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A few notable things occurred for Big 10 basketball teams seeking NCAA tournament invites on Wednesday evening.
First, Iowa led off the night with an impressive 77-63 win over Indiana at Assembly Hall in Bloomington. Not only did the Hawkeyes win their fifth straight contest in impressive fashion, they jumped several spots in the RPI ratings to currently sit at 38 with just one regular season contest (at home vs. Northwestern) remaining.
It’s fair to say the Hawkeyes have moved past the ridiculous antics of Adam Woodbury to find their game at the perfect time and now stand on the cusp of another NCAA tournament invite. Against Indiana, Iowa shot better than 46 percent from the floor and got big games from Aaron White, Gabriel Olaseni and Jarrod Uthoff. Even more impressive was a defensive effort that held the high-scoring Hoosiers 15 points below their season average.
Riding consecutive losses against Northwestern and Iowa, the Hoosiers now face a must-win scenario against Michigan State in their home finale of 2014-15. With Indiana’s RPI rating at 52, Tom Crean’s team is getting perilously close to playing itself right out of the NCAA field.
Fortunately for the Hoosiers, Michigan State isn’t the healthiest bunch right now.
In fact, Tom Izzo’s Spartans look a bit like a MASH unit heading into their weekend matchup with Indiana. Forward Branden Dawson was lost in the first half against Purdue on Wednesday with an apparent head injury. Then, guard Denzel Valentine came out of the game in the second half with an injury to his right leg before returning less than two minutes later. Add those bumps and bruises to a few gimpy moments for both Lourawls Nairn, Jr. and Travis Trice and the Spartans might literally limp their way into Assembly Hall for both teams’ regular season finales.
As for the Boilermakers, their overall record remains strong at 19-11 even if their RPI rating of 61 leaves plenty to be desired. Still, Purdue has a chance to close out the Big 10 slate on a high-note against Illinois on Saturday. The Boilermakers would do themselves a big favor by downing the Illini since two straight losses have left Purdue on shaky ground.
The Boilermakers will be hosting an Illinois team coming off two straight home wins over Northwestern and Nebraska. The Illini were able to down the Cornhuskers on Wednesday despite a few nervy moments to start the second half, leaving them at 58 in the RPI ratings. With Purdue sporting a similar RPI rating, their game in West Lafayette promises to be hotly contested from the opening tap.
Matt Johnson is a Big 10 basketball writer for www.rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter at mattytheole or “like” him on Facebook.
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