Big Ten hoops looks strong at top; can NU, Illini keep up?
Shut off the alarm clock, the hibernation may finally be ending.
Big Ten basketball has clearly dropped in conference hierarchy, with just one Final Four appearance since 2019.
Maybe this is the year things change. The Big Ten seems to have a powerful top two or three as league play began this week.
Purdue, ranked No. 1, returns for another round with the same nucleus of point guard Braden Smith, forward Trey Kaufman-Renn and shooting guard Fletcher Loyer.
No. 3 Michigan has a terrifying, all-transfer front line with Yaxel Lendeborg (UAB), Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois) and Aday Mara (UCLA). The Wolverines stomped strong competition in Las Vegas last week.
No. 7 Michigan State might also be in that elite mix, with decisive wins over Kentucky and North Carolina already. The Spartans have familiar names back (Jaxon Kohler, Jeremy Fears, Coen Carr), but just four of last year's top 10 scorers return.
Is everyone else playing for third or fourth place? Yeah, maybe, but it's possible the Purdue senior group has already reached its ceiling. Michigan has had issues with turnovers and inconsistent 3-point shooting. So nothing is certain.
At the moment, Illinois (6-2) is the fourth highest-ranked Big Ten team at No. 14, while Northwestern (5-3) has aspirations of returning to the NCAA Tournament. Here's a closer look at where the in-state teams stand:
Northwestern
The Wildcats play their first Big Ten home game of the season Saturday against Ohio State (1 p.m., BTN). They opened Wednesday with a good measuring-stick game at Wisconsin, but a miserable first half ruined all hopes in a misleading 85-73 final score.
After the game coach Chris Collins was asked if the Cats have it in them to play defense well enough to win meaningful contests.
“We're eight games into the season and one game into a 20-game league season, so for me to say right now it's hopeless and we can't find it, is irresponsible,” he said. “It's my job, it's our staff's job and it's our players' accountability to say we're going to defend better.”
Senior Nick Martinelli is trying to repeat as the Big Ten scoring leader. Then the Cats landed a sneaky solid transfer class, with 6-foot-11 center Arrinten Page (Cincinnati) and point guard Jayden Reid (South Florida). Page scored 20-plus points against Wisconsin, Virginia and DePaul.
Now Northwestern needs more from the younger group. The sophomore class has room for more contributions, specifically 6-6 Angelo Ciaravino and 6-3 K.J. Windham. At the moment the team's fourth-leading scorer is 6-8 freshman Tre Singleton.
“Offensively, we're going to be OK,” Collins said. “We've got to be a lot better with our grit, physicality, toughness.”
Illinois
The Illini will play their fourth ranked nonconference opponent Saturday, taking on No. 13 Tennessee in Nashville (7 p.m., ESPN). The Big Ten opener will wait until Tuesday at Ohio State.
Illinois has an interesting mix of returnees, transfers, traditional freshmen and freshmen who have played pro in Europe. The problem has been a rash of injuries and illness, which left coach Brad Underwood's team short-handed at most every practice.
“We're getting there. Slowly but surely we're getting there,” Underwood said Friday.
The top returners are point guard Kylan Boswell, the team's top scorer at 17.3 points a game. Center Tomislav Ivisic was the second-leading scorer a year ago, but he endured a rough few months, dealing with a bone bruise in his knee and tonsillitis.
He did post a double-double in last week's loss to Connecticut at Madison Square Garden, perhaps a sign he's getting stronger. Ivisic is joined this year by his identical twin brother, Zvonimir, who transferred into Champaign after following coach John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas.
Another transfer at his third school in three years is Andre Stojakovic (Stanford, Cal), son of former NBA star Peja Stojakovic. He scored 26 points in the Illini's loss to Alabama at the United Center but had just 3 against UConn while trying to play through an ankle sprain.
A traditional freshman is 6-6 Keaton Wagler from Shawnee, Kansas, who has started every game and averaged 13.5 points. Another top-100 freshman, guard Brandon Lee, missed the first five games with an ankle injury.
The Illini's X-factor might be 6-9 forward David Mirkovic from Montenegro, already a two-time Big Ten freshman of the week. Guard Mihailo Petrovic from Serbia has made less of an impact, but both international freshmen missed most of the summer workouts due to travel and visa delays.
A couple of suburban players fill out the roster — 6-10 redshirt freshman Jason Jakstys from Yorkville and true freshman guard Blake Fagbemi from Benet.