Penn State upset Indiana last night behind the strong inside play of Jeff Brooks, leaving Hoosier fans in all out meltdown mode. The natives are starting to get restless, as it appears the honeymoon is over for Tom Crean.
Meanwhile, Ohio State obliterated poor Tennessee-Martin by 60 points. Buckeye freshman DeShaun Thomas continues to be the most prolific garbage time scorer in the country, with 20 points and 9 rebounds that came largely after the game was decided. Thad Matta does not yet trust the talented freshman against tough competition, as Thomas has played sparingly in Ohio State's few close games, but he's been unleashed in blowouts and averaged almost 12 points and 5 rebounds in only 18 minutes a night. It's easy to see how Thomas scored over 3,000 points in high school; he takes a ton of shots (31% of the team's shots while in the game), makes a lot of them (54% eFG percentage) and hates passing (9 assists vs 112 FG attempts).
Tonight's action:
Purdue Boilermakers at Michigan Wolverines (+4.5), 1 PM central, BTN
Just read UMHoops.com's excellent preview for all the info on this one. Expect a game much like when Purdue visited Virginia Tech: close and low scoring.
Minnesota Golden Gophers at Wisconsin Badgers (-8), 6 PM central.,ESPN2
I find it hilarious that the #13 team in the country is an 8 point underdog against an unranked team, nice job AP voters. Tubby Smith has fared very well against Bo Ryan recently; we'll see if that trend can continue (although Down With Goldy certainly doesn't think it will).