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The four undefeated teams that were left in college basketball coming into last week all lost in the last 7 days. We all saw Ohio State put the first blemish on Michigan's record this year, but the day before N.C. State took down Duke in Raleigh to leave the Wolverines as the only undefeated team. Ohio State's early season win versus Washington is starting to look better with the Huskies looking like they could be one of the better teams in the Pac-12 this year.
Washington (11-5, 3-0): WIN @ California (62-47), WIN @ Stanford (65-60): C.J. Wilcox and Aziz N'Diaye powered Washington to a Bay Area sweep as Washington closed out their 4-game road trip at 3-1. Wilcox recorded his 1,000th career point for the Huskies against California and scored 27 points in Saturday's win against Stanford. N'Diaye posted a double-double Wednesday and followed with 14 points on Saturday. The Huskies return home this week to host Colorado Wednesday and Utah on Saturday.
#1 Duke (15-1, 2-1): WIN v. Clemson (68-40), LOSS @ #20 N.C. State (84-76): Quinn Cook rebounded from going 0-11 from the field against Wake Forest last week to score a career-high 27 points on Tuesday as Duke handled Clemson. That was about all that went right for Duke this week with Ryan Kelly injuring his foot in the Clemson game, Seth Curry leaving the N.C. State game late with an ankle injury, and the Blue Devils suffering their first loss on the season Saturday. On Thursday Duke will have a chance to rebound with Georgia Tech coming to Cameroon Indoor.
#6 Kansas (14-1, 2-0): WIN v. Iowa State (97-89 OT), WIN @ Texas Tech (60-46): The Jayhawks needed a 3-pointer from Ben McLemore as time expired in regulation to force overtime before pulling away from the Cyclones. McLemore went 6-6 from 3-point range and finished with 33 points. In their first Big 12 road game of the year Saturday, Kansas notched their 13th straight win of the season in Lubbock. Kansas hosts Baylor on Monday night before traveling to Austin for a Saturday afternoon tilt with Texas.
Nebraska (9-8, 0-4): LOSS @ #2 Michigan (62-47), LOSS @ #22 Michigan State (66-56): Nebraska dropped both Big Ten games they played last week in the state of Michigan. Ray Gallegos took 16 3-pointers, making 4 of the them, in what was a closer game than many thought would be against Michigan. The Cornhuskers were tied with Michigan State 50-50 with 6:17 left in the game, but the Spartans ended up pulling away. Leading rebounder Brandon Ubel missed the Michigan State game with a elbow injury. Nebraska hosts Purdue on Wednesday before hitting the road to face Penn State on Saturday.
#12 Illinois (14-4, 1-3): LOSS v. #8 Minnesota (84-67), LOSS @ Wisconsin (74-51): Two halves really did in Illinois last week as they dropped a pair of games. After trailing Minnesota by 4 at half on Wednesday, Illinois was outscored 50-37 in the 2nd half. The Fighting Illini followed that up by letting Wisconsin jump out to a 39-19 lead in the 1st half Saturday. Brandon Paul had a particularly hard time in Madison, going 1-11 from the field and finishing with only 8 points. John Groce and company will try to right the ship on Thursday when they welcome Northwestern.
Purdue (8-8, 2-2): LOSS v. #15 Ohio State (74-64), WIN v. Penn State (60-42): Following Tuesday's loss to the Buckeyes, Purdue rebounded on Sunday afternoon with suffocating defense against Penn State. A.J. Hammons had a big game for the Boilers with 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocks. Purdue will try and build off that win when they travel to Nebraska Wednesday before returning home Saturday for a non-conference game versus West Virginia.
#2 Michigan (16-1, 3-1): WIN v. Nebraska (62-47), LOSS @ #15 Ohio State (56-53): Wednesday night the Wolverines equaled their best start in school history before falling in Columbus on Sunday. The only other Michigan team to start 16-0 was the 1985-86 squad. Despite winning, Wednesday was the first time this season that Michigan failed to score 65 points in a game. Michigan struggled in both games from the field, shooting under 40% in both contests. The Wolverines will try to get back on track Thursday went they have a matchup in Minnesota in their only game this week.
