Big Ten Roundup (Dec. 29): More Ugly Losses For Iowa, Michigan
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Despite coming off the largest upset in college basketball history, things were supposed to start getting better for the Iowa Hawkeyes. Kris Murray (foot) and Connor McCaffery (hand) were back from injuries, and their re-set to the Big Ten season at Nebraska on Thursday night was supposed to have a better outcome.
Instead, the Hawkeyes got walloped by the Cornhuskers 66-50, having one of the worse shooting nights in recent memory. Iowa was a four-point favorite, but never led after the first minute and lost by double digits to fall to 8-5 on the season and 0-2 in the Big Ten. Just last week, they lost at home to Eastern Illinois as a 31.5-point favorite.
All five starters scored in double figures for Nebraska (8-6, 1-1 in Big Ten), led by forward Juwan Gary with 14 points. Murray had 17 points in his first game since Dec. 6 and Filip Rebraca had 16, but the other three starters — Patrick McCaffery, Tony Perkins and Ahron Ulis —and sixth man Payton Sandfort were a combined 2-for-28 from the field. That's a 7.1 shooting percentage.
The 50 points were their fewest of the year. Iowa had been averaging 83.8 points per game coming in, which ranked No. 16 in the country. They made only three of their first 28 shots and missed 16 in a row at one point.
"It’s definitely tough," said Iowa's Connor McCaffery. "You look up and you're stuck at eight (points) for a while. The thing that’s disappointing is we should have gotten more back in that stretch. We didn’t attack the offensive glass. Sometimes you’re going to miss shots. We definitely missed an abnormal amount of shots in that stretch, but that’s no excuse to not score for as long as we did."
Central Michigan 63, Michigan 61
Michigan was a 21.5-point favorite against Central Michigan on Thursday in Ann Arbor, but the Wolverines struggled throughout and lost 63-61 when Reggie Bass hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds to go.
Michigan is now 7-5 on the season. The Wolverines shot just 35.1 percent from the field, and became the sixth team to lose a game this season despite being favored by 20 points or more. It's tied for the most in a season since such numbers started being tracked in 2001. Four Wolverines were in double figures, led by Kobe Bufkin with 16.
Central Michigan forward Ola Ajiboye (11) and guard Reggie Bass (1) celebrate after defeating Michigan. at Crisler Center. (Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)
Other Big Ten games
- NO. 1 PURDUE 82, FLORIDA A&M 49: Zach Edey scored 14 points and Brandon Newman added 18 off the bench as Purdue moved to 13-0 with a blowout win over Florida A&M (2-9). It was their 24th consecutive nonconference win in the regular season, the longest streak in the nation. It's the third-best start in school history. They've got 14-0 twice. For the full game story from our BoilermakersCountry.com site, CLICK HERE
- NORTHWESTERN 63, BROWN 58: Chase Audige had 24 points and Boo Buie added 15 as Northwestern beat Brown (7-6) for its fifth straight victory. Northwestern (10-2) is off to its best start to a season since the 2016-17 team opened 12-2 on its way to the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament bid.
- PENN STATE 60, DELAWARE STATE 46: Seth Lundy had 15 points and the Penn State (10-3) defense held Delaware State (1-12) to just 30.4 percent shooting in the Nittany Lions' win. Andrew Funk had 12 points and Jalen Pickett added 10.
- OHIO STATE 90, ALABAMA A&M 59: Freshman Brice Sensabaugh scored 21 points and Justice Sueing added 18 as Ohio State (9-3) rolled past Alabama A&M (4-9). The Buckeyes shot 52.5 percent from the field and made nine three-pointers.
- MARYLAND 80: UMBC 64: Jahmir Young had 18 points and Hakim Hart added 16 as Maryland (10-3) beat UMBC (9-5). The Terrapins play at Michigan on Sunday.
- ILLINOIS 85, BETHUNE-COOKMAN 52: Dain Dainja scored 22 points and four Illinois (9-4) starters were in double figures in the rout of Bethune-Cookman (4-9). The Illini re-open Big Ten play on Wednesday at Northwestern.
Minnesota wins 6th straight bowl game
Mohamed Ibrahim rushed for 71 yards and became Minnesota’s all-time rushing leader in the Golden Gophers’ 28-20 win over Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.
Ibrahim finished his career with 4,668 yards and 53 rushing touchdowns in 40 games since joining the Golden Gophers as a two-star recruit from Baltimore, Md. Ibrahim broke the school record held by Darrell Thompson, who had 4,654 yards from 1986-89. Darrell Thompson is the father of Indiana basketball player Race Thompson.
It was the Gophers' sixth straight bowl win dating back to 2015. They won nine games or more three times in the past four years, something only nine other schools have done.
For the complete bowl schedule and summaries of all the games played so far, CLICK HERE
Related stories on Big Ten sports
- BIG TEN ROUNDTABLE PODCAST: The College Football Playoff kicks off on Saturday, and for the first time ever, the Big Ten has two teams in the postseason semifinals. Michigan takes on TCU, and Ohio State takes on No. 1 seed and defending national champion Georgia. This week we chat with BuckeyesNow.com publisher Brendan Gulick live from Atlanta to break down the Buckeyes. CLICK HERE
- POWER RANKINGS, Vol. 2: Sports Illustrated/FanNation publisher Tom Brew ranks Big Ten basketball teams from No. 1 to No. 14 in his second installment of the Big Ten power rankings. Purdue is the clear No. 1, but it's a jumbled mess after that. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA WOMEN FINALLY LOSE: No. 4-ranked Indiana lost its undefeated record on Thursday, falling to Michigan State 83-78 in East Lansing, Mich. Senior forward Mackenzie Holmes scored a career-high 32 points for Indiana. CLICK HERE
- BIG TEN TRANSFER PORTAL REPORT: The college football transfer portal is more prominent than ever this offseason, already surpassing 1,000 entries. Here's a full breakdown of where each Big Ten team stands. CLICK HERE
