Brigham Young vs. Baylor, 6 p.m. CT, ESPN2: Brigham Young had a solidly ho-hum year in their basketball league, the West Coast Conference.  The Cougars got swept by the conference’s best teams, Saint Mary’s College and Gonzaga.  They did, however, go 10-6 in league play and earned a 3-seed in the NIT likely because of what BYU did last year with Jimmer Fredette leading them to the Sweet 16.  He’s gone now, but it turned out to be a good thing letting BYU in the NIT.  They went into Hattiesburg, Mississippi–home of the Southern Miss Golden Eagles–and thoroughly beat one of the NIT’s #1 seeds, 79-62.  The Cougars are led by guard Tyler Haws, only a sophomore but one of the nation’s top scorers at 21.6 ppg.  He had 25 points in their demolition at Southern Miss.  Looks like they’ve found a glimmer of Jimmer.  Now the Cougars play Baylor in New York, a team that beat them earlier this season in Waco, Texas by double digits.

That Baylor team is led by guard Pierre Jackson, also one of the nation’s top scorers (19.7 ppg) and assists leaders (6.9 apg).  He’s only 5’10”, but can dunk over power forwards and shoot from anywhere on the floor.  He’s one of the quickest players in the country and last year was a major contributor to the Bears’ NCAA Tournament run to the Elite 8, where they lost to eventual national champion Kentucky.  This year, the Bears struggled in Big 12 conference play–at one point losing 8 of 11 games–before beating then-No.4 Kansas, 81-58.

Outside of the Kansas win, the Bears didn’t have enough quality non-conference victories (Baylor did win at Kentucky) or conference wins (beat conference bottom dwellers like Texas Tech, Texas, and TCU while losing to everyone else) to get an NCAA Tournament birth.  Still, this team is dangerous and will give Brigham Young all it can handle defensively.  The Bears rank in the top 45 nationally in points per game, assists per game, and rebounds per game.  In its first NIT game, Baylor scored 112 points against Long Beach State University.

Iowa vs. Maryland, 8 p.m. CT, ESPN2: If you’ve been following Iowa this year, you have witnessed a young team that got red-hot a little too late, but has shown that it can duel with anyone in the Big Ten.  Someone has to lose the duel, unfortunately, and Iowa did many times by a handful of points–especially early and midway through the conference schedule.  Indiana at home.  Michigan State at home.  Wisconsin on the road.  There are more, but you get the picture.  Iowa got left out the NCAA Tournament because it didn’t have enough quality wins, despite going .500 in one of the nation’s deepest conferences.

Iowa has already grabbed the reins of momentum for next year in winning three NIT games (Indiana State, Stony Brook, at Virginia, all by double digits).  The 3-seeded Hawkeyes now find themselves in New York taking on 2-seeded Maryland in the semifinal.  The man that led the gallup to New York City is the versatile point guard/off-guard Devyn Marble, who is averaging 25 points per game during the Hawks’ run through the NIT.  Sophomore forward Aaron White is the team’s most intimidating dunker and specializes in drawing fouls with his long body.  He is also the team-leader in rebounds at almost 6 per game.  Mike Gesell had been the point guard for most of the year, but has been nagged by a foot injury as of late.  Whether he will play some minutes at shooting guard (or possibly at point guard because of Marble’s versatility) against Maryland is yet to be seen.  Inside men Adam Woodbury and Abodunrin Gabriel Olaseni bring a heavy rebounding influence and can score in small doses.  Outside shooters Eric May, Zach McCabe, and Josh Oglesby are erratic at times, but were effective against Virginia in hitting three-pointers (8 of 17).  May is one of the team’s best defenders.  Iowa is tenth in the nation in rebounds per game (39).  Iowa led the Big Ten in field goal percentage defense and three-point defense.

Maryland is in a rebuilding stage that has mirrored Iowa’s resurgence under Fran McCaffery.  After Gary Williams retired after 22 years at Maryland following the 2010-11 season, former Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon was hired as Maryland head basketball coach.  Turgeon got to the NCAA Tournament every year of the four years he was with the Aggies.  Last season, Turgeon’s team went 17-15 and 6-10 in the ACC with no post-season birth.  This year, the Terrapins are 25-12 after going 8-10 in the ACC.  They will join the Big Ten next year along with Rutgers.

Maryland’s best wins this season came over Duke.  The team beat the Blue Devils at home and in the ACC Tournament.  Their NIT path also mirrors Iowa, having won two home games against overmatched opponents before traveling to a #1-seed in Alabama and winning, 58-57.

Iowa and Maryland are also very much alike in their statistics.  Maryland is top-100 nationally in points per game (71.2), third nationally in rebounds per game (40.8), and 44th in assists per game (14.9).  The Terps also make 46% of their shots.  Dez Wells is a Xavier transfer and the team’s top scorer at 13.2 points per game.  He shoots 53% from the field.  Sophomore center Alex Len (7’1”, 255 lbs.) is the team’s second leading scorer (11.8 ppg).  The Ukrainian is also the team’s top rebounder (7.8 rpg).  Four of Maryland’s top five players (in terms of minutes played and points per game) shoot better than 40% from the field.

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Though many casual college basketball fans–and certainly those at Assembly Hall Tuesday night–may have been stunned by Wisconsin’s win, it’s not surprising to those who have been observing Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan impart his skills on his team the past 12 years.  Wisconsin’s consistently dependable defense and thoughtful shooting have been Ryan’s recipe since he first arrived in Madison.

