Wow. What a night... Purdue, Ohio State, Minnesota and Michigan look like the only teams prepared to start Big Ten play for everyone else BIG questions remain.
SCORE: #22 Texas: 67 #12 Michigan State: 55 --- Oh, Michigan State.. what is wrong with you? The dominate NCAA final four caliber team has faded away. Hopefully they can find out what the hell is wrong and fix it. Two words: Tom Izzo... he can fix just about anything in the college basketball world. We are all counting on you Izzo. Do your thing. Fix it. Terrible shooting night for Michigan State. The 52 non-conference home win streak is snapped in the final non-conference game of the year, not a way that any team would want to be going into conference play, especially in the toughest conference in the country. First non-conference loss in the Breslin Center since Duke in 2003. Wow. To make matter worse, they don't have an easy game coming up. They play #16 Minnesota on New Year's Eve. Texas kept taking control with run after run after run. Finished with a 16-3 run. Michigan State was run over in this game to say the least. Santa needs to give the Spartans a cure for Christmas. I think the Spartans need a break, it will come over the holidays. Maybe the players spending Christmas with family will bring back the efficient and pure Michigan State we know. What ever the case may be.. Michigan State might be in serious trouble if they don't get it figured out soon.
SCORE: #10 Missouri: 75 #21 Illinois :64 --- I felt one call decided the game here, but Illinois shouldn't have allowed it to get to the point where a call can decide a game. There should have been a guy back there ready for the break away. Mike Tisdale should have essentially just let him have those two points to make a three point game. This was a frustrating game for the Illini. They have now dropped two straight. Missouri gets the bragging rights for the second year straight after Illinois previously had won nine in a row. After that intentional foul, I felt the defense of the Illini let up, when they should have hung tight and grind it out. Overall, frustrating two games for Illinois.. loss to UIC on a poor shooting night and now a loss to a big rival. Illinois needs to get some things figured out as well.
SCORE: Northern Iowa: 67 Indiana: 61 --- Indiana seemed to have dug themselves in a hole in the first half and never did get out of it. IU hasn't changed just yet... I thought they would have gone without a loss to a mid-major in non-conference play. Instead, Indiana looks like a mid-major team still. How much longer will it last? Probably not too much longer with the recruiting classes Tom Crean has coming into their in the next few years. Indiana will be Indiana, what can we say?