Tag: Big Ten

Ohio State basketball’s five recent postseason moments to remember

The postseason is dead as Coronavirus measures go into motion. To fill the void, here are five of Ohio State’s best moments to re-live.

The sporting world — okay the entire world — has been rocked by countless measures to try and curb the spread of the novel Coronavirus. Almost every single sporting event has either been canceled or postponed until further notice. That includes the end to any postseason run the Ohio State basketball team was going to embark upon

March madness has turned into March emptiness, but for good reason while the world gets this outbreak under control.

To fill the void left by no postseason tournaments, we’re throwing out a few pieces to take a few trips down memory lane and remember some of the most iconic moments in both the NCAA and Big Ten men’s basketball tournaments.

Here are five of the most memorable postseason moments in recent Ohio State basketball history.

Next … The big man saves the game with defense

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BREAKING: Big Ten cancels all athletic competitions through end of academic year

The Big Ten has already canceled the men’s basketball tournament, and now it has made the tough decision to cancel all athletic events through the entire current academic year. This goes a step further than what other schools have done on their own. …

The Big Ten has already canceled the men’s basketball tournament, and now it has made the tough decision to cancel all athletic events through the entire current academic year.

This goes a step further than what other schools have done on their own. Some have gone through the end of March as a starting point, but the end of the academic year would stretch far into May for all schools in the conference. By all athletic events, that means everything. It even involves championships and postseason events that could stretch beyond the academic year like softball and baseball.

There will also be significant limits put on recruiting events and gatherings until further notice as well.

Here is the complete release from the Big Ten that was released on Thursday.

The Big Ten Conference announced today that in addition to the Men’s Basketball Tournament it will be canceling all conference and non-conference competitions through the end of the academic year, including spring sports that compete beyond the academic year, and participation in all NCAA tournaments and competitions. In addition, the Conference has announced a moratorium on all on- and off-campus recruiting activities for the foreseeable future.

The Big Ten Conference will use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The main priority of the Big Ten Conference continues to be the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all developing and relevant information on the COVID-19 virus.

These are truly historic times, and as further news and commentary breaks, we’ll do our best to have it for you here at Buckeyes Wire.

 

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Big Ten cancels all athletic events through the end of the academic year

The move comes as the NCAA Tournament is canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic

College sports are shutting down for the time being.

In addition to the cancellation of all NCAA championships, including the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, the Big Ten Conference has announced all conference and non-conference events will be canceled through the end of the academic year. This is all due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference has also announced a moratorium on all recruiting events, both on-campus and off, for the foreseeable future.

The full statement released by the conference reads as follows, “The Big Ten Conference announced today that in addition to the Men’s Basketball Tournament it will be canceling all conference and non-conference competitions through the end of the academic year, including spring sports that compete beyond the academic year, and participation in all NCAA tournaments and competitions. In addition, the Conference has announced a moratorium on all on- and off-campus recruiting activities for the foreseeable future.

“The Big Ten Conference will use this time to work with the appropriate medical experts and institutional leadership to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The main priority of the Big Ten Conference continues to be the health, safety and wellness of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all developing and relevant information on the COVID-19 virus.”

The move comes as sports are being shut down across the United States and world. The NBA suspended its season after Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The MLB and MLS followed suit Thursday morning, as has professional tennis. Conference tournaments have been canceled across the country, as have high school postseason tournaments. Arizona State, Duke and Kansas were among the first college programs to shut down all athletics, essentially withdrawing from any potential tournament. The entire Atlantic Coast Conference suspended athletics mid-day Thursday, as did the Mountain West. More conference are expected to follow suit.

We will have more on this story as it develops.

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Big Ten Tournament canceled along with other conference tourneys

Cancellations across the board

It was expected, and now it is official: The Big Ten — along with the AAC and SEC — has canceled its conference tournament.

The dominoes have been falling rapidly, and when it was reported on Thursday morning that Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell tested positive for coronavirus — as a probable and/or partial result of teammate Rudy Gobert’s appallingly irresponsible behavior in touching various objects in settings used by all Utah Jazz players — it seemed like a foregone conclusion that all the college basketball conference tournaments would be canceled. It was just a matter of time.

The ACC and league commissioner John Swofford held a press conference roughly an hour and a half before the scheduled start of ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday, in which they still claimed that games would go on as scheduled, but the Big Ten, AAC and SEC put a halt to their tournaments before the first games of the day.

You can call this an overreaction, and I’m not going to tell you that you’re wrong if you do. However, what I can say — and what is important to note — is that if you ask doctors, hospitals, or other medical facilities in your locality, the chances are very good that one of two things exists right now:

  1. The doctor/hospital/facility does not know what exactly it should be doing, relative to various federal or state guidelines, through a chain of command involving input from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and/or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
  2. Even if the doctor/hospital/facility DOES know what it should be doing, it doesn’t have the resources or materials to provide full coronavirus testing to all people who might have the virus, and it doesn’t have the capacity in terms of beds and other bulk items needed to sufficiently quarantine patients and provide large-scale logistical layouts which can balance treatment of the virus with social distancing practices in the workplace.

