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B1G basketball notebook: Illinois looking strong after big win, plus more notes and quotes from around the league
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Illinois doesn’t mind playing away from the State Farm Center.
For the 2nd time this season, the Fighting Illini knocked off a top-10 team on a neutral court, when they upended No. 2 Texas in the Jimmy V Classic Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden. Illinois had to rally from down 10 late in the 2nd half, and down 5 with under a minute remaining, to get the game to overtime. Matthew Mayer, the former Baylor sharpshooter who hadn’t yet broken out with Illinois, scored 21, while Terrence Shannon Jr. got loose in the extra session, scoring 12 of his 16 points.
Illinois (7-2) has played a solid schedule to start the season, also scoring a victory against then-No. 8 UCLA in Las Vegas on Nov. 18, with losses to top-25 Virginia and Maryland. The Illini will briefly jump back into Big Ten play Saturday when they host Penn State. But coach Brad Underwood is still looking for the right personnel combinations on the floor, which stands to reason considering Illinois has 4 freshmen and 3 transfers who are making big contributions.
Perhaps that means the Fighting Illini still have even more potential than they’ve shown.
“We’re trusting our players to make the right plays,” Underwood said after Illinois’ 85-78 win over UT. “It’s different, and it’s not as comfortable as maybe I’d like it sometimes.”
Indiana missing rookie
Indiana needs freshman Jalen Hood-Schifino back in the lineup as soon as possible.
His absence was evident in the Hoosiers’ loss at Rutgers Saturday, when senior Xavier Johnson had too much on his plate as IU’s primary ball-handler. When healthy, Hood-Schifino gives Indiana an extra ball-handler and a solid shooter, but he was out in Piscataway due to a bad back. He’s averaging 8.7 points per game, with 6 made 3-pointers, but is day-to-day. Indiana (7-1) travels to Nebraska tonight.
“No doubt, missing Jalen hurt, having another ball-handler to take the slack off a little bit from (Johnson),” coach Mike Woodson said earlier this week. “But hey, I don’t know when Jalen’s going to get back, and we’re going to have to figure it out.”
MSU still waiting on Hall
Michigan State might need its full arsenal of offensive weapons if it’s to get headed in the right direction again.
The problem: Malik Hall (foot) is likely at least still a couple weeks away from a return. He was still wearing a boot on the Spartans’ bench during their loss to Northwestern on Sunday.
Tom Izzo did get a player back for the Wildcats’ game, as Jaden Akins returned after a 4-game absence, but the sophomore guard looked rusty in his 22 minutes. Michigan State (5-4), which has lost 2 games in a row, plays at dangerous Penn State tonight. But if the Spartans can escape Happy Valley, the schedule might lighten up a bit, allowing MSU to get healthy again before the resumption of Big Ten play in early January.
“Those are two pretty important players,” Izzo said this week of Akins and Hall. “Hopefully when we get them back we’ll be a better team. But in the meantime, we’ve got to win games. And we’re capable of winning games.”
Edey frontrunner for NPOY?
Purdue center Zach Edey is building an early case for not only Big Ten player of the year, but national awards as well.
Following his 31-point, 22-rebound performance in a win over Minnesota Sunday evening, Stadium basketball analyst Jeff Goodman tweeted “NATIONAL PLAYER OF YEAR FRONTRUNNER: ZACH EDEY.” CBS sports insider Jon Rothstein echoed those sentiments, calling Edey the “Yao Ming of college basketball,” a refrain he uses frequently when talking about the Boilermakers big man. BTN analyst Andy Katz said Edey “is in the pole position for national Player of the Year.”
Edey, a 7-foot-4 monster, is averaging 23.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per game. He had to pick up a bit more of the load vs. the Gophers with front-court mate Mason Gillis out nursing a back injury. He outrebounded the Gophers himself, becoming the first major-program player to do so since the 2009-10 season.
And he and freshman Fletcher Loyer swept the Big Ten awards (player of the week and freshman of the week) for a 2nd straight week, becoming the 1st-ever teammates in league history to do so.
Kyle Charters, a familiar face at Gold & Black, covers Purdue, Indiana and college basketball for Saturday Tradition.