Big Ten Basketball Betting: Weekly Notebook
by Matt Severance - 12/02/2008
Tuesday and Wednesday nights should show us whether the depth of the Big Ten can match up with that of the perceived No. 2 basketball conference in the land, the ACC.
Yep, it's the 10th annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge - which actually began Monday night with Wisconsin's 74-72 victory against Virginia Tech. That last-second win in Blacksburg snapped an 11-game home win streak for ACC teams in the Challenge. Including that result, the Big Ten is 55-9 against non-conference foes this year, which is second-best in the country behind the ACC's 61-10 record.
Through the first three weeks of the 2008-09 season, all 11 Big Ten teams are above .500. The Big Ten has three unbeaten teams remaining - yet none of them are ranked. Illinois and Minnesota are both 6-0 entering the week, while Ohio State is 3-0. Yet all of them could easily fall on Tuesday night, with the Illini hosting unbeaten Clemson, the Gophers hosting Virginia and Ohio State at No. 22 Miami. In addition, Iowa is at Boston College.
Certainly the game of the night tonight is No. 4 Duke at No. 10 Purdue. It's arguably the biggest non-conference game at Mackey Arena since a matchup with No. 1 UCLA way back in 1967.
The Boilermakers have gone 4-1 all-time against Duke, most recently defeating the then-No. 2 Blue Devils 78-68 in the final of the 2003 Great Alaska Shootout. They have gone 2-5 in ACC/Big Ten Challenge, losing 61-58 at No. 18 Clemson last season. Duke is 9-0 all-time in the event, including 2-0 on the road. The Blue Devils have won six straight games against Big Ten opponents, including beating Michigan this year.
The Blue Devils are outrebounding opponents by 10 per game and outscoring them by 22.8 (although none were ranked teams), while shooting 54.6 percent from the field and 32.3 percent on three-pointers. They have had 14 steals in each of their past two wins, and average an incredible 10.9 per game.
Purdue has three players averaging in double figures, led by sophomore E'Twaun Moore's 16.7. The Boilermakers are shooting 45.1 percent from the field and limiting opponents to 35.3, but are being outrebounded by more than four per game. They are coming off a loss to Oklahoma in the NIT Season Tip-Off where they had a season-high 19 turnovers.
Incidentally, of the Big Ten's 11 teams, seven are led in scoring by underclassmen. Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Purdue are all paced by freshmen or sophomores in scoring.
Meanwhile, if the big Duke-Purdue game doesn't float your boat, the No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 12 Michigan State game at Detroit's Ford Field on Wednesday should.
Michigan State didn't look good in one game against the ACC already this year, getting pounded by Maryland in the Old Spice Classic last week. The Spartans were just 12-of-27 from the line against the Terps.
"We know North Carolina will play great defense and run on us and if we're not making our free throws they'll beat us bad,'' MSU point guard Kalin Lucas said.
Raymar Morgan, probably Michigan State's best player, scored just four points against Maryland before following that with 29 points against Oklahoma State and nine against Wichita State. Morgan will need to have a monster game against UNC for Sparty to have a shot, especially because Michigan State may be without starting center Goran Suton against the Heels; Suton missed the three games of the Old Spice Classic due to a left knee sprain. Suton said Sunday he's hopeful he can go, but Coach Tom Izzo isn't optimistic.
Other games Wednesday are Indiana at Wake Forest, Michigan at Maryland, Penn State at Georgia Tech and Florida State at Northwestern. The ACC has won the Challenge each year, with the won-loss total at 56-31, including 8-3 last year. Because the ACC has 12 teams and the Big Ten has 11, the last-place ACC team from the previous season sits out the Challenge. That would be North Carolina State this season.