In other words, this is not entirely a verdict about the severity of coronavirus on all members of the population. This is also a response to the reality that national and regional health systems and organizations are scrambling to figure out how to resolve the problem. The UNCERTAINTY which is so pervasive in this larger situation is the true reason for canceling large gatherings and taking this extended break from sporting events.

If we are in a much better place with coronavirus management in three weeks, we can revisit all of these issues. For now, the entire sports world — tennis, soccer, the NBA, the NHL, Major League Baseball, and the NFL — is being cautious and protective.

As much as it does indeed suck that we can’t watch tons of tournament games today or next week, it’s much better to not have to live through uncertainty wondering if we’re doing the right thing or not.

Sports leagues and college basketball are doing the right thing. Let’s see where we are in three weeks. No one will get hurt… hopefully.

Notre Dame Hockey: Dello Named Defensive Player of the Year Finalist

Tory Dello was named one of three finalists for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.

Tory Dello continued what’s already been a busy offseason for Notre Dame on Wednesday by being named one of three finalists for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The other nominees are Penn State’s Cole Hults and Michigan State’s Jared Rosburg.

Dello, who will graduate from the College of Arts and Letters in May as an American Studies major, played in all 37 games for the Irish this season. Ten of his 13 points were assists. Naturally, the alternate captain made his biggest impact on the blue line, and his 80 blocked shots were among the most in the NCAA.

Dello’s collegiate highlights include being on Notre Dame’s national runner-up team in 2018, another Frozen Four appearance in 2017, three Big Ten championships and back-to-back Big Ten tournament titles in 2018 and 2019. He recorded 40 points, 33 of them assists, in 154 career games. He blocked 270 shots and had two shootout goals to beat Michigan State over the past two seasons.

Big Ten Tournament to be played without fans Thursday through Sunday

Big Ten Tournament news

This wasn’t always inevitable, but it became inevitable on Wednesday afternoon.

As soon as the NCAA declared that the NCAA Tournament would be played without fans in attendance at arenas, it was only a matter of time before the various conferences made the same decision about their conference tournaments.

The 2020 Big Ten Tournament began on Wednesday in Indianapolis with fans attending the two first-round games. Minnesota played Northwestern in the first game, and Indiana and Nebraska — at press time — have yet to start the second game, which is slated for a 7:25 p.m. Central time tip.

Those will be the last Big Ten Tournament games fans can attend.

The Big Ten released a statement on Wednesday to address the growing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic:

The Big Ten Conference announced this evening that beginning Thursday, March 12, 2020, attendance at all Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament games will be limited to student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and Conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and immediate family members of the participating teams.

Additionally, all further Big Ten Conference winter and spring sport competitions, including championship/tournament events, will also be limited to student-athletes, coaches, event staff, essential team and Conference staff, TV network partners, credentialed media, and immediate family members of the participating teams.
 
The main priority of the Big Ten Conference is to ensure the safety of our student-athletes, coaches, administrators, fans and media as we continue to monitor all relevant information on the COVID-19 virus on a daily basis.
 
It is important that any person attending a Big Ten sporting event consult the following guidelines from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/specific-groups/high-risk-complications.html.

At 7:37 Eastern time on Wednesday, a quick check of some of the other Twitter feeds of Power Five conferences indicates that conference tournaments have not yet prohibited fans from attending. The Pac-12 and SEC Tournaments began Wednesday, and at 7:37, neither had made an announcement about prohibiting fans from attending future games on Thursday and beyond. The ACC Tournament began Tuesday. It had not yet offered a plan at 7:37 p.m. on Wednesday.

The Big 12, however, had presented a limited-access plan shortly after 7 Eastern on Wednesday:

The Big Ten Tournament will continue as scheduled, with coverage provided by Big Ten Network through Friday (quarterfinals) and CBS on the weekend (Saturday semifinals, Sunday championship game).

Notre Dame Plays on ACC Tournament’s Last Normal Night

Notre Dame began its ACC tournament run against Boston College on Wednesday with fans in attendance at Greensboro Coliseum.

Notre Dame began its ACC tournament run against Boston College on Wednesday with fans in attendance at Greensboro Coliseum. The crowd was sparse, which is expected during the early rounds of these conference tourneys, especially when marquee programs aren’t involved. That’s not a knock on the Irish, but let’s just say the basketball program has a long way to go to catch up with the football program in prestige.

At the same time, it’s fair to say the coronavirus pandemic might also have affected the crowd size. And it’s that very pandemic that likely will prevent any fans from attending the rest of the tournament. As of this writing, no official word had come down yet, but speculation on Twitter suggests the ACC will follow the Big Ten, Big 12 and others in banning fans from the rest of their tournament games.

Coupled with no fans being allowed at the NCAA tournament at all, this surely was the last night of normal college basketball of the season at the Division I level. Even if the Irish receive an NIT invite and a home game, the prospect of fans inside Purcell Pavilion for it is looking less likely. They should be likely they had the opportunity to play Wednesday’s game in front of anyone from the general public.

