Around the Big Ten
Notes, quotes and fast facts from around the Big Ten with Steve Batterson
Cleaning up
Iowa coach Todd Lickliter didn’t give it a second thought Saturday night.
“Maybe it was the way I was raised, probably it was, but I always thought you should leave a place as clean as it was when you found it,’’ Lickliter said.
The Hawkeyes did that after their win at Michigan.
Lickliter didn’t like the piles of used athletic tape and towels he found littering the floor of Iowa’s locker room at Crisler Arena after the game, and he went to the bus after the 68-60 win to let his team know that.
One by one, the Hawkeyes returned to the locker room where they found teammate Tony Freeman and a couple of team managers handling most of the mess.
Lickliter said Monday that it didn’t take much coaxing or a demonstrative approach to get the players to return.
“We should meet our responsibilities and do what we can and not expect others to do for them,’’ Lickliter said. “We have great guys. There is never a problem with them. We went back in, picked up and left.’’
Freeman said after the game that he considered the mess “an oversight.’’
“There was just a lot of stuff left on the floor. It
wasn’t a big deal, but I don’t think it will be a problem again,’’ Freeman said.
A tough road
Illinois visits Ohio State tonight, continuing a string of difficult road assignments the Fighting Illini have faced since the start of the Big Ten season.
“We’ve been to Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin and now Ohio State and next week Michigan State, it hasn’t been easy,’’ coach Bruce Weber said. “If we take care of business at home, it’s not that big of a deal. But we didn’t do that, so the task on the road becomes more daunting.’’
Weber said he didn’t complain during the preseason about the schedule for one reason.
“If you do, it just sounds like you’re whining,’’ he said. “There’s nothing you can do about it except deal with it.’’
A tougher road
Ohio State has dealt with road difficulties as well, dropping games at Purdue, Michigan State and Tennessee in the last 10 days.
“We knew it would be a difficult task, and it proved to be too difficult of a task because we ended up 0-3,’’ Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said. “I saw signs of us playing better basketball during that stretch and we need to build on that. If we do, it won’t be a total loss.’’
Stepping out
After Wednesday’s home game against Iowa, Indiana steps out of Big Ten play on Saturday to face Connecticut in a nonconference game.
It’s nothing new for Hoosiers coach Kelvin Sampson.
“We played Connecticut in the middle of the conference season the last four years I was at Oklahoma and now the first two years here,’’ Sampson said. “I go back and forth on whether it’s a good thing to do.
“I know the television people like it because of the tradition of the programs and this time of year, fans enjoy seeing games like this. We just can’t look too far ahead right now because we’re in a conference race and we need to have Iowa on our minds.’’
Around the league
Illinois: The Illini have seen the best the league has to offer. Including tonight’s game at Ohio State, five of Illinois’ first seven conference games have been against teams in currently in the top five in the standings.
Indiana: Hoosiers players currently lead the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding. Eric Gordon tops the scoring race at 20.4 points, while D.J. White is the league’s top rebounder at 12.8 a game.
Iowa: With a 28-point game Saturday at Michigan, junior Tony Freeman climbed to second on the Big Ten scoring charts. Freeman has averaged 18.3 points in conference play.
Wisconsin: Marcus Landry became the fifth Badger to score 20-plus points in Wisconsin’s last five conference games when he scored 22 points vs. Northwestern on Saturday.
The TV lineup
Today
Michigan at Wisconsin,
6 p.m., ESPN
Illinois at Ohio State,
8 p.m., Big Ten Network
Wednesday
Iowa at Indiana,
8 p.m., Big Ten Network
Saturday
Connecticut at Indiana, noon, WHBF, Ch. 4
Wisconsin at Purdue,
3 p.m., ESPN
Penn State at Iowa,
5 p.m., Big Ten Network
Sunday
Michigan at Michigan State, 11 a.m., WHBF, Ch. 4
Northwestern at Illinois,
7 p.m., BTN