Big Ten Basketball is in the midst of a very competitive season. Can the Nittany Lions steal a victory in the Crisler Center Wednesday evening?
Time: Wednesday, January 22, 7:00 pm EST, Big Ten Network
Where: Crisler Center, Ann Arbor Michigan
Big Ten basketball teams in the middle of the pack are desperately trying to separate themselves from each other. Teams that can win away from their home-turf have been able to separate themselves from their peers and place some valued ink on their NCAA Tournament resumes. Penn State Basketball and Michigan enter this contest with identical 3-4 conference records. The Nittany Lions stanched the bleeding from a three-game slide with a win over #21 Ohio State at the Jordan Center.
Big Blue enters this contest on a two-game losing streak and Juwan Howard’s charges want to end this skid in its tracks. Isaiah Livers is listed as day-to-day and even if he were to grab some minutes in tomorrow’s contest, he may need time to acclimate to game tempo. The recent losses to Minnesota and Iowa have dropped Michigan from the AP top 25 rankings. The next three games after Penn State include #21 Illinois at home who is sitting at third in the conference and #24 Rutgers at Madison Square Garden, sitting at second place in the conference.
The last time these two teams met on February 12, 2019, Penn State survived with a 6-point win at the BJC. What do the Nittany Lions need to do to snatch a victory on the road, from the Wolverines?
John Harrar and Mike Watkins need to have solid games. Harrar has started the past two games and he has provided consistent journeyman performances on defense against Minnesota and Ohio State. Mike Watkins has emerged from the bench with renewed vigor and effort, running the court hard and finishing at the rim in transition. Over the last two games, Watkins has played 36 minutes, scored 16 points, grabbed seven defensive rebounds to go along with three offensive boards and has sparked the defense with four blocks and five steals. The defensive rebounds are key due to Penn State’s affinity for transition offense.
Big Ten basketball’s shot-blocking statistical leader is Penn State with 6.1 blocks per game. Mike Watkins accounts for 3.1 blocks per game and he leads all other players in that category. The match-up against Jon Teske has the opportunity to be a standout performance for senior Mike Watkins. An article by Daniel Plocher entitled, “Michigan Basketball needs to fix its problem covering big men before it’s too late”, Mr. Plocher details the success that Big Ten Conference big men have had against the 7-foot, one-inch Teske.
"“Big men have had some incredible games against the Wolverines over the past four games. A combination of Luka Garza (Iowa), Daniel Oturu (Minnesota), Trevion Williams (Purdue) and Xavier Tillman (Michigan State) have scored 119 points against Michigan over the last four games, an average of 29.75 points per game on a 72 percent conversion rate (54-of-75). Michigan is 1-3 in those games — the only win being at home against Purdue in double-overtime.”"
When Big Mike is on the floor, Penn State’s guards need to make an extra effort to get him involved in the offense with quality touches on the low-post. When Mike sees the ball go in the basket his effort on both sides of the court increases. The blueprint has been written, Follow it.
We have discussed the inside attack Penn State needs for a chance at a win. Now let’s look at the outside attack.