Nov. 28, 2007
by Jeff Smith
Contributor, BigTen.org
Big Ten Down, But Not Out
Tuesday night's action on the hardwood in the ninth annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge featured five contests, four of which went to the ACC. Indiana was the lone Big Ten team to have won so far in the Challenge, as the No. 16 Hoosiers topped Georgia Tech in Bloomington, 83-79.
With the ACC leading the Challenge, 5-1, the Big Ten will need to sweep all five contests on Wednesday to earn its first win in the annual series between the two conferences.
Hoosiers Defend Home Court; Big Ten on the Scoreboard in Challenge
Bloomington's Assembly Hall was alive and rockin' Tuesday night as Indiana earned a four-point victory over the Yellow Jackets, 83-79. The Hoosiers were down a man early as it was announced prior to the start of the game that IU would be without the services of freshman Jordan Crawford, who entered the contest averaging 12.6 points per game on 51 percent shooting.
Despite being without one of their top freshmen, the Hoosiers still had newcomer Eric Gordon to rely on as he posted his sixth 20-point-plus performance in six games with a game-high 29 points. Gordon scored 13 of his 29 points from the free-throw line Tuesday and was held scoreless until he hit two of his 13 freebees at the 12:35 mark in the first half.
D.J. White posted his second straight double-double for Indiana, pouring in 18 points and matching a career-high with 14 rebounds in the game. He played a key role early for the Hoosiers as he finished the first half with 14 points and seven boards.
When Scoring Off the Bench is Everything
Opting to go with a quicker lineup Tuesday, Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson gave Mike White his first action of the season. The Indiana senior transfer responded by grabbing six boards and scoring two points off the bench in 20 minutes of play. How significant were his two points? The Hoosiers' starting five - Armon Bassett, Lance Stemler, White, Ellis, and Gordon - combined for 81 of the team's 83 points, while all played more than 30 minutes each in the contest.
Gordon Continues to Impress
As noted above, Indiana freshman Eric Gordon is off to an impressive start in his first year. The Indianapolis, Ind., product has led the Hoosiers in scoring in each of the team's six games this season with outputs of 33, 21, 30, 31, 20 and 29 points. His conference-best scoring average of 27.3 points per game is more than six points better than Penn State's Geary Claxton's mark of 21.2, which is the Big Ten's second-highest average.
Home Court Rules
Tuesday's win marked the Hoosiers' 21st consecutive win at Assembly Hall, but in Durham, N.C., No. 7 Duke saw its NCAA-best streak of non-conference wins at Cameron Indoor Stadium advance to 55 games with an 82-58 win over No. 20 Wisconsin. Overall in this year's challenge through six games, only Wake Forest has been able to pick up a win on opposing soil. Four of the five remaining games are on Big Ten courts.
Badgers Denied First 6-0 Start Since 1996-97
Tuesday's loss at Duke dropped Wisconsin to 5-1 on the season and denied the team its first undefeated start through six games in 11 years. Trevon Hughes and Jon Leuer led the Badgers with 12 points each, while senior Brian Butch followed with 11. The two teams, who are among just nine squads in the nation to have been to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last nine years, were meeting for the first time.
Wildcats Fall at Hot-Starting Virginia
Northwestern dropped its Challenge contest at Virginia on Tuesday, 94-52, after seeing the Cavaliers make eight of their first nine shots in the game from beyond the arc. The quick start enabled Virginia to open up a 54-29 advantage at the break. Freshman Michael Thompson led NU with 14 points in the game, while senior Jason Okrzesik added 12.
Tubby Suffers First Loss in Maroon and Gold
Minnesota first-year head coach Tubby Smith used his fourth different starting lineup in as many games Tuesday, but perhaps saw a glimpse of a shining star off the bench in the Golden Gophers' 75-61 loss to Florida State. On a night when Big Ten freshmen led their squads, Minnesota saw its leading scorer come off the bench in newcomer Blake Hoffarber. The true freshman guard netted a team-high 12 points and also played alongside classmate Al Nolen, who recorded his first start. Minnesota did have contributions from three of its senior leaders, however. Center Spencer Tollackson pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds, while Lawrence McKenzie and Dan Coleman scored 10 and 9 points, respectively.
Purdue Nearly Takes Anothers for the Big Ten
It came down to the final seconds Tuesday, but No. 18 Clemson topped Purdue, 61-58, in the Challenge's nightcap. The Tigers' K.C. Rivers, who finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, hit the game-winner with a soft floater with 31.2 seconds left to break a tie. Purdue, which was ahead 51-45 with just over six minutes to play, was led by freshman Scott Martin with 13 points. The Boilermakers boasted a valiant effort on a night where head coach Matt Painter started two sophomores and three freshmen against the Tigers.
Iowa, Lickliter, Scoring Averages Fall in Challenge's Opening Contest
The opening contest to the Big Ten/ACC Challenge pitted two teams that were averaging over 60 points per game in Iowa (60.3) and Wake Forest (84.3). However, both offenses finished well below their scoring averages as Wake Forest moved to 4-0 on the season with a 56-47 win over the Hawkeyes. Iowa made 38 percent of its shots from the field, while the Demon Deacons were held to 33.9 percent from the floor. Among the standouts on Monday were Iowa's Jarryd Cole (14 points, 7 rebounds), Justin Johnson (8 points, 7 rebounds), Jake Kelly (9 points) and Kurt Looby (10 rebounds) and Jeff Peterson (7 assists).
Looking Ahead to Wednesday...
North Carolina State at Michigan State (7 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Remember those home winning streaks? Michigan State has won 29 straight non-conference games at the Breslin Center, good for the sixth-longest active streak in the nation. North Carolina State leads the all-time series with Michigan State, 5-1. The Spartans, however, won the only meeting in East Lansing, taking a 78-60 victory at Jenison Field House on Dec. 20, 1976. This will be the first meeting between the Spartans and the Wolfpack since the first round of the 2002 NCAA Tournament.
Boston College at Michigan (7 p.m. ET, ESPNU)
Despite Michigan trailing Boston College in the overall series, 2-1, the Wolverines are 2-1 in Challenge games at Crisler Arena. U-M topped N.C. State (68-61) in 2003 and Miami (74-53) in 2005. Ironically, the last time these two squads last met was in 2001, with the Eagles taking an 83-74 win in Ann Arbor.
Illinois at Maryland (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
Wednesday marks the seventh meeting between the two teams and is a rematch of last year's Challenge matchup in which Maryland defeated Illinois, 72-66, in Champaign. The Terrapins hold a 4-2 advantage over the Illini, whose last win against Maryland came by way of a 90-80 shootout in semifinals of the 2000 Maui Invitational.
North Carolina at Ohio State (9 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Overall, the Buckeyes are 8-9 all-time against the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, but have won six of its last seven games against No. 1 teams, with all six wins coming at home. Wednesday's matchup is also a rematch of a shootout from last year. In Chapel Hill last season, North Carolina defeated Ohio State, 98-89.
Virginia Tech at Penn State (9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2)
Wednesday's contest marks the Hokies' third appearance in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and Virginia Tech enters with a 4-0 advantage over Penn State. The Hokies are 1-1 in their previous two Challenge outings are coming off a win last season that clinched the Challenge for the ACC. Penn State is looking to play the role of spoiler Wednesday night as the Big Ten needs to clinch all five contests for the Challenge victory. Penn State can be the team to do it in the Challenge's nightcap on ESPN2.
Strong at the End
Since 2000, the Big Ten and ACC have combined to make 14 Final Four appearances and won four of the last eight NCAA titles.
