Big Ten Basketball Preview: A Look Around the Conference Before Ohio State Opens League Play Against Rutgers

That changes Thursday, as Rutgers comes to town in search of a second straight Big Ten win, which would also serve as the first home loss of the season for Ohio State. The Buckeyes will have plenty to say about that, having beaten every team they’ve played at the Schott by at least 20 points so far in 2022-23.

But before Thursday’s 7 p.m. tip-off, let’s glance around the league and take inventory of how the season’s started for every Big Ten team Ohio State will play between now and March, beginning with the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers

• Rank: NR
• Record: 6-2
• Head coach: Steve Pikiell
• Player to watch: C Clifford Omoruyi (15.4 PPG, 9.8 RPG)

Despite dropping two of its first seven games to unranked opponents (Temple and Miami), Rutgers is fresh off its best performance of the season as it heads to Columbus to take on the Buckeyes this week. The Scarlet Knights knocked off then-No. 10 Indiana, 63-48, at home on Saturday and possess KenPom’s sixth-rated defense in the nation. Rutgers isn’t quite as good on offense, but Omoruyi and seniors Cam Spencer, Caleb McConnell and Aundre Hyatt are all averaging at least 11.3 points per game.

The ranked reaper strikes again #TheKnighthood pic.twitter.com/dBhlXMd6ZR

— Rutgers Mens Basketball (@RutgersMBB) December 3, 2022

Purdue

• Rank: #4
• Record: 8-0
• Head coach: Matt Painter
• Player to watch: C Zach Edey (23.3 PPG, 12.8 RPG)

The Boilermakers lost four of their top-five scorers from last year’s team, with Jaden Ivey, Trevion Williams, Sasha Stefanovic and Eric Hunter all departing from the program. But with 7-foot-4 Edey now leading the way as a junior, Purdue has rocketed up the rankings as of late behind an 8-0 record to start the year. Painter and company were unranked in the preseason but now stand as the No. 4 team nation after recent blowout wins over then-No. 6 Gonzaga and then-No. 8 Duke in back-to-back contests.

Edey put up 31 points and 22 boards in Purdue’s first league game of the year – a 29-point shellacking of Minnesota – and the third-year big man will be a nightmare matchup for the entire conference once again this season. Edey is the fourth-leading scorer in the nation, and Purdue has the No. 1 offense in the country, per KenPom.

Maryland

• Rank: #13
• Record: 8-1
• Head coach: Kevin Willard
• Player to watch: G Jahmir Young (15.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG)

The second-highest-ranked team in the Big Ten suffered its first loss of the year at the hands of Wisconsin on Tuesday. The Terps were off to an 8-0 start under first-year head coach Kevin Willard but stumbled when they stepped up in competition to face their first league opponent. Young, a transfer from Charlotte, has been a massive addition to the Maryland program, and senior wings Donta Scott and Hakim Hart are both having career-best seasons.

Minnesota

• Rank: NR
• Record: 4-4
• Head coach: Ben Johnson
• Player to watch: F Jamison Battle (13.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG)

Following a 13-17 first season at the helm of the program for Johnson, Minnesota has struggled to start this year and is currently amid a three-game losing skid with defeats to UNLV, Virginia Tech and Purdue. None of the Gophers’ wins this season have been all that impressive, either. Minnesota kicked off the 2022-23 season with a one-point win over Western Michigan and beat Central Michigan and California Baptist by a combined nine points. The latter pushed Minnesota to overtime and only lost by a point.

Nebraska

• Rank: NR
• Record: 6-3
• Head coach: Fred Hoiberg
• Player to watch: F Derrick Walker (11.3 PPG, 4.9 APG)

Hoiberg is off to the best nine-game start of his tenure with the Huskers, who are riding high off a Sunday win against then-No. 7 Creighton – and a double-digit one at that. Perhaps a win over Indiana or Purdue in the coming week will be good enough to boost Nebraska into the AP Top 25, or perhaps not, given the three double-digit losses it’s taken to unranked opponents so far. Either way, the Huskers may be trending up, and Walker has led the way with career-best numbers for Nebraska as a senior.

"The Creighton win really is a signature win for Fred Hoiberg at Nebraska."@TheAndyKatz discusses @HuskerHoops' recent wins. #B1Gtoday pic.twitter.com/baeXP809RY

— Nebraska On BTN (@NebraskaOnBTN) December 6, 2022

Iowa

• Rank: NR
• Record: 6-2
• Head coach: Fran McCaffery
• Player to watch: F Kris Murray (19.4 PPG, 10.1 RPG)

The Hawkeyes have dropped two of their past three games amid a 6-2 start to the 2022-23 campaign but possess one of the Big Ten’s elite individual talents in Murray. The conference’s third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Murray is one of only two players in the league averaging a double-double along with Purdue's Edey. Unranked in the AP poll this week, KenPom ranks Iowa No. 22 in the country, with the sixth-best offensive efficiency rating.

