The Big Ten continued conference play on Wednesday, with three more games. The most notable featured a ranked Indiana team going on the road against the Gophers.
Let’s take a look at what happened.
–Minnesota Golden Gophers 73, No. 22 Indiana Hoosiers 64
These two entered Thursday night in dramatically different positions. While Indiana was 7-0 and rolling, the Gophers had stumbled to 4-4 and were staring at another potential lost season. Accordingly, both sides had some pressure as tip neared at The Barn. Indiana needed to keep its momentum going and avoid a bad loss and Minnesota desperately needed to show it could compete against quality opponents.
Advertisement
The game itself proved to be an intriguing one. Minnesota led early, but Indiana rebounded by halftime. The two teams then exchanged shots in the second half. Ultimately, Cade Tyson and Langston Reynolds proved to be too much for the Hoosiers, scoring 17 points apiece on Wednesday night. Indiana’s offense also struggled to find stability as Tucker DeVries finished with just nine points. Minnesota earned a 73-64 upset win.
For the Gophers, it’s hard to overstate the significance of this one. Minnesota was on the edge of the cliff and pulled itself back with this one. It isn’t enough to “save the season” by itself, but it will inject the team and fanbase with positivity and energy heading into the break. Gopher fans are going to have to hope the team can capitlize on that and get ready for games against teams like Northwestern and Iowa in January. Minnesota now sits at 5-4 overall and 1-0 in Big Ten play following the win.
On the other side, Indiana fell to 7-1 overall and 0-1 in Big Ten play with the loss. Put simply, it wasn’t a great performance for the team and should put the brakes on some of the hopes for this season. The Hoosiers are still good enough to get back to the NCAA Tournament, but it takes winning games like this to be on the higher end of the league and that doesn’t seem to be happening. The biggest hope is that it won’t carry over.
Minnesota will now get a week off before facing Purdue on the road on December 10th. Indiana will get Louisville in Indy on Saturday. A win there would make many forget the struggles on Wednesday night.
Advertisement
–UCLA Bruins 82, Washington Huskies 80
The Bruins got their first road win this season on Wednesday night, taking down Washington in a close one. Skyy Clark led the way with 25 points and Tyler Bilodeau had 21 as well. UCLA controlled the game, but the Huskies had a late comeback that made things a bit stressful at the end.
The win pushed UCLA to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in Big Ten play, while Washington fell to 5-3 overall and 0-1 in Big Ten play with the loss. UCLA will now prepare for Oregon at home on Saturday. The Huskies will try and snap the team’s two-game skid on Saturday on the road against USC.
Advertisement
–Wisconsin Badgers 85, Northwestern Wildcats 73
This one went largely as expected, with Wisconsin taking care of business of Northwestern at home. John Blackwell led the way with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Nick Boyd also had 20 points and four assists. Northwestern got big games from Nick Martinelli and Arrinten Page, but everyone else underwhelmed.
Wisconsin improved to 6-2 overall and 1-0 in Big Ten play with the win, while Northwestern fell to 5-3 overall and 0-1 in Big Ten play with the loss. The Badgers will now prepare for rival Marquette at home on Saturday. Northwestern will try and bounce back at home against Ohio State on Saturday.
