Badgers Bury Buckeyes; Purdue Punished Mountaineers

College Hoops Player of the Day for Thursday, December 31, 2009

Don't think twice about the Wisconsin Badgers reaching the top of the Big Ten and doing some serious damage in March - this team can play with anybody, and, usually, beat them.

The Badgers opened Big Ten play hosting Ohio State on the last day of 2009, and left the Buckeyes feeling like they'd rather leave memories of that year behind them. Wisconsin, playing tenacious defense and turning take-aways into points, built and early lead and pulled away late for the lopsided 65-43 win. By holding Ohio State to their worst shooting performance of the season, 14-of-43 (33%), Wisconsin established themselves as one of the top defensive teams in the conference, maybe the country.

Trevon Hughes led the scoring with 16 points, hitting 5 of 10 shots overall, but making 3 of 5 from 3-point range. The Badgers shot 10-for-21 from beyond the arc. Hughes, a 6-foot senior guard, also snatched 7 rebounds, a category in which the Badgers beat the Buckeyes, 34-25.

Wisconsin improved to 11-2, their losses coming on the road at Gonzaga and an 88-84 overtime loss at Wisconsin-Green Bay. However, the Badgers can look to quality wins over Arizona, Duke, Marquette, and now, Ohio State, for positive reinforcement that they are one of the best in the nation.

Ranked #23 coming into the Ohio State game, the Badgers are likely to move up in the polls, though they face a tough stretch with four tough games just ahead: at Penn St. January 3, at Michigan St. Jan. 6, Purdue Jan. 9, at Northwestern Jan 13.

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College Hoops Player of the Day for Friday, January 1, 2010

...And then there were five.

The Purdue Boilermakers knocked West Virginia out of the ranks of the undefeated, opening the new year with a 77-62 thumping of the Mountaineers, leaving the 13-0 Boilermakers - along with Kansas, Texas, Kentucky and Syracuse - as the only unbeaten teams in Division 1.

Led by 6'10" center JaJuan Johnson's 25 points and 10 rebounds, the Boilermakers expanded a 5-point half time lead to as many as 26 in the second frame, turning a Top 10 showdown into a one-sided blowout. Johnson's season-high point tally came on 8-for-14 shooting, mostly on dunks and shots from inside the paint, and a 9-for-11 performance on the free throw line.

Purdue is tied with four other teams at 1-0 in the Big Ten after having beaten Iowa, 67-56, on Tuesday, to open conference play. They were ranked #4 coming in, with West Virginia #6. The Mountaineers will surely drop a few spots in the polls, but Purdue should stay put behind Kansas, Texas and Kentucky.

Wisconsin, Illinois Lead Big Ten over ACC

College Hoops Player of the Day for Wednesday, December 2, 2009

It took eleven years, the biggest comeback in Illinois basketball history and a nail-biting win by Wisconsin over Duke, but after ten years of frustration, the Big Ten finally beat the ACC in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, taking six of the eleven games, with three wins coming on the final night of competition.

In their 76-74 win at Clemson, the Fighting Illini lived up to their name, coming back from 22 points down in the second half for the biggest comeback in school history. Led by Mike Davis' 22 points (9-11, 4-4 free throws) and 9 rebounds and freshman Brandon Paul's 20, the Illini kept Big Ten hopes alive with an unlikely road win after dropping their last two games. Clemson, which took a 20-point lead into the half, appeared to be cruising to the win when the Illini went on a 22-2 tear, and finally caught the Tigers when Paul stole the ball and went in for a layup to tie the game at 61 with 5 minutes left.

The Tigers didn't fold, however, and actually had a lead late, but the Illini were undeterred as they improved to 5-2, haning the Tigers their second loss of the season (6-2). The win by the Illini kept the Big Ten close, but the ACC led, 5 games to 4 with just two left to be played in the challenge.

Wisconsin led from the opening bucket, sending the Duke Blue Devils to a loss for the first time in the eleven years of the Challenge, 73-69. The Badgers opened the game with a barrage of three-pointers to take an early lead, then let guard Trevon Hughes loose in the lane and on the perimeter. He scord a game-high and personal season-high 26 points in leading the Badgers to their 5th win in 6 tries this season. Hughes hit 9 of 16 shots from the floor, including 4 of 8 from three-point land. He added a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line to match Duke's Kyle Singler point for point.

Moments later, when Ohio State beat Florida State, 77-64, the Big Ten could finally exhale and celebrate the conference's first win over the ACC.

The three other wins for the Big ten were provided by Penn State, Purdue and Northwestern.

ACC winners were Miami, Boston College, North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia Tech.