Illinois

• Rank: #17
• Record: 7-2
• Head coach: Brad Underwood
• Player to watch: G Terrence Shannon Jr. (19.3 PPG, 6.2 RPG)

Illinois had to retool after losing Kofi Cockburn and a host of productive seniors over the offseason, but the transition is going just fine so far. Shannon, a Texas Tech transfer, has been a terror for Illini opponents and scored 12 points in overtime alone on Tuesday to help knock off No. 2 Texas in the Jimmy V Classic. Baylor big man transfer Dain Dainja has helped replace some of Cockburn’s workload inside with averages of 10.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and four Illini players are averaging double-digit scoring numbers thus far.

Indiana

• Rank: #14
• Record: 7-1
• Head coach: Mike Woodson
• Player to watch: F Trayce Jackson-Davis (18.3 PPG, 8.6 RPG)

The Hoosiers have been a testament to the benefits of experience in college basketball so far this season after nearly every crucial cog from last year’s team’s returned in 2022-23. Indiana was undefeated before its surprise Saturday loss to Rutgers, but Jackson-Davis, Race Thompson, Xavier Johnson and company have upcoming matchups with No. 10 Arizona and No. 6 Kansas to show exactly what level they’re at. Per KenPom, Woodson’s Hoosiers have the No. 11 defense and No. 27 offense in the nation.

Wisconsin

• Rank: NR
• Record: 7-2
• Head coach: Greg Gard
• Player to watch: F Tyler Wahl (13.9 PPG, 6.9 RPG)

Seemingly hitting its stride at the start of Big Ten play, Wisconsin’s notched back-to-back wins over Marquette and No. 13 Maryland in the past four days. The Badgers’ two losses this season have come by a total of four points, and one of those was a one-point defeat at the hands of then-No. 3 Kansas in overtime. Replacing Big Ten Player of the Year Johnny Davis is no easy task, but Gard’s done well so far as Wahl, Chucky Hepburn and Connor Essegian are all leading the way with averages of 10 points or more per night.

Michigan

• Rank: NR
• Record: 5-3
• Head coach: Juwan Howard
• Player to watch: C Hunter Dickinson (19.6 PPG, 9.1 RPG)

Michigan’s been all over the map this season in terms of performance. The Wolverines only edged Eastern Michigan by five in the second game of the season, got pushed to overtime by Ohio a little over a week later and have now dropped back-to-back games to Virginia and Kentucky. However, Juwan Howard and company only lost those contests – which came against the No. 3 and No. 19 teams in the country – by a combined six points. Michigan also has a 31-point win over Pitt and a 25-point loss to Arizona State on its résumé amid an inconsistent start to the year.

But Dickinson’s been better than ever at center, and freshman guard (and coach’s son) Jett Howard has already emerged as a 15-point-per-game scorer.

Be sure to check out the highlights for the battle at the London Showcase with Kentucky.

#ForCompetitorsOnly#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/8BtmVopnNE

— Michigan Men's Basketball (@umichbball) December 5, 2022

Northwestern

• Rank: NR
• Record: 6-2
• Head coach: Chris Collins
• Player to watch: G Boo Buie (15.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG)

Equipt with a veteran-heavy roster in 2022-23, Collins’ 10th Northwestern team has won all but two of its first eight games, including wins over Georgetown and then-No. 20 Michigan State. Senior guards Buie and Chase Audige are averaging a combined 27.4 points and 8.1 assists per game, and they’ve led the Wildcats to an impressive start that’s only seen them lose to 8-0 Auburn (by one point) and 6-3 Pitt. However, Northwestern has had solid starts in recent years but has still failed to win more than 15 games in a season since 2016-17.

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Michigan State

• Rank: NR
• Record: 5-4
• Head coach: Tom Izzo
• Player to watch: G Tyson Walker (14.4 PPG, 4.0 APG)

Following consecutive 13-loss seasons, which had never happened before in the Izzo era, Michigan State is barely above .500 through its first nine games. The Spartans ran through a gauntlet in the first few weeks, matching up with then-No. 2 Gonzaga, then-No. 4 Kentucky, Villanova and then-No. 18 Alabama in consecutive games. A 2-2 record in that stretch was good enough to earn MSU a top-20 ranking for two weeks, but subsequent losses to Notre Dame and Northwestern dropped Izzo and company from the polls. 

Penn State

• Rank: NR
• Record: 6-2
• Head coach: Micah Shrewsberry
• Player to watch: G Jalen Pickett (16.1 PPG, 7.6 APG)

If not for a two-point loss to Virginia Tech and a double-overtime defeat to Clemson, Penn State would be undefeated. Micah Shrewsberry’s second Nittany Lion team is led by senior wings Picket and Seth Lundy, and the former is No. 6 in the Big Ten in scoring and No. 1 in both assists per game and assist to turnover ratio. Penn State is just 1-2 against non-mid-major opponents this season, but it has mostly handled business in the early going.

B1G season begins in 24 hours#WeAre pic.twitter.com/a1Ghs6rZWL

— Penn State Mens Basketball (@PennStateMBB) December 6, 2022