Consider that Ryan’s Badger teams have made the NCAA Tournament all 12 years he’s been head coach.  He has made the Sweet 16 four times, the Elite 8 once, and won the Big Ten regular season and conference tournament championship multiple times (he won both during the 2007-2008 season).  He has won almost 72% of his games in the Big Ten.  That winning has left not one of his 12 teams below fourth place in the Big Ten.  Ryan also won four national championships at the Division III level with Wisconsin-Platteville.

Iowa’s relationship with Ryan and his teams has been downright miserable until last year.  Iowa hadn’t swept Wisconsin since 1995 and lost nine straight games in Madison before a shocking 72-65 win over the #11 Badgers on New Year’s Eve of 2011.  Iowa completed the unexpected sweep in late February of last year, 67-66, behind another 30-point frenzy by Matt Gatens.  Admission was free that day for students.  They turned out in force and gave Carver a real advantage.  Imagine that?

Outside of last season, though, most of the Hawkeyes’ games against Wisconsin–under Steve Alford and Todd Lickliter–had been wretched blowouts.  Perhaps things are changing under Fran McCaffery, but no team ever has the upper hand over Ryan for very long.  And some have had no hand at all in the series as of late.  Indiana, for instance, has now lost 11 straight to Ryan to give him a 17-3 career record against the Hoosiers.

This game will be just as tough for Iowa as the Indiana and Michigan State games were, if not tougher.  Iowa lost both of those contests at home by four points or less, but Wisconsin has a special way of punishing its opponents off turnovers because Ryan’s players do not return the favor: Wisconsin commits the fewest turnovers per game than any team in 345 Division 1 teams (8.9 per game).  The young Hawks seem to turn the ball over more when things aren’t going well, but also display frustrating habits like turning the ball over in transition.  Guards Anthony Clemmons and Mike Gesell have, on multiple occasions, heaved the ball out of bounds when attempting the fast-break lob down the court.

If Iowa wants to win, it must slow down its game and play Wisconsin’s style.  It seems unlikely that an Iowa squad averaging about 65 points per game in Big Ten play is going to suddenly unleash 80 on one of the country’s most disciplined teams.  Iowa must also knock down more than a handful of three-point baskets if it hopes to come out on top. That means Josh Oglesby has to be in rhythm.  Devyn Marble and Zach McCabe are also equipped to hit threes, but a hot Oglesby increases Iowa’s chances to win dramatically.  That was the case at Northwestern (he was the only one who made a three-pointer, going 4-of-9).  Iowa’s players and fans don’t realistically believe that a Big Ten regular-season championship is in store this year–especially after an 0-3 start–but a win over Wisconsin is a big step toward the team’s first NCAA Tournament birth since 2006.

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IOWA CITY, Iowa—What started out as a competitive first half for the Iowa Hawkeyes against #6 Ohio State ended as a forgettable trouncing from the Buckeyes at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in front of an announced crowd of 15,400, as the Buckeyes flew to a 76-47 final on Saturday afternoon.  Iowa fell to 10-7 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten.  Jared Sullinger led the Buckeyes in scoring with 28 points in a game where Iowa’s players seemed to get their pockets picked for every time they came up with a steal of their own while struggling to contain the husky center Sullinger.

Defense-minded Eric May (2 steals) led all Iowa scorers with 9 points on 4-of-10 shooting while snaring a team-high 6 rebounds.

The Buckeyes, now 15-2 (3-1 in the Big Ten), used a 14-2 run at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half to pull away and stay far ahead of Iowa.  The run extended to 20-8 with 13:13 left.  The rest of the game consisted of more Buckeye athleticism, steals, and quick, coerced shots by the Hawkeyes at the literal hands of the Bucks—few times did it seem like Iowa had an open look or a drive to the basket that wasn’t either swatted away or clawed at by the sticky fingers of the Ohio State team.

At one point late in the second half, Ohio State’s lead ballooned to 33 under a shelling of three-pointers from the Buckeyes’ Deshaun Thomas and Lenzelle Smith, who finished with 10 points and 6 points, respectively.  At that point, fans had already begun to head for the exits for what was a near-sellout.  It was Iowa’s biggest, loudest home crowd of the year after the team generated a buzz prior to the game with road wins at (then) #11 Wisconsin and Minnesota.  There was no buzz at the end except for the game-ending buzzer, as disappointed fans left quickly and quietly.

Iowa did have one lead for the game, a 6-5 edge with 13:46 left on a free throw by Zach McCabe (6 points).  Ohio State rebutted with a 13-3 run to take an 18-9 lead with 7:16 left in the first half.  Iowa clawed back to a three point deficit, 19-22, with 2:47 left.

From there on out, however, it was all scarlet and gray.  They closed the half on a 7-0 run to take a 28-19 lead into halftime.  Iowa could not take advantage of being in the double-bonus for foul shooting with over three minutes left in the first half.

No Hawkeye defender had an answer for Sullinger, who towered around the basket and regularly blocked or disrupted Iowa’s field goal attempts in the paint.  It was definitely no heavyweight rematch of 2010, when Melsahn Basabe and Sullinger battled—each scoring double-doubles—to a close loss for the Hawkeyes.  This time around, Sullinger dunked, rebounded, and tossed in easy lay-ups while Iowa’s lack of size and girth became annoyingly obvious to its coaches and fans.  Basabe finished with 2 points in 14 minutes.

Iowa did force 15 Buckeye turnovers, but were victimized by 20 turnovers (including 12 steals) to only 7 assists.  Iowa’s next two games are at #11 Michigan State on January 10^th and at home against #13 Michigan on January 14^th.

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