Big Ten Basketball: Wisconsin rises, Indiana falls in latest power rankings

13. Northwestern Wildcats – 7-2 (1-0)

The Wildcats have been a confusing team to analyze because at times, they look very competitive and capable of staying with anyone. At other times, they look like they can’t score whatsoever and are heavily reliant on both Chase Audige and Boo Buie for offensive production. In this month alone, they defeated Michigan State on the road, while also struggling to put away Prarie View A&M. Add the one-point loss to Auburn and the near 30-point home blowouts defeat to Pittsburgh, and you have a team that has plenty of questions.

One question entering the year was how’d they replace the scoring production lost by both Ryan Young and Pete Nance. Robbie Beran has done a solid job so far, producing 10.3 ppg and a team-leading 7.3 rpg. And while UTEP transfer Tydus Verhoeven hasn’t done much in the stat sheet as a starter, he’s been serviceable in the interior in his 20 mpg.

The Wildcats aren’t built to score much, ranking in the bottom 40 nationally in points per game. But they currently are in the top 10 in points allowed at 56.8 ppg. They have three games coming up in the non-con, including a home matchup against DePaul to have that tested out but they’ll need one more scorer to emerge if they’re to feel better about their place in the Big Ten.