3 B1G takeaways from Day 2 of the basketball Challenge vs. the ACC

The Big Ten wanted a chance to redeem itself after a so-so (outside of Purdue) start to the regular season.

Its matchups with the ACC in the B1G/ACC Challenge this week provided that opportunity. And the league has shown, at least when stacked up to another power conference that’s not the Big East, that it can rise again. Through the first 2 days of the Challenge, the Big Ten has dominated, going 6-2, including Ohio State’s upset of No. 1 Duke late Tuesday night and No. 2 Purdue’s 28-point blowout of Florida State. And both of the losses were overtime: A double-overtime thriller in Syracuse, N.Y., where the Hoosiers lost to the Orange, and an overtime loss by Northwestern at Wake Forest.

Let’s break down 3 B1G takeaways from Day 2.

The B1G ain’t dead yet

There’s little debate: The Big Ten got waxed last month in the Gavitt Games, the matchups between the league and its counterparts in the Big East.

Only Indiana and Michigan State were victorious then, beating St. Johns and Butler, respectively, but the other 6 Big Ten representatives — Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Ohio State and Rutgers — all lost. It was a disappointing showing for a B1G that fashions itself as the best, deepest and most competitive league in the land.

Throw in some other ugly losses and it wasn’t a great start for the league.

But the ACC might have helped to solve the problem. The Big Ten has struck back the past 2 days, no more so than in Columbus on Tuesday night, when the Buckeyes locked down on what appeared a sluggish Duke squad looking to defend its No. 1 ranking for the first time this season. OSU held Duke scoreless for the final 4.5 minutes and rallied back from down as many as 15 in the second half. That game followed Purdue’s 28-point slaughter of short-handed Florida State. And the Big Ten picked up wins by Minnesota (by 1 at Pitt) and by Rutgers (by 10 over Clemson).

Even taking into consideration that the ACC might have its own issues — Duke, despite the loss, is a top-5 team, but it’s soft elsewhere — the B1G needed a big week, and it’s getting it so far. Wednesday brings 6 more games, and the Big Ten is favored in 5, including the showcase game with No. 24 Michigan traveling to North Carolina. Only 2 victories will get the conference its third straight Challenge title.

Wearing them down

Purdue has great individual players, with likely first-round draft picks Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey, plus other upperclassmen NBA prospects like Trevion Williams and Sasha Stefanovic.

And those guys — again — helped to carry Purdue to a victory on Tuesday night in a raucous Mackey Arena, which seemed hungry to welcome in a big-league opponent after a year without fans. But more than the individual players, it’s the totality that is giving the opponents the biggest fits right now.

In Purdue’s 3rd consecutive game against a quality opponent, the Boilermakers found a second gear about mid-way through the second half, when their depth — they’ll go 10 deep, without much drop off in terms of production — simply wears down the opponent.

You could see it with the Seminoles, who were down 3 players in their rotation due to injury and excused absence, who had previously given Purdue some problems because of their length and athleticism. But after FSU started to tire, those ball deflections and offensive boards, the things that had kept it within striking distance the first 30 minutes of the game, went away; the Seminoles were a half step slow on rotations, couldn’t attack the glass and saw their jumpers come up short. And the Boilermakers pounced, just like they did against North Carolina and Villanova in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off. They used a 12-0 run in less than 4 minutes to turn an 8-point lead into 20 with about 8 minutes left, and the game was all but over.

That’s what Purdue is going to do to opponents this season. It’s 30 minutes of body blows, then as soon as the opponent brings his hands down to protect himself, the Boilermakers go for the knockout.

Indiana survives, sorta

Although ultimately it came in a double-overtime loss, the Hoosiers survived their night in Syracuse, because for a moment late in the second half it seemed IU’s season could be over.

Star big man Trayce Jackson-Davis lay on the court at the Carrier Dome in pain, grabbing at his knee before hobbling to the bench. It was hard not to think the worst, that Jackson-Davis had somehow suffered serious damage after banging his knee into a Syracuse player. And if it was the worst, Indiana’s season would basically be over; no one can replace what the All-American gives the Hoosiers.

But luckily for IU, Jackson-Davis soon returned to the floor, then helped IU get to 2 overtimes vs. Syracuse — Indiana trailed by as many as 18 in the second half — before the Hoosiers fell 112-110. But even in the loss, there were positives for IU: The Hoosiers competed in their first road game of the season, against a quality opponent, and didn’t back down, particularly after digging themselves a big hole; they played an entertaining style of basketball, rather than the dysfunctional offense fans had grown used to seeing under former coach Archie Miller; Coach Mike Woodson made adjustments that seemed to give IU momentum at key moments; and the Hoosiers got contributions outside of Jackson-Davis, like Miller Kopp’s 28 points and Parker Stewart’s 20.