The Big Ten has only two games pending, but both are trying to make a push for the NCAA tournament. One of the games turned out to be more intense than expected.
Let’s see what happened.
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–No. 5 Purdue Boilermakers 81 points, Washington Huskies 73
While the Boilers entered this game as heavy favorites, Washington made things annoying in the second half and cut the final deficit to just eight points at the final buzzer. Purdue certainly controlled the game, but the Huskies performed well on the road in a tough environment. Brayden Smith scored 23 points and had 7 assists. Trey Kaufman-Lane also had 14 points and 14 rebounds.
Purdue improves to 14-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten with the win. While the win was expected, it was an important one as the Boilers try to keep pace with Michigan State and Nebraska in the Big Ten title race. The group is also in good form heading into late January with a perfect record in the league, with their next two games coming up against seemingly inferior opponents at home.
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Washington, on the other hand, dropped to 9-6 overall and 1-3 in Big Ten play. It was the team’s second straight loss after a strong performance in December. The team will now return home for a series of crucial games. Like several other teams around the league, time is running out for the Huskies – Washington needs to start winning these games or risk being out of the NCAA for a year.
The Boilers will host Penn State on Saturday. Washington will host Ohio State on Sunday. This is a crucial game for the Huskies.
–Indiana Hoosiers 84 points, Maryland Terrapins 66 points
The Hoosiers were favored heading into this game, but considering the team entered the night 0-2 on the road and just 1-3 on the road, no one knew exactly what to expect in Indiana. However, those concerns proved to be unfounded as Indiana cruised to an 18-point victory. Lamar Wilkerson had an outstanding performance in this game, scoring 24 points and grabbing 6 rebounds. Teton Conaway also had 19 points and eight rebounds.
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Indiana improves to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten with the win, while Maryland drops to 7-8 overall and 0-4 in the Big Ten with the loss. The Indians will now prepare for Nebraska at home on Saturday in what looks like a massive matchup in Bloomington. Maryland will try to bounce back on Saturday against UCLA on the road.
