Big Ten: Ten freshmen not to be ignored

First-year players like Indiana’s Eric Gordon, Ohio State’s Kosta Koufos, Michigan’s Manny Harris and Purdue’s pair, Robbie Hummel and E’Twaun Moore, have dominated the Big Ten, week in and week out. This is nothing special; freshmen are the talk of virtually every Division I conference in America, only perhaps more so in this one.

But, as well as the above mentioned players have performed, they’ve overshadowed a number of other noteworthy Big Ten frosh. Here are several others fans should be sure to know:

Talor Battle, G, Penn State
A rough night of shooting against Michigan State on Wednesday snapped a six-game streak of double-digit scoring.

Jordan Crawford, G, Indiana
The Hoosiers’ other freshman guard scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists in a win over Michigan State this past week.

Blake Hoffarber, G, Minnesota
His scoring has fallen off considerably since the start of conference play (go figure, same is true of the Gophers as a whole) but he’s still averaging 9.1 points per game.

Kalin Lucas, G, Michigan State
His eight assists on Wednesday gave him 100 for the season — one of three Spartans to rank among the top 10 in the conference in that category. Inconsistent on offense, it appears Lucas is only now starting to find his stroke; he’s scored 18 or more points in three of his past seven games.

Scott Martin, G/F, Purdue
With a team loaded with freshmen it’s understandable why Martin is still an unknown of sorts. His scoring helped pace Purdue in the early going before Hummel and Moore found their groove.

Demetri McCamey, G, Illinois
His 31-point performance against Indiana seemed to come out of left field, but since then McCamey had a 10-point, eight-rebound and 11-assist effort against Minnesota, and an 18-point performance against Wisconsin.

Al Nolen, G, Minnesota
The Big Ten leader in steals is one of only three conference players to average more than two per game. He’s recorded five steals on three occasions this season.

Michael Thompson, G, Northwestern
The 5-foot-10 guard ranks second in the Big Ten in assists (4.46 per game) and averages 12 points per game. Hey, the Wildcats deserve at least one thing to feel good about.

Evan Turner, G/F, Ohio State
His 11 rebounds and 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting on Sunday was the Buckeyes’ lone bright spot in a loss to Michigan. During one eight-day stretch in January, Turner scored 52 points in three games.

Anthony Wright, F, Michigan
His consistent play in recent contests has helped Michigan to overcome its conference woes. Michigan’s Kelvin Grady also deserves a mention.

Rising team: Michigan

The road win over Iowa was a surprise, but the 10-point home win over a 17-win Ohio State squad left us speechless. Could it be? Michigan, ready for a late-season surge? Well, let’s not get carried away. The Wolverines’ young roster is starting to jell, and freshman Manny Harris is entering superstardom, but the Wolverines still have a LONG way to go before they can be considered a threat in this conference.

Falling team: Ohio State

In its only game of the week, Ohio State dropped an 80-70 contest in Ann Arbor. Even more discouraging for fans is the fact that the Buckeyes have now lost three of their last five, meaning they’ll likely need a strong showing in the conference tournament to save this season.

Player of the week: Manny Harris, G, Michigan

In the final 1:05 against Iowa, Harris sunk all six of his free throw attempts to propel the Wolverines to a 60-52 win. Three nights later the 6-foot-5 guard contributed a season-high 27 points against Ohio State to help deliver Michigan a third straight conference victory. With three very winnable games on tap for this week, Harris could be in store for a few more big nights.

Freshman of the week: Eric Gordon, G, Indiana

Let’s excuse Harris from this category in order to recognize another freshman who had a big week. Thanks to Gordon’s fine shooting, the Hoosiers were able to get back on track with wins over Michigan State and Purdue. He scored 28 in a 19-point win over the Spartans, then made 13-of-15 free throw attempts in a win over the Boilermakers. Gordon has been held to fewer than 15 points just twice since the New Year, and he’ll need to pick up even more slack the rest of the way with teammate D.J. White ailing.

Stats of the week

34.6: Penn State’s shooting percentage in its 86-49 loss to Michigan State on Wednesday. The team shot a collective 18-of-52.

14: The size of the second-half lead Northwestern held at one point over the Hawkeyes before falling 53-51 in Iowa City. The Wildcats are the only Big Ten team without a conference win this season.

8:45: The number of game minutes it took Iowa to score its first basket on Tuesday.

They said it

“The Big Ten, this is what it’s all about. Yeah, we would like a piece of the conference championship.” – Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan after his team’s 71-57 road win over Illinois on Wednesday. The win helped Wisconsin tie Purdue for the conference lead.

Key upcoming games

Sunday, Feb. 24
Wisconsin at Ohio State, 4 p.m. EST
The Buckeyes have no bigger opportunity the rest of the way than to knock off conference leader Wisconsin in Value City Arena.

Tuesday, Feb. 26
Ohio State at Indiana, 6 p.m. CST
Will Kelvin Sampson be on the sideline for the Hoosiers? Who knows, who cares? The way Eric Gordon and company are playing right now it really doesn’t matter much who’s drawing the plays on the chalkboard.

Wednesday, Feb. 27
Minnesota at Purdue, 8 p.m. CST
The Gophers’ season isn’t dead – yet. Minnesota has won three of its last five road games, and played the Badgers tight in another.

Wisconsin-based writer Mike Beacom covers the Big Ten for Athlon

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