• Non-conference play continues in the Big Ten this week as the conference has compiled an 85-23 overall record in non-conference games for a .787 win percentage, the best among all conferences in the nation. The Big Ten has totaled 30 wins against power conference opponents. Included in that total are seven wins in a split of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge games and five victories in the Gavitt Tip-Off Games against the Big East.
• Early-season Big Ten conference play wrapped up last Thursday with nine of the first 14 conference games decided by 10 points or less and four games separated by just two points. Big Ten programs are playing a 20-game conference schedule for the first time. Each team will play seven opponents both home and away and six teams once (three home and three away). Conference action resumes on Jan. 2, 2019.
• Eight different Big Ten programs are ranked in one of the two major polls this week. Seven Big Ten schools are ranked in this week’s USA Today Coaches Poll while six Big Ten programs are ranked in the Associated Press Top 25. The Big Ten has had at least six teams ranked in the last four weeks of the AP Poll. With seven teams ranked in the AP Polls of Nov. 26 and Dec. 3, it was the first time the Big Ten had seven teams ranked since Feb. 9, 1999.
• Overall, nine Big Ten programs are ranked or receiving votes in a poll this week: Michigan (No. 5 AP/No. 5 USAT), Michigan State (No. 9/9), Ohio State (No. 15/14), Wisconsin (No. 16/19), Iowa (No. 22/21), Indiana (No. 25/RV), Maryland (RV/No. 23) and Nebraska (RV/No. 25). Additionally, Purdue and Minnesota are among others receiving votes in both polls.
• Michigan (10-0) is one of nine undefeated teams in the nation. The Wolverines are off to their best start since opening 2012-13 with 16 consecutive victories. Michigan has wins over each of the last two NCAA Champions, defeating then-No. 8 Villanova, 73-46, in a rematch of the 2018 NCAA Championship Game and 2017 champ North Carolina, 84-67, in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Ignas Brazdeikis has earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors in each of the last two weeks.
• The 8-2 Badgers are led by Ethan Happ, who leads the nation in double-doubles with eight. Happ, averaging 19.3 ppg, 10.8 rpg and 4.9 apg earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors for the fourth time in five weeks on Monday. His six career Player of the Week honors ties him for fifth in Big Ten history for most Player of the Week honors in a career and most by a Badger tied with Frank Kaminsky (2011-15).
• The Big Ten’s leading scorer Carsen Edwards (25.5 ppg) shared Player of the Week honors with Happ after tying his career-high with 40 points at Texas on Sunday. Since the 2013-14 season, Edwards is the only player in the Big Ten to score 40 points in a game, having done it twice. He is one of seven Division I players and two major conference player to score 40 points in a game this season.
• Minnesota’s Jordan Murphy stands 12th in career rebounds in Big Ten history with a school-record 1,029 rebounds. He also set the school record for double-doubles with 52 when has recorded 18 points and 13 rebounds in a win vs. Nebraska last Wednesday. Murphy leads the Big Ten rebounds per game, averaging 12.1, which ranks third in the nation.
• Seven active Big Ten coaches have posted 200 or more career wins, including four with at least 400 wins. Michigan’s John Beilein earned his 800th career coaching win against Norfolk State in the Wolverines’ 2018-19 opener. Michigan State’s Tom Izzo has 582 career victories, all with the Spartans. Nebraska’s Tim Miles is 12 wins from the 400-win plateau in his career and won his 100th game with the Huskers on Nov. 14 against Seton Hall. Iowa’s Fran McCaffery and Maryland’s Mark Turgeon both surpassed 400 career wins in 2017-18. Purdue’s Matt Painter won his 300th game as Purdue’s head coach on Nov. 23 vs. Robert Morris. Rutgers’ Steve Pikiell also has more than 200 career wins.
• The 2019 Big Ten Tournament will be held from March 13-17, and will be played at the United Center in Chicago for the 10th time in conference history, equaling the number of events also held in Indianapolis. The Big Ten Tournament returns to the Midwest for a four-year span as it will be played in Indianapolis in 2020 and 2022 and in Chicago in 2021.
Big Ten Men's Basketball Scoreboard (Dec. 10-16)
Dec. 11, 2018
Loyola Maryland at Maryland
College Park, MD
7:00 pm
BTN
North Florida at Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
9:00 pm
BTN
Dec. 13, 2018
Savannah State at Wisconsin
Madison, WI
8:00 pm
BTN
Dec. 15, 2018
Bucknell at Ohio State
Columbus, OH
12:00 pm
BTN
Notre Dame at Purdue
Indianapolis, Ind.
1:30 pm
CBS
East Tennessee State at Illinois
Champaign, IL
2:00 pm
BTN Plus
Western Michigan at Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
2:00 pm
BTN
North Carolina State at Penn State
Atlantic City, N.J.
2:00 pm
ESPNU
Rutgers at Seton Hall
South Orange, NJ
2:00 pm
FS1
Butler at Indiana
Indianapolis, IND.
3:45 pm
CBS
Iowa at Northern Iowa
Des Moines, IA
7:00 pm
BTN
Dec. 16, 2018
Green Bay at Michigan State
East Lansing, MI
5:00 pm
BTN
Oklahoma State at Nebraska
Sioux Falls, SD (Sanford Pentagon)
7:00 pm
BTN