Big Ten Roundup: Hoosiers Going Big-Game Hunting

Purdue was the unanimous No. 1 team in both The Associated Press and coaches’ polls as the Boilermakers received all 94 first-place votes.

Indiana broke into the AP poll as No. 21 and the coaches’ poll as No. 22. Illinois is 25th in the coaches’ ranking. The Fighting Illini join Rutgers and Northwestern in the “others receiving votes” category in the writers’ poll.

According to the college basketball playoff odds, Purdue (+1000) is tied for second in the odds to win the national title. Indiana (+5000) and Illinois (+6600) are well back. The Boilermakers (-4000) are overwhelming favorites to win the Big Ten title followed by Illinois at +1800.

Here’s a look at the upcoming games in the Big Ten with some odds and betting information to consider.

Let’s check the latest college basketball news, stats, injury reports and college basketball lines. We’ve got plenty of NCAA basketball picks for you to consider.

Game of the Week

Purdue vs Indiana

• Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 4, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Purdue is undefeated in true road games. National Player of the Year front-runner Zach Edey is averaging 21.3 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots on the road this season. He has scored in double figures in every game this season with five 30-point efforts. He leads the Big Ten in both scoring and rebounding. Edey isn’t going it alone as Mason Gillis had a school-record nine 3-pointers in a 20-point win over Penn State on Wednesday.

🎯 There’s being in the zone…
And then there’s what @GillisMason was in last night.

One for the record books. pic.twitter.com/lTGhdG16ue

— Purdue Men’s Basketball (@BoilerBall) February 2, 2023

Indiana’s Trayce Jackson-Davis is third in the conference in scoring, averaging 19.5 points per game and is second in rebounding so his matchup with Edey will be the game within the game.

Indiana (15-7, 6-5 in the Big Ten) is second in the conference in scoring offense and Purdue (22-1, 11-1) is second in points allowed per game. The Hoosiers lead the Big Ten with an average of 15,634 fans per home game.

Purdue is 10-1 over the last 11 games against Indiana even though the Hoosiers have covered in the last two meetings.

Four of the last five games in the series have been determined by single digits with seven of the last nine matchups finished under the total.

Indiana is tied with Iowa for the Big Ten lead with 13 of its games going over the college basketball betting lines total.

Rest of the Weekend’s Schedule

Michigan State vs Rutgers

• Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 4, Noon ET (FOX)

Rutgers leads the Big Ten in multiple defensive categories. However, the Scarlet Knights are coming off a 90-point effort in a win over Minnesota as they were 10 of 20 from 3-point range.

Clifford Omoruyi is 18 of 24 from the field over his last three games for Rutgers (15-7, 7-4).

Michigan State (14-8, 6-5) is 2-4 over the last six games with two of the losses by two points or less.

Michigan State has won 11 of the last 13 matchups with Rutgers. When the teams met on Jan. 19, the Spartans won 70-57 as a three-point favorite thanks to connecting on 12 3-pointers.

Rutgers is 15-7 against the college basketball odds and that is tied for the best mark in the conference.

Illinois vs Iowa

• Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 4, 2:30 p.m. ET (FOX)

Illinois (16-6, 7-4) takes a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s contest. The Fighting Illini held their opponents to 36.5% shooting. They were also +27 in rebounding and +11 in offensive rebounds. Matthew Mayer averaged 18 points with 10 3-pointers over those three games.

Kris Murray averaged 20 points in wins over Rutgers and Northwestern. The Hawkeyes (14-8, 6-5) got third-leading scorer Patrick McCaffrey back for those games, but he had just 10 points in 22 minutes.

Illinois has won five games in a row against Iowa with four of those contests being determined by five points or less.

Maryland vs Minnesota

• Date, time (TV): Saturday, Feb. 4, 9 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)

Jahmir Young has at least 20 points five times in the last seven games with the Terrapins having gone 5-2 over that stretch.

Last-place Minnesota (7-14, 1-10) has dropped six straight games with the last two defeats coming by 20 and 35 points. Freshman Joshua Ola-Joseph is coming off a 17-point game for the Golden Gophers.

Maryland (15-7, 6-5) is 7-0 in the last seven games and 6-0-1 against the Las Vegas odds in the last seven meetings.

Minnesota’s last win against the Terrapins came in 2017 and the last home win was in 2016.

Ohio State vs Michigan

• Date, time (TV): Sunday, Feb. 5, 1 p.m. ET (CBS)

Ohio State (11-11, 3-8) is in search of its second road win and will rely on freshman Brice Senabaugh who has five 20-point efforts over the last seven games.

Michigan (12-10, 6-5) has an elite freshman as well. Jett Howard has at least two 3-pointers in eight of his last 10 games.

The Buckeyes have won four of the last six games against the Wolverines and covered in all four of those wins. Three of the last four games in the series have been decided by six points or less.

Penn State vs Nebraska

• Date, time (TV): Sunday, Feb. 5, 4:30 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)

Seth Lundy is coming off a 17-point performance in a loss to No. 1 Purdue and is putting up 17 points over his last four games for the Nittany Lions (14-8, 5-6).

Nebraska (10-13, 3-9) has lost four consecutive games. The Cornhuskers have been outrebounded by 27 and are -16 in offensive rebounds during the losing streak.

Penn State leads the Big Ten with 236 3-pointers made and 613 attempted 3-pointers. Nebraska has allowed the most 3-pointers in the conference.

Penn State won three of the last four games in the series. Nebraska had covered in four straight games against the Nittany Lions before Penn State’s 76-65 win on Jan. 21 as Andrew Funk had 23 points.

Northwestern vs Wisconsin

• Date, time (TV): Sunday, Feb. 5, 6:30 p.m. ET (Big Ten Network)

Northwestern (15-7, 6-5) is one of three Big Ten teams with winning road records. Senior guard Boo Buie is averaging 19.5 points on 46% shooting on the road for the Wildcats.

Tyler Wahl is averaging 10.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in the four games since returning to the court for Wisconsin (13-8, 5-6).

Northwestern snapped a seven-game losing streak to Wisconsin with a 66-63 win on Jan. 23 when listed by the sportsbook as the 2.5-point underdog. Wisconsin has won three games in a row at home against the Wildcats.