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Big Ten. Big News.

• By virtue of its win on Tuesday, Michigan climbed to the top of the Big Ten standing, claiming a slim lead over Purdue and Michigan State. Illinois, Maryland, UCLA, and Wisconsin have nine wins each, while Ohio State sits at 7-7.
• Milestone Watch… Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo tied Bobby Knight’s record of 353 Big Ten victories on Saturday. Izzo’s next chance to break the record will come on Saturday, when the Spartans visit Illinois…. UCLA’s Mick Cronin stands just two victories from becoming the fourth Big Ten head coach with 500 career wins.
• By virtue of this week’s results, Michigan and Purdue have clinched their spots in the 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament. Over the next few weeks, 15 teams will secure their spots in the tournament, set to return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on March 12-16. The tournament will be the first to feature a 15-team field.
• On Friday, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced that eight Big Ten players were named to the Jersey Mike’s Naismith Men’s Player of the Year Midseason Team. Illinois’ Kasparas Jakucionis, Maryland’s Derik Queen, Michigan’s Danny Wolf, Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn and Braden Smith, Rutgers’ Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, and Wisconsin’s John Tonje were among the 30 players being considered for the award that recognizes the best player in college basketball.
• Illinois is the leading rebounding team in the nation, averaging 44.64 rebound per game, and owns a 11.4 rebound margin, best in the country. After outrebounding UCLA 36-23 in Tuesday’s win, the Illini have outrebounded their opponents 21 times in 25 games, including 10 games with a +10 margin.
• Indiana sophomore guard Myles Rice is one of five B1G players (Kylan Boswell, Illinois; Brooks Barnhizer, Northwestern; Braden Smith, Purdue; Great Osobor, Washington) to produce at least 275 points, 75 rebounds, 70 assists, and 25 steals this season.
• Iowa overcame a 42-33 halftime deficit to score n 84-73 win at Rutgers on Tuesday, the Hawkeyes’ first road win of the season. The victory marked the fifth time this season Iowa has overcome a second half deficit to earn a win.
• Maryland’s Derik Queen scored 24 points while grabbing 11 rebounds in Thursday’s win over Nebraska, earning his eighth career double-double. Since 1993-94, he’s one of just 13 Terps to post a double-double in their rookie seasons. He’s tied for the third most double-doubles in that span with Jordan Williams (2009-10).
• Michigan’s 75-73 win over Purdue on Tuesday improved the Wolverines to 12-0 inside the Crisler Center this season, the program’s best home start since 2020-21. The win also marked the first time Michigan has beaten a top 10 team at home since defeating No. 3 Purdue 82-58 on Feb. 10, 2022.
• Michigan State is averaging 23.3 FT attempts per game (No. 22 in the country) after going to the line 17.2 times per game in 2023-24 and the Spartans rank No. 3 in the country in free throw percentage (81.0%) and No. 7 in free throws made per game (18.9).
• Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia currently leads the Big Ten and ranks 19th in the country with 19.8 points per game. Garcia also leads the league with 15 20-point games, including a string of seven straight earlier this season. The senior forward has scored in double figures in 20 of 25 games and surpassed 30 points twice.  
• Nebraska’s Brice Williams scored 20 points in Thursday’s loss to Maryland, marking his fifth consecutive 20-point game. His five consecutive 20-point game matches the most by a Husker in the Big Ten era (Keisei Tominaga, 2023). Overall, Williams scored at least 20 points for the 13th time this season, tying Terran Petteway (2014-15) for the most 20-point games in a season since Nebraska joined the Big Ten.
• Despite its second half comeback falling short, Northwestern outscored Oregon 50-42 in the second half. The offensive output marked the third time this season Northwestern has scored 50 points in the second half. Prior to this season, Northwestern had not scored 50 points in a half of Big Ten play since Feb. 27, 2016 against Rutgers.
• Ohio State is shooting a Big Ten-best 38.4 percent from beyond the arc this season, the second highest percentage for the team over the last 15 years. The Buckeyes’ three-point barrage is led by freshman John Mobley Jr., who is tied for the Big Ten with 63 made triples and is shooting 42.3 percent, best in the conference.
• Recently named to the 2025 Kareem Abdul Jabbar Award Top 10 list, Oregon’s Nate Bittle is tied for the Big Ten lead with 47 total blocks and is averaging 2.1 per game in conference play, also tied for the top spot in the league. The senior has 101 career blocks, sixth in program history, with nearly half coming this season.
• Penn State senior Nick Kern Jr. has scored in double figures in 18 of the last 21 games, including two 20-plus point efforts. He leads the Nittany Lions with 19 double-digit scoring efforts this season and is currently Penn State’s leading scorer in Big Ten play, averaging 12.7 points per conference game.
• Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn is the only player nationally to average 18.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and shoot at least 60 percent from the field. Only three other players in Big Ten history have done that (Zach Edey – 2024; Evan Eschmeyer – 1998; Chris Webber – 1993).
• The 2024-25 Scarlet Knights have their best scoring offense by a large margin under head coach Steve Pikiell, averaging 76.3 points per game this season. This would be the highest scoring Scarlet Knights team since averaging 76.5 points in 1992-93. No Steve Pikiell team at Rutgers has averaged over 69 points per game. Rutgers has averaged over 70 points per game for a full season one time in 25 years since the start of the 1999-2000 season and averaged 76.5 points just 14 times in the school’s 111-year history.
• UCLA leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth in Division I with a +5.6 turnover margin, while its 16.16 turnovers forced per game are good for 10th. The Bruins have forced at least 10 turnovers by the opposition in all 24 games this season, and forced more than 15 turnovers 13 times. Senior Kobe Johnson leads UCLA with 45 steals, fifth in the Big Ten.
• USC’s Chibuzo Agbo drained seven of his nine three-point attempts, including 6-for-6 in the second half, in Tuesday’s win over Penn State. This performance is tied for fifth in the USC record book for the most three-pointers in a game. The last time a Trojan made at least seven three-pointers in a game was Feb. 28, 2019 when Bennie Boatright hit seven triples at UCLA.
• Over Washington’s last four games, sophomore Tyler Harris is averaging 17.3 points, including a 23-point performance in a win over Minnesota, and 5.0 rebounds, while shooting 61.0 percent from the floor and 72.2 percent from three-point range. 
• Wisconsin’s John Tonje has been on a tear over the last six games, topping 20 points in five of six and averaging 23.0 ppg over that stretch. Since Jan. 21, Tonje is sixth in the nation in scoring (23.2 ppg) and ranks third in the NCAA with 25 made three-point FGs over that span. He has also hit at least five three-point FGs in four of the last six games, shooting 25-for-51 (.490) from deep over that stretch.
• The 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament will return to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 12-16. This will mark the 14th time the tournament has been held in Indianapolis. The tournament will be the first to feature a 15-team field and begin with three games on Wednesday, March 12. Peacock will televise the opening three games of the 2025 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, with second-round and quarterfinal games on Thursday and Friday slated for Big Ten Network. For the 28th consecutive year, CBS Sports will broadcast the semifinals and championship game on CBS, with those games also streaming live on Paramount+.