#22 Michigan State (14-3, 3-1): WIN @ Iowa (62-59), WIN v. Nebraska (66-56): Michigan State scored a couple hard fought wins last week in Big Ten competition. Brendan Dawson scored a career-high 17 points and Keith Appling hit 4 late free throws as Michigan State squeaked by Iowa on Thursday night. In the Nebraska game Dawson looked to suffer a knee injury, but it turned out to not be as serious as it looked. Last season Dawson tore his ACL so there was some nervousness when he suffered the injury, but he later returned to the game. The Spartans start the week Wednesday on the road before a big home matchup versus Ohio State looms on Saturday night.
Iowa (12-5, 1-3): LOSS v. #22 Michigan State (62-59), LOSS @ Northwestern (70-50): Leading scorer Roy Devyn Marble missed the Michigan State game, and the Hawkeyes could have used him as they dropped a heartbreaker against Michigan State. Marble scored 8 points on Sunday in his return against Northwestern, where Iowa snapped their 3-game Big Ten losing streak. Aaron White led the Hawkeyes with 17 points versus the Wildcats. Iowa only plays one game this week, hosting Wisconsin on Saturday night.
Penn State (8-8, 0-4): LOSS v. #5 Indiana (74-51), LOSS v. Northwestern (70-54), LOSS @ Purdue (60-42): Penn State had a rough week, losing all 3 games they played. Horrid shooting in all 3 games doomed the Nittany Lions, as they failed to shoot better than 32% from the field this week. After winning the last 4 games of the non-conference portion of their schedule, Penn State has dropped their first 4 games of Big Ten play. Penn State will try and find their stroke this week with home games against Michigan State on Wednesday and Nebraska on Saturday.
Wisconsin (12-4, 3-0): WIN v. #12 Illinois (74-51): In the only game they played this week, Wisconsin left little doubt on Saturday against Illinois. The Badgers put the game away early, leading 39-19 going into halftime. Jared Berggren led Wisconsin with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Wisconsin will be on the road this week, traveling to face Indiana on Tuesday and Iowa on Saturday.
#5 Indiana (15-1, 3-0): WIN @ Penn State (74-51), WIN v. #8 Minnesota (88-81): Things were over pretty early in Happy Valley Monday night, as the Hoosiers jumped out to a 19-point first half. Christian Watford was the leading scorer against Penn State, putting in 18 points in the victory. The Hoosiers had another big 1st half against Minnesota, going into half up by 23 points. Minnesota made a 2nd half comeback to get within 3 but that's as close as they got. Five Hoosiers scored in double-figures, led by Victor Oladipo's 20 points. Indiana leads the country in scoring with 87.1 points per game and will try to pile on the points this week versus Wisconsin on Tuesday and at Northwestern on Sunday.
Northwestern (10-7, 1-3): WIN @ Penn State (70-54), LOSS v. Iowa (70-50): Northwestern broke away from Penn State early, leading by as many as 17 points in the 1st half, easily downing slumping Penn State. Four Wildcats scored in double-figures against the Nittany Lions, but that success didn't carry over to Sunday. Northwestern only scored 15 points in the 1st half versus Iowa and were outscored by 10 points in each half. The schedule gets tougher for Northwestern with a road game against Illinois on Thursday followed by a game in Evanston versus Indiana on Sunday.
#8 Minnesota (15-2, 3-1): WIN @ #12 Illinois (84-67), LOSS @ #5 Indiana (88-81): Minnesota split road games against ranked teams last week. Joe Coleman scored a career-high 29 points in Wednesday's victory in Champaign. Andre Hollins added 22 points against Illinois and 25 points versus Indiana, but Minnesota could overcome the 23-point halftime deficit they faced Saturday. The loss to Indiana was only the 2nd on the season for Minnesota, who lost to Duke in November. The Golden Gophers will face another ranked team on Thursday with Michigan coming to town.