Big Ten Roundup (Jan. 1): Michigan Snaps Losing Streak With Blowout Win Over Maryland
Michigan center Hunter Dickinson is one of the best players in the Big Ten, but when he's playing with a chip on his shoulder, he's really good.
We saw that on Sunday when Dickinson once again made Maryland pay for not recruiting him hard, even though he played his high school ball just a few miles from the Terrapins' College Park campus. He scored 32 points and had 12 rebounds in an embarrassing 81-46 blowout that snapped Michigan's two-game losing streak.
The 35-point deficit was the worst loss for Maryland since joining the Big Ten in 2014.
Dickinson, the 7-foot center who played at DeMatha Catholic is high school, was basically ignored by then-Maryland coach Mark Turgeon. So he went to Michigan instead, and he's been a three-year starter. Kevin Willard is the coach at Maryland now after Turgeon was released a year ago, so the bitterness might have disappeared a litte bit, but it's still Maryland. And crushing them on Sunday felt good.
“Maryland fans would probably think that this (matchup) is all I live for,” Dickinson said. “To be fair, it did lose a little bit of juice with the (coaching) changes and everything. But it still is Maryland, still the hometown team. It was like two miles away from my high school, so it still has it.”
Dickinson had his way early, going 8-for-9 and scoring 18 points in the first half that was all Michigan (8-5, 2-0 in Big Ten). Maryland (10-4, 1-2 in Big Ten) went to the break trailing 44-13, and made only four of 30 shots in the first half. Michigan scored the first 17 points.
Dickinson's 32 points were one shy of his career high. Maryland didn't have a single player in the double figures, and the five starters shot a combined 9-for-40, a mere 22.5 percent.
"This is on me. It's nothing to do with the players. This is totally on me and I'll get it right," Willard said. "This was a total failure by me to try to get a team somewhat ready ... I don't think there's anything I can say besides I totally let down this program and these kids, so this is on me. This is a total, total failure."
Sunday's Big Ten basketball games
- PENN STATE 83, IOWA 79: Penn State (11-3, 2-1 in Big Ten) got 26 points from Jalen Pickett and 20 more from Andrew Funk in an 83-79 win over Iowa (8-6, 0-3 in Big Ten), but it wasn't easy. The Nittany Lions let most of an 18-point second-half slip away before finally hanging on in the closing seconds. Kris Murray, in his second game back from a foot injury, led Iowa with 32 points. It was the fifth-straight win for Penn State. "We were really locked in defensively in the first half,'' Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "We kind of let our foot off the gas a little bit, but we played with a lot of energy and a lot of juice.''
- OHIO STATE 73, NORTHWESTERN 57: Ohio State (10-3, 2-0 in Big Ten) jumped out to a big lead early and held Northwestern (10-3, 1-1 in Big Ten) to just 28.6 percent shooting in a blowout road victory. The Buckeyes had four players in double figures, led by freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh, who had 18 points. Ohio State hosts No. 1 Purdue on Thursday.
Monday's Big Ten basketball game
- RUTGERS at No. 1 PURDUE, 7 p.m. ET: Purdue is 13-0 and has been ranked No. 1 in the country for three weeks now, but that doesn't really mean much to the Scarlet Knights. Back in December of 2021, when Purdue was ranked No. 1 for the first time in school history, it was Rutgers who hadn't them their first loss, and they would love to do it again. TV: Big Ten Network. Point spread: Purdue is an 8-point favorite, according to the SISportsbook.com gambling website. The over/under is 131.5. For a preview of the game from our BoilermakersCountry.com Sports Illustrated/FanNation site, CLICK HERE
Purdue guard Fletcher Loyer (2) reacts after making a shot during Wednesday against New Orleans. (Alex Martin/USA TODAY Sports)
Big Ten bowl games on Monday
- Reliaquest Bowl: No. 22 Mississippi State (8-4) vs. Illinois (8-4), TV: ESPN2, Noon ET at Tampa, Fla. Point spread: Mississippi State is back to being a 3-point favorite, a second flip from the opening line, where Mississippi State was a 1.5-point favorite but then Illinois was favored by as much as 2.5 points last week. A toss-up, for sure.
- Cheez-It Citrus Bowl: No. 17 LSU (9-4) vs. Purdue (8-5), TV: ABC, 1 p.m. ET at Orlando, Fla. Point spread: LSU is a 15-point favorite, up substantially from the 8.5-point opening line. To read a preview of the game, CLICK HERE
- Rose Bowl: No. 8 Utah (10-3) vs. No. 11 Penn State (10-2), TV: ESPN, 4 p.m. ET at Pasadena, Calif. Point spread: Utah is a 2-point favorite, down slightly from the 2.5-point opening line.
Related stories on Big Ten sports
- PAT FORDE COLUMN: While the Big Ten made big waves this past offseason, the on-field results are still a work in progress after losses by Michigan and Ohio State in the College Football Playoffs on Saturday. Here is Sports Illustrated writer Pat Forde's column. CLICK HERE
- BIG TEN POWER RANKINGS (Vol. 2): Purdue has been the one true constant this season, and everyone behind them has shown some warts so far. It's a jumbled mess, but we try to sort it all our in our second Big Ten Power Rankings through the games of Dec. 28. Here they are, from No. 1 to No. 14. CLICK HERE
- BIG TEN ROUNDUP (Dec. 31): It's been a great bowl season for the Big Ten, but the league's two premier programs — Ohio State and Michigan — both lost in dramatic fashion in the two College Football Playoff semifinals on Saturday. Here's the story on the two games, plus a great preview of Sunday's basketball games. CLICK HERE
- AND THEN THERE WERE TWO: No. 2 ranked Connecticut lost at Xavier on Saturday, falling from the ranks of the unbeatens. There are now only two unbeaten teams left, Purdue and New Mexico, who's coached by former Minnesota coach Richard Pitino. Here's the story. CLICK HERE
