Big Ten Basketball: Week 7 power rankings for the conference

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ROSEMONT, IL- NOVEMBER 15: Head coach Chris Collins of the Northwestern Wildcats gives instructions to his team in a game against the Creighton Bluejays during the first half on November 15, 2017 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. (Photo by David Banks/Getty Images) /

Despite getting blown out in their only game last week, Northwestern remains in the seventh spot largely because of the mediocre play of other conference teams. Still, the Wildcats don’t really have any quality wins and are in jeopardy of plummeting in the conference race if they don’t start to pick up their play. The Cats continue to be one of the conference’s most disappointing teams after last year’s NCAA Tournament run.

The loss that the Wildcats had last week came against the Oklahoma Sooners. Although the Sooners are a very good club, Northwestern played horribly in the game, losing 104-78. They still have yet to find that toughness that they had last year, even though they returned the majority of their main guys.

The Wildcats committed 14 turnovers in the loss and shot just 8-for-28 from three. They couldn’t stop Sooners star Trae Young, who finished with 31 points and 12 assists on the evening.

If the Wildcats are going to figure things out, their veteran leadership will really need to show. Scottie Lindsey (14.8 ppg), Bryant McIntosh (13.3 ppg, 5.6 apg), Vic Law (13.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg), and Dererk Pardon (11.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg) are all guys who need to step up and take the reins of this team. They also need a few other guys to step up and fill some needed roles.

Schedule for this week:

Brown (6-5) at Northwestern on Dec. 30

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