The Skinny: Penn State has a lot of reason to be celebrating after having Talor Battle named to first team All-Big Ten. Likewise, Coach Ed

Ed DeChellis

DeChellis was named as co-Big Ten Coach of the year with Tom Izzo, and the Nittany Lions could be approaching the NCAA tournament if they fare well in the Big Ten tournament. But don’t think that the committee is absolutely sold, although there’s not much reason they shouldn’t be. PSU is 21-10 and owns 2 victories against Illinois, wins against Georgia Tech, Purdue, AT Michigan State, and Minnesota. Not shabby at all. Indiana, on the other hand, has a pitiful record but no one takes Tom Crean and crew for granted–this team is all heart and Verdell Jones III has really started to blossom as a scorer. The Hoosiers have had a lot of problems with turnovers and getting things going consistently, but they are basically playing at home in Indianapolis and will bring a large contingent despite being 6-24.

Big Tenet’s Prediction: Penn State 71, Indiana 59

Indiana will hang tough in the first half behind long-range bombs by Matt Roth and inside play of Nick Williams, but Battle, Stanley Pringle, and Jamelle Cornely will take over in the second half and dismantle the Hoosiers systematically. While the Nittany Lions would sure hope to get as much rest as possible for the long tournament, Indiana doesn’t go away that easily.

Jamelle Cornley

I love watching this team just like I love watching Northwestern play. Why? Because no matter what game they are in, they are very rarely a “sure” win, which means they always have to play up to a certain level to outlast the majority of teams, which takes execution, teamwork, and heart. And this team has certainly showed it in a 19-9 campaign where they are aching for an NCAA bid. Will they get it? Read on.

Remaining conference games:

vs. Indiana  Win

Well, let’s see…the Hoosiers got beat tonight for the first time ever by Northwestern at Assembly Hall..by 20+. Penn State in a yawner.

vs. Illinois   Loss

Although the Nittany Lions got the ugly 38-33 win in Champaign, Illinois has a conference title on their mind and has been playing exceedingly well on the road. Look for the Illini to vindicate the nasty loss.

at Iowa   Win

Penn State should finish the Big Ten season on a high note, but this game isn’t as easy as a pick as it seems record-wise. Iowa is a very inconsistent team, and if they get up for this, it could send Penn St. reeling. But I think Talor Battle, Jamelle Cornley, and Stanley Pringle make sure PSU gets the dub.

Big Ten Tournament: I have a feeling that the Nittany Lions are going to draw Ohio State or Wisconsin. If they do, I don’t think they get by round 1. If they are able to draw Wisconsin or Northwestern, they have a good shot at winning. Beyond there, it is probably over for PSU.

Postseason Outlook: If Penn State wins one game in the Big Ten tournament, they will be probably 22-10, which should get them an NCAA bid and probably a 10 or 11 seed based upon the fact that they had quite a soft nonconference schedule.  If they end up getting beat in the first round, that would put them at 21-11 and I feel that it would kick them out of the NCAA and into the NIT.

Mike Tisdale Illinois

There have been some doozies in my time of watching Big Ten basketball, but none so horrifying as the Penn State-Illinois game tonight. The teams looked like grade school teams and while the commentators were pumping up the defenses of both teams, the ill-advised shots and the lack of teamwork on both parts was not typical of either of these teams. Some observations of the 38-33 debacle:

1) Why is Chester Frazier suddenly deciding to shoot–A LOT–more? For the majority of his career he has known his role as great defender and disher, and now over the last two games he has taken it upon himself to shoot the rock. Not a wise decision in my estimation.

2) I’ve often given press to Talor Battle and Jamelle Cornley for their roles in terms of leadership and have tended to forget Stanley Pringle. He didn’t do anything tonight to prove to me that I need to mention him any more than I already do, which is pretty much never.

3) Can Demetri McCamey show emotion? Ever? Or maybe just wake up?

4) Chris Babb is a decent shooter, but not as good as the commentators made him out to be. I love the quick release though.

5) Talor Battle is a straight up baller. He may have struggled for the majority of the game, but he did it when it counted. Kudos to the soph.

6) Mike Tisdale may be the slowest guy in the Big Ten. No wait, in the country. He makes Lerch look like Dee Brown.

7) Ed DeChellis is a much better coach than what people give him credit for; he could be on the verge of a special team.

Bruce Weber’s plea to his team to show more emotion was dead on, and they didn’t provide it. Illinois mailed it in before the tip.

9) Both teams basically abandoned the team game for more of an individual game, which is directly correlated to the reason why they clanged shots all night long–the defense for both teams normally forces a teamwork game to beat the other, and neither of them grasped that concept the entire game.

10) This loss more than likely dropped Illinois to no better than a 5 seed in the NCAAs, barring a huge run in the Big Ten tournament, where they have been very successful traditionally.

