There were only two Big Ten games tonight and both of them were big games. First up was Purdue and Maryland, a much needed win for a Boilermaker squad in the midst of tough early season stretch involving road trips to Florida State, Michigan and Texas. As for Iowa, they were hosting much hated in-state rival Iowa State later in the night.

Let’s see how the games played out.

Game of the Night

Purdue Boilermakers 62, #23 Maryland Terrapins 60

Purdue hosted Maryland in a much needed win for the Boilermakers. It wasn’t a “must win,” but at 5-3 the Boilermakers couldn’t afford another loss and an 0-2 start in conference play. Even more so with a road trip to Texas and neutral site meeting with Notre Dame coming up next. Of course losing by one at Florida State, losing a close game on a neutral court to Virginia Tech and then at Michigan isn’t the worst thing to happen, but Purdue needed to stop the bleeding against the Terps.

And when everything was said and done they managed to do just that.

In a game that Purdue’s two offensive leaders both struggled, they got a boost off the bench from redshirt freshman Aaron Wheeler. Wheeler shot 6 of 7 from the field, including 3 of 4 from three, to score 15 points. His 15 point performance was huge considering Carsen Edwards slow start (on his way to a 4-15 shooting performance) and Ryan Cline’s icy cold night. Mix that with some hustle plays by Sasha Stefanovic and a solid outing from Matt Haarms and Grady Eifert and the Purdue offense did just enough to edge the Terps.

Of course the main reason they were able to knock off Maryland was because of their defense. Anthony Cowan Jr. had a dreadful night for the Terps, shooting 4 of 17 from the field and 2 of 10 from three. Maryland was held to 35.1% shooting, 33.3% from three on 27 attempts and committed 17 turnovers. It also didn’t help that Maryland, who had success attacking the rim, started relying on jumpers in the second half. When everything was said and done Maryland was held to six points over the last 7:48 of the game, making only a single field goal over that span. Naturally, their shot in the closing seconds was blocked by Nojel Eastern.

“It felt like they had six guys out there. They were everywhere,” said Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon.

The Rest

#18 Iowa Hawkeyes 98, Iowa State Cyclones 84

Iowa and Iowa State aren’t exactly fond of each other and tonight’s second matchup was a part of the Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series. Tonight Iowa ended up winning 98-84, making up for last year’s loss to the Cyclones in Ames. It’s the Hawkeyes second win in a row in Iowa City, with the Hawkeyes also winning by 14 the last time they hosted the Cyclones in 2016.

While the Cyclones held a slim 24-21 lead in the first half, Iowa ripped off 13 straight points to take a 34-24 lead and managed to head into the break up seven. Iowa State narrowed the deficit to four points until a 14-2 run gave Iowa a commanding 16 point lead early in the second half. They were able to keep the game out of reach the rest of the way, with the game never getting closer to eight points down the stretch.

It’s not a huge surprise Iowa was able to win in tonight’s rivalry game considering the Hawkeyes shot 57.4% from the field, 50% from three and 82.6% from the line. They also held a 44-24 rebound advantage, helping them make up for their dreadful 18 turnovers. Tyler Cook led Iowa with 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Isaiah Moss added 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting.

Iowa State was able to shoot efficiently inside, finishing the night at 49.6% from the field even though they shot 6 of 23 from three. They struggled at the line, couldn’t get rebounds and had no answer for slowing down Iowa’s offense tonight though.

Oh, and things got chippy a few times. Did I say these teams don’t like each other?

Highlights below: