Big Ten Roundup (Jan. 2): Rutgers Knocks Off No. 1 Purdue Again

Things always seem to turn out bad for Purdue whenever they're ranked No. 1 and have to play Rutgers, and the same thing happened Monday night when Cam Spencer hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds to give Rutgers a 65-64 win. It was the second time in two years that they beat Purdue as a No. 1 seed. Here's our roundup for Jan. 2, including the three bowl games and Tuesday's basketball preview.

For the second time in two seasons, Rutgers beat Purdue as a No. 1-ranked team on Monday night, winning 65-64 at Mackey Arena to knock the Boilermakers from the ranks of the unbeatens. New Mexico is the last unbeaten team in the country. No one has finished a season unbeaten since the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers.

The Scarlet Knights, who won last season on a Ron Harper Jr. three-pointer at the buzzer, won in dramatic fashion again, with Cam Spencer hitting a three-pointer with 14 seconds. Purdue got one last look, but Brandon Newman's three-pointer missed. It was Purdue's first loss after opening the season with 13 straight wins. 

Spencer transferred to Rutgers this spring after playing three years at Loyola-Maryland. He's been a nice addition — he's averaging 12.8 points per game — but knocking off No. 1 on the road is a massive deal.

 "He's been a great addition to our program," Rutgers coach Stevie Pikiell said. "He's a great kid from a great family. He's the whole package." 

Paul Mulcahy had 16 points and eight rebounds, both career highs, for Rutgers (10-4, 2-1 in the Big Ten). He also four steals and six assists with zero turnovers.

"He's been terrific," Pikiell said of Mulcahy. "He's had a terriffic career. He's a leader. Down the stretch, he wanted the ball. He makes good decisions, and he was great in this tough environment."

There is plenty of content from the game on our Sports Illustrated/FanNation Purdue site, BoilermakersCountry.com. Here are the links to several stories. CLICK HERE

• EXPANDED GAME STORY: Rutgers hands Purdue its first loss. ''At the end of the day, I just thought that Rutgers was mentally and physically tougher than we were, even if we would have won the game," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. The full story, with quotes and video. CLICK HERE

Tuesday's Big Ten games

• NEBRASKA at MICHIGAN STATE, 7 p.m. ET: Michigan State (9-4, 1-1 in the Big Ten) is on a four-game winning streak, and they'll look to continue that on Tuesday against Nebraska (8-6, 1-2 in the Big Ten). Spartans forward Joey Hauser  leads the team in scoring with 14.1 points per game and rebounds with 7.5 per game, while shooting 44.8 percent from three-point range. Michigan State leads the all-time series with Nebraska, 21-9, and the Spartans are 11-3 at home against Nebraska. TV: Big Ten Network. Point spread: Michigan State is a 7-point favorite according to the SISportsbook.com gambling website on Tuesday morning. The over/under is 132.5.
• MINNESOTA at NO. 14 WISCONSIN, 9 p.m. ET: If it seems like Wisconsin (10-2, 2-0 in the Big Ten) hasn't been seen much lately, that's because it's true. The Badgers, who take on Minnesota (6-6, 0-2 in the Big Ten) Tuesday night, have only played once since Dec. 15. They are on a five-game winning streak, and got a career-high 25 points from Steven Crowl the last time out in a win over Western Michigan. This series could hardly be any closer. The Badgers lead the all-time series 105-104. and have won four straight games over the Gophers. TV: Big Ten Network. Point spread: Wisconsin is a 12.5-point favorite according to the SISportsbook.com gambling website on Tuesday morning. The over/under is 124.5.

Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford (14) celebrates on the podium after defeating Utah in the 109th Rose Bowl game. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)

Monday's Big Ten bowl games

• PENN STATE 35, UTAH 21: Penn State capped off an 11-win season with an impressive Rose Bowl victory over Pac-12 champion Utah on Monday. Veteran quarterback Sean Clifford, playing his final game for the Nittany Lions, was mostly exceptional. He completed 10 of his first 13 passes, was 5-for-5 on third down at one point and threw for 279 yards and two scores. Penn State lost only twice all year, to playoff teams Ohio State and Michigan. For the complete game story from our Sports Illustrated/FanNation site All Penn State, CLICK HERE
• MISSISSIPPI STATE 19, ILLINOIS 10: Mississippi State got a tie-breaking 27-yard field goal from Massimo Biscardi with four seconds to go then scored a touchdown on the final play of the game for a 19-10 win in the Reliaquest Bowl in Tampa, Fla. Tommy DeVito passed for 253 yards for the Illini, who were playing without star running back Chase Young, who opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL Draft. Points were hard to come by for Illinois, who finished the season with an 85 record. Mississippi State played the game in honor of former coach Mike Leach, who passed away last month. 
• LSU 63, PURDUE 7: Playing without head coach Jeff Brohm and several key players, Purdue got embarrassed 63-7 by LSU in the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. LSU did what it wanted all day long, passing for 369 yards and rushing for another 225. Austin Burton was forced to start at quarterback for Purdue after starter Aidan O'Connell opted out. He threw for only 74 yards in the rout. Purdue finished the season with an 8-6 record and its first-ever Big Ten West title. 

Indiana basketball player Anthony Leal and his sister Lauren were featured in a story on the CBS Evening News on Monday night. Anthony used his NIL earnings to pay off his older sister's student loans.

Related stories on Big Ten sports

• ANTHONY LEAL FEATURED ON CBS EVENING NEWS: Indiana basketball player Anthony Leal became something of a national hero on Christmas Day after he thrilled his older sister Lauren by paying off all of her student loans for her gift. The video went viral, and the pair was featured in a story on the CBS Evening News on Monday night. Here's the video. 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 (Jan. 1): Michigan has been struggling of late, but the Wolverines blew out Maryland early on Sunday and rolled to an 81-46 rout. Iowa lost again and Ohio State got a big road win at Northwestern. Here's our Big Ten Roundup for Jan. 1, including a preview of Purdue-Rutgers and the Big Ten teams in bowl games on Monday. CLICK HERE
• 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
• INDIANA UP TO NO. 15 IN AP POLL: Indiana hasn't played since Dec. 23, but the Hoosiers inched up one spot to No. 15 in this week's Associated Press top-25 poll. Indiana is one of four Big Ten teams, along with No. 1 Purdue, No. 14 Wisconsin and No. 24 Ohio State. Here's the top 25. CLICK HERE