Big Ten Basketball: Bruno Fernando outplays Ethan Happ in battle of bigs

Two of the Big Ten basketball’s best big men in Bruno Fernando and Ethan Happ faced each other Wednesday and the matchup did not disappoint.

Ethan Happ is a player whose game reminds me a lot of future NBA Hall of Famer Tim Duncan because of how fundamental he is with how he chooses to score the ball. He can do it all: back down his opponent, shoot’s the ball well from the post, he’s effective on the pick and roll and he’s capable of handling the ball himself and making a play.

Bruno Fernando brings energy and grit for 19th ranked Maryland basketball (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten). During the winning streak, he has been the leading rebounder in every game and the leading scorer in two of the six wins.

Coming into this game, it was expected that both of them were going to put up points and they have been double-double machines. The Terps made things difficult for Ethan Happ early in the first of the 64-60 win. Even though he had six points and six rebounds at halftime, the Terps forced him into foul trouble and when he was out of the game, Maryland capitalized on his absence.

What was interesting about the matchup is both players got in foul trouble late in the game which meant that their supporting casts had to produce and they did. Anthony Cowan Jr. was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points, six rebounds, and three assists. He also made a three-pointer late that propelled them to victory.

Nate Reuvers had to be the man for Wisconsin since Happ had to be conservative. Reuvers finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. He could have won the game for the Badgers but missed some good looks from the three-point line late in the game.

Bruno Fernando only had 10 points and four rebounds against the Badgers but he was named Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week for his performance. A well-deserved honor with the way he has been playing. The accolades will keep coming. Ethan Happ had 10 points, 8 rebounds and three assists in the game. He is going to go down as one of the best players to wear a Wisconsin Badgers uniform.

Fans got to see what Big Ten basketball produces in these two athletes. The rematch in Madison, Wisconsin is going to be even better than the first.