Big Ten Basketball power rankings: Illinois soars up, Indiana keeps sliding

1. Purdue Boilermakers – 17-1 (6-1)

After losing to Rutgers by one point, the Boilermakers had three of the next four on the road. The first two were on the road, both ending in victory. One was a 71-69 win over Ohio State, with the other was a 76-63 victory over Penn State.

Purdue was back at home against Nebraska, who nearly pulled off the upset over them in overtime a few weeks ago. There wasn’t much suspense this time around, as the favorites went on to win, 73-55. National Player of the Year favorite Zach Edey had an average game by his standards, with 12 points and 13 rebounds. It was freshman guard Fletcher Loyer who had the star performance, going for a season-high 27 points on 6/12 from three-point range.

It was much closer against Michigan State this week, with the Boilermakers trailing a bit in what ended up being a thriller below. The guards for Purdue were struggling on both ends but this was arguably Edey’s best performance to date, going for 32 points and 17 rebounds in 37 minutes. His final points were most important, making a post shot in the final seconds to give the Boilermakers the lead.

Purdue may not be No. 1 nationally anymore but they still are on top of Big Ten Basketball. But they’ve shown to be vulnerable and gettable. The next teams to take their shot at Purdue are Minnesota on the road and Maryland in the next week.