After the first half of the Big Ten basketball season, there have been some surprises from certain players and there have been some that have lived up to their hype. While teams like Illinois and Minnesota have proven to be solid game in game out which wasn’t exactly expected, Michigan State has stayed the course and Purdue has gotten back their swagger as of late as well.

So with a little less than a month left in the season, what will the All-Big Ten team shape up to look like?

Here’s how I see it…

G Talor Battle, Penn State Nittany Lions–18.2 ppg (leads league), 5.2 assists per game (tied for first in league)–no guard has upped his game the way Battle has this year. In fact, he’s one of the main reasons the Nittany Lions have a very legitimate shot at making the NCAAs. He is not only a shoo-in for this team, but I think he has a very good shot at getting league MVP.

G Manny Harris, Michigan Wolverines–17.5 ppg (2nd), 7.3 rpg (3rd), 4.3 apg Harris has lived up to the billing that he started the year with and has really catapulted the turnaround in Ann Arbor. He’s also vastly improved in holding on to the ball this year and is every bit of the leader that Coach John Beilein needed to turn his team around.

G Craig Moore, Northwestern Wildcats–15.3 ppg (tied for 4th),76 3 pointers (43% from the arc). Kevin Coble may get all the pub and the hype, but Moore is the catalyst that allows for the defenses to extend and give Coble the open looks he needs. Moore is a sharpshooting senior who definitely can get the job done when needed.

F Evan Taylor, Ohio State Buckeyes–17 ppg (3rd), 7.5 rpg (3rd) While Taylor is 6-7, he qualifies as a tweener guard-forward. Turner is by far the biggest surprise of the 2008-09, as the sophomore has doubled his scoring average from 2008 and has really kept the Buckeyes in the Big Ten hunt. He certainly has impressed me.

C JaJuan Johnson, Purdue Boilermakers–13.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 55% shooting from the field. While Robbie Hummel and Chris Kramer have fought through injuries during the year, Johnson has quietly become the team’s leader and is a beast inside. Not only has he been a central buoy for the Boilermakers, he’s also proven that he has the defensive chops, only averaging 1.7 fouls per game, a phenomenal figure considering his position.

Talor Battle Penn State Big Ten Basketball

Whoa, that’s a pretty big statement there, Mr. Tenet.

And you did hear it correctly, and I believe I have a legitimate question here. Is Talor Battle the best player in the Big Ten? I mean, let’s look at some factors:

–First of all, Penn State isn’t exactly overflowing with mega talent. Sure, Jamelle Cornely is a great player, but the Big Ten is known for its defensive presence, and defenders far and wide have not been able to contain Battle, who is leading the Big Ten in scoring.

–He’s multi-dimensional. Most scorers don’t have other big numbers, but Battle has great assist numbers, again an attribute that he should hold high considering the amount of defensive awareness that is given to the sophomore guard. He can also rebound, where he is currently at a 5.5 per game clip.

–The other players in the Big Ten haven’t exactly dominated. Manny Harris is definitely a great player, but the Michigan team overall has improved in so many ways and teams are fearing the three ball from numerous sources. Likewise, Kevin Coble has had some great games but Northwestern is wildly inconsistent. Evan Turner certainly has had a turnaround year, but nothing like Battle has.

–Penn State is the feel good story of the Big Ten. Sure, Illinois is the media darling with their turnaround, but that’s much in part to the team playing like a team, not because of one guy. Battle has simply made this team win and catapulted it into the thick of the Big Ten race.

Wow, Michigan State never could seem to lose at home–especially to unranked opponents, and now they have dropped games to Northwestern and Penn State, with the Nittany Lions upending the mighty Spartans 72-68 in East Lansing.

It was the first win in 17 tries for Penn State, as Talor Battle scorched the Spartans for 29 points. Surprisingly, the Nittany Lions stand at 17-5 and tied for third in the Big Ten with Illinois and Minnesota, sitting just one game back from Michigan State. This team is definitely for real–just as I predicted in the preseason.

It didn’t help that Michigan State was without (basically) star Raymar Morgan, who played only 3 minutes and is suffering from walking pnuemonia. Kalin Lucas again picked up the slack, but the Nittany Lions shooting (56% from the field and 50% from the three point line) was just too much for Michigan State to overcome.

The win was the fourth straight in Big Ten play for Penn State, only the second time in league history they have done so.  You can bet they will get some votes in this week’s poll.

Press Release from the Big Ten Web Site:

Northwestern’s Kevin Coble earns his first weekly laurel after averaging 26 points per game and leading the Wildcats to a milestone win over No. 7 Michigan State on Wednesday. The junior Wildcat posted the top individual performance in a conference game this season, tying a Big Ten season high with 31 points in Northwestern’s victory over the Spartans. It was NU’s first win at Michigan State in 25 years, the team’s first victory over a top-10 opponent in 15 years and its first road win over a top-10 team in 56 years. The win also snapped the Spartans’ 28-game home winning streak and 80-game home win streak against non-ranked opponents. Coupled with the Widlcats’ Jan. 18 win over No. 18 Minnesota, it also gave Northwestern consecutive wins over ranked foes for the first time in program history. Coble followed up the performance with an impressive all-around effort at Michigan on Saturday, tallying 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists. On the week, Coble averaged 5.5 rebounds per game and 3.0 assists per game, while shooting 56 percent from the floor and 90 percent from the free throw line.

