College basketball open thread

Submitted by snarling wolverine on

Iowa is playing a close game at Columbus.  Iowa hasn't gotten much talk as a B1G contender but they've played well pretty much every night and their losses were all winnable games. They might have beaten UW in Madison if McCaffery hadn't blown a fuse.

In other B1G news, Purdue beat Nebraska - PU is now 11-5 overall.  They may be underrated.

Illinois visits NW later today.  Even on the road, UI should easily take care of business if they're really a top 25 team.

wayneandgarth

January 12th, 2014 at 2:22 PM ^

Iowa is a very strong and complete squad. They were young and talented a year ago and coming into their own. Purdue - on the low tier of the conference.



Good IA Ohio game on the 1st half to be sure. Flipping between this and a good SF Carolina playoff.

B-Nut-GoBlue

January 12th, 2014 at 2:28 PM ^

Yes, Iowa is legit.  I wish they'd stop settling for outside shots as most of the time they're able to get something within the paint, where 30 of 37 have come from.  (Also, Zach McCabe needs to stop shooting, he's 0/6.)

JT4104

January 12th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^

Iowa is a scary team....they are going to screw up the conference race. Seeing as how they are only one of the few decent teams that Wiscy has to play on the road this year.

LSAClassOf2000

January 12th, 2014 at 2:36 PM ^

Very interesting in the Ohio State / Iowa - the effective FG% for each are within 0.34% of one another. Iowa is outshooting Ohio State only 48.61% to 48.27%. Iowa only has four more rebounds too, although twice as many offensive rebounds as Ohio State. 

robmorren2

January 12th, 2014 at 2:37 PM ^

I think Wisconsin, MSU, OSU, and Iowa are a notch above Michigan ... even when McGary was healthy. We're in that 2nd-tier mix with Illinois, IU, and Minnesota.

JT4104

January 12th, 2014 at 2:53 PM ^

As this game goes....besides Marble, the Hawkeyes don't have much perimeter talent to work with. Just shooters, but Marble is more of a scorer than set up man and that is not a good combo.

JT4104

January 12th, 2014 at 3:23 PM ^

I have....and I stand by my statement. What Iowa does have is solid front court guys who can dribble and shoot in the mold of Wisconsin, but in terms of the backcourt they are shooters who need to be setup. 

Don't get me wrong that can be a winning formula but their backcourt isn't anything to be scare off. White/Utoff are what will make this team go as the season goes on.

SF Wolverine

January 12th, 2014 at 3:20 PM ^

They do not seem to have the go-to guy to stop the bleeding.  Craft sometimes fills that role, but not consistently.  Also surprised at how high-scoring this game is; did not see the first half, but did not think that these two teams would get out of the 60s.

JT4104

January 12th, 2014 at 3:25 PM ^

OSU has to go through Ross I think, but the problem is that he doesn't seem very confident in his dribble. At his size he should be able to post up a few guys and get some easy buckets.

snarling wolverine

January 12th, 2014 at 3:25 PM ^

Iowa just won't go away.  I'm nervous about our game against them in Crisler in a couple weeks.  They can match our offensive production and are probably a little better defensively.

 

JT4104

January 12th, 2014 at 3:30 PM ^

On a side note...love watching Craft struggle. All the love he gets it's amazing how much better guys like Sullinger and Thomas made him look.

He is a great hustler and all, but a very below average offensive player.

SF Wolverine

January 12th, 2014 at 3:37 PM ^

not sure I get how they ended up top 5-ranked.  They really show their warts against better teams.  Did make a huge run at a banged up Sparty, but boy did they run out of steam this afternoon.

Iowa looks to be the real deal.

SurfsUpBlue

January 12th, 2014 at 3:39 PM ^

The Big Ten is proving to be a very tough conference this year. That's good too see but UM will really have it's hands full. I know this isn't news, but it's good to see high quality play.

LordGrantham

January 12th, 2014 at 3:42 PM ^

OSU goes undefeated against crappy teams early in the year and then loses to the first two good teams they play.  I think I've seen this before.

Magnum P.I.

January 12th, 2014 at 4:32 PM ^

Wow, Iowa is legit. Their only losses are two close ones to top-10 teams on the road and another in overtime to a top-10 team at a neutral site. Very impressive squad. 

SF Wolverine

January 12th, 2014 at 9:32 PM ^

Several ranked teams lost today.  Don't think we are quite ready to crack top 25, but I'd expect a couple of road wins in the B10 to get us moving pretty smartly in that direction.