start since 1998-99, thanks in large part to senior forward Carl Landry. For the third straight week, Landry was named the Big Ten player of the week after averaging 22.5 points and 10 rebounds in wins against Loyola (Ill.) and previously unbeaten Missouri. Landry ranks second in the league with 20 points a game and is the Big Ten’s top rebounder with 8.1 a contest. The Boilers and Bulldogs have met often through the years, with Purdue leading the series 37-15. This marks the first time BU has been ranked when it played the Boilermakers. Purdue hasn’t knocked off a ranked foe outside of West Lafayette since 2003.
MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans will likely hover under the radar until league play opens, but they have been solid so far, with seven victories by 15 points or more, including a notable 76-61 triumph against BYU last week. Michigan State junior guard Drew Neitzel is staking a strong case for all-league honors, leading the Spartans with 17.4 points and 4.7 assists per game and ranking among the Big Ten leaders in 3-point shooting (33-of-79, 41.8 percent) and foul shooting (36-of-41, 87.8 percent).
IOWA: The Hawkeyes stand only 5-5 going into today’s short road trip to Des Moines to face Drake and coach Tom Davis, who owns more wins (269) than anybody as the Iowa coach. But the Hawkeyes’ record is deceiving. After lopsided losses to Alabama and Villanova, Iowa has been competitive, losing three games by a total of seven points and winning three games by an average of 16.7 points. Senior guard Adam Haluska paces the Hawkeyes with 17.5 points a game and will need to come up big against the Bulldogs, who come in 6-2 and hungry to snap a 27-game losing streak to Iowa.
WISCONSIN: The seventh-ranked Badgers host No. 2 Pittsburgh today in the first regular-season battle of top-10 teams in Wisconsin basketball history. The Panthers have won three straight games against the Badgers, including a 73-64 triumph in the Steel City last Dec. 28. UW senior Alando Tucker comes in as the Big Ten’s leading scorer with 20.2 points a game. Pitt has won 21 consecutive non-conference games and is facing its highest-ranked non-league foe since the Panthers lost at fifth-ranked Massachusetts on Dec. 7, 1994.
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