Jamelle Cornley garners his first career weekly accolade after posting his 11th career double-double while spearheading two Penn State victories over conference foes last week. In Tuesday’s contest against Michigan, the senior forward grabbed 11 rebounds and netted 17 points on 8-of-10 (.800) shooting to lead a 73-58 victory over the Wolverines. Cornley then posted 24 points and six boards while playing all 40 minutes to help Penn State rally from a 13-point deficit with eight minutes to play to a 63-59 victory over Iowa. The Columbus, Ohio, native was dominating in the paint in both games shooting a combined 19-of-27 (.700) on an array of post moves. He scored 10 straight points, including a three-pointer, in the final five minutes of the victory over Iowa to bring Penn State to within two. Cornley recorded his 75th career double-figure game, jumping into eighth all-time in career scoring at Penn State with 1,369 points.

62.5 percent. Normally that is a failing score for grades in school. But when you shoot that well from the field in basketball, it is considered scorching–and that’s exactly what the Minnesota Golden Gophers did in defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions 79-59 in Williams Arena. The Gophers hit six three pointers in the game’s first 10 minutes and never looked back–the Nittany Lions literally looked shell-shocked the rest of the game.

The 19th ranked Minnesota team improved to 15-1 on the year. Devron Bostick came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with 19 , Paul Carter scored 14, and Lawrence Westbrook had 13 for the day. The Golden Gophers hit all nine of their three pointers and had 11 steals for the game. For Penn State, Talor Battle had 19 points and 9 assists while Jamelle Cornley had 10 points as the only other player in double figures.  The Nittany Lions only shot 36% from the field for the entire game.

Minnesota travels to Wisconsin for their next game which should be the Big Ten’s weekly marquee match up, while Penn State plays host to Michigan State in what will be another tough game for PSU.

0-2 in the Big Ten. If you would have asked any Purdue fan the question of whether the Boilermakers would start 0-2 in the Big Ten, they may have given some type of answer as “well, it’s always possible..” but the reality is that facing Illinois at home and Penn State on the road, the worst that people would think was a split–not a top ten team going 0-2 against 2 teams that weren’t supposed to be contenders in the least.

But it has happened. So is it time to panic yet for Purdue?

Maybe not. But there is definitely need to be very seriously concerned–losing at home against a very feisty Illinois team that has improved tremendously this year was one thing, but going on the road to Happy Valley and starting out the game down 14-0 is just too much to ask. Sure, they closed the gap, but the Nittany Lions’ momentum gained at the beginning was too much. With captain Chris Kramer hurting and hopefully back for the next game along with some scary back spasms by Big Ten Player of the year in Robbie Hummel which could really be a big time injury if it continues to nag him through out the year, facing Wisconsin at home on Sunday could be a disaster if things don’t improve.

It’s not as if the players will simply crumble, but we’re also talking about sophomores that need to have winning reinforced. I respect Matt Painter as a coach, but he doesn’t have the motivation or control that Bo Ryan, Thad Matta, and Tom Izzo have, so if the Boilers don’t get a big win soon, it may end up really in a place that it doesn’t want to be and therefore jeopardize its seeding for the NCAAs.

What is needed then? Well, the Boilermakers are certainly deeper than just Kramer and Hummel, but it is “Wan” time–and I am speaking of E’twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson taking this team over–and working an inside outside game that will make Big Ten teams respect both parts of the Boilers game. They can shoot the three–they made nine of them against PSU–so it may mean that they rely a bit more on the outside shot. Either way, they’ve got to do something different, or it will certainly be time to go a little nuts in West Lafayette.

Hey! The Big Ten can actually win close games against the ACC! Ok, Ok, I know Wisconsin defeated Virginia Tech in a close one, but after seeing Iowa and Illinois each fall by two in games that were very winnable, it was a bit of an uplift to see Penn State outlast Georgia Tech 85-83 in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

Despite a torrid night by Gani Lawal, who may be one of the ACC’s best shooters, Penn State built a 10 point lead at one point and hung on the for the victory. Lawal scored 34 on 15-20 shooting on the night with 10 boards. The Nittany Lions only played 7 players total and had 4 players in double figures, including Stanley Pringle, who scored 22 on 9-14 sharpshooting and Talor Battle, who scored 18.

The Nittany Lions scorched the nets for almost 51% from the field and 42% behind the arc. You have to give credit to PSU–they definitely did not beat any joe schmoe team–Georgia Tech definitely is a good team overall who can make some noise in the talent-heavy ACC as the season goes along. And I believe that Penn State just made its stake for that same statement–so far, so good for the Nittany Lions, who now stand at 7-1 on the year.