We’re undoubtedly living in the most uncertain time to be a sports fan in our lifetimes. Thursday and beyond will confirm that. It’s unfortunate it had to happen during the time of year everyone is focused on college basketball. Alas, as the song goes, que sera sera.

Ohio State vs. Purdue Big Ten Tournament game: How and where to watch and listen

Ohio State will begin its quest to make a run through the Big Ten Tournament Thursday against Purdue. Here’s how you can find the game.

Welcome to the postseason.

After a Big Ten basketball season that felt more like a war of attrition as opposed to a conference schedule, it’s time to continue the madness in March. The Big Ten Tournament tips off Wednesday with two games. No. 7 seed Ohio State getting things cranked up on Thursday evening.

It’s opponent? The No. 10 seed Purdue Boilermakers are lying in wait for a Buckeye team looking to build on the momentum it created during the second half of the Big Ten season.

OSU won by sixteen points in the only meeting of the two back on February 15. That was in Columbus though, and this one will be in a tournament setting where the loser goes home. Here’s all the information you need to find the game on television, radio, or as streaming content.

Next … television, radio, streaming, game time, and venue

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Micah Potter should be the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year

First things first, let us not take anything away from the impact that Aaron Wiggins has had at Maryland. Wiggins was named the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year on Monday, and helped lead the Terps to a co-Big Ten regular season title. The sophomore …

First things first, let us not take anything away from the impact that Aaron Wiggins has had at Maryland. Wiggins was named the Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year on Monday, and helped lead the Terps to a co-Big Ten regular season title. The sophomore combo guard finished the year averaging 10.4 points per game to go along with nearly five rebounds, and is coming off of an excellent month. The North Carolina native lead Maryland in scoring in back-to-back games against Ohio State and Minnesota during the final week of February. This argument is a reflection of how well Micah Potter played rather than taking anything away from the significant impact of Wiggins for the Terrapins.

With that being said, Micah Potter completely deserves this award. A common first thought about why the Ohio State transfer did not come away with the hardware could be games missed. This award, however, is only indicative of conference performance and Potter only missed two conference games out of the 20. Not only was he an energy-providing stretch big for this team, but he was also one of the key differences between a team that started conference play with a loss at Rutgers (this loss did not turn out to look so bad), and a team that ended the year as co-Big Ten regular season champions. Once Kobe King left the program, Potter, for matchup reasons, was inserted into the starting lineup for a total of three Big Ten games including the Badger win at Indiana. Despite those three games, the Ohio native’s main role was as a key contributor off the pine. Now let’s break it down statistically.

There are certain arguments with Potter and Wiggins that cancel each other out. They both averaged right around ten points per contest, Potter had a slight edge in the rebounding category as a big, their teams both won the same amount of conference games, and they each had games where they led their respective squads to w’s. One major separating factor, however, is how Potter and Wiggins individually got their respective numbers. For the Badger big man, efficiency was incredibly high in conference play. Potter shot an incredible 48.9% from beyond the arc, nearly 55% on all field goals, and 83% from the line. He did all of that while only playing nearly 19 minutes per game. Potter only played in three games that were not conference clashes. He did not make a three in those three games, and he averaged just under five points a game. The Mentor, Ohio product elevated his game, got his legs under him, and did damage in conference play.

Wiggins, on the flip side, got to his numbers in a much less efficient way. In conference play, the sophomore guard shot just 38% from the field and a bit under 32% from distance. His scoring average actually dropped slightly down to 10.0 points per conference game in comparison to the non-conference slate. Additionally, Wiggins played nearly eight more minutes than the Badger big man on average in conference play. In college basketball terms, Wiggins has not actually been incredibly inefficient. Once again, this is an argument about the incredible efficiency of Potter in conference play.

Had Maryland and Wisconsin’s records been significantly different, which at the beginning of February looked likely, it would have made sense to reward winning and therefore reward Wiggins. With these two teams tied at 14-6 in the conference after an eight-game Wisconsin winning streak? It’s truly hard to see how Potter did not come away with a well-deserved trophy.

Expect a crazy Big Ten Tournament (except for Northwestern winning)

The Big Ten Tournament

The Big Ten’s depth — and its lack of a great, transcendent team — should point to a tournament this week in Indianapolis which creates all sorts of seed-based outcomes. More precisely, we shouldn’t think of various seed-based outcomes as upsets. There aren’t many upsets to be found in the Big Ten other than Northwestern and Nebraska winning games. Those would be the only shockers. Everything else among the top 12 teams in the conference seems entirely realistic.

Minnesota led Iowa late in Williams Arena a few weeks ago before letting the Hawkeyes off the hook. If Minnesota manages to beat Iowa in a 12-over-5-seed upset, would it be THAT shocking? Hardly. Minnesota almost beat Maryland. It almost beat Indiana. It almost won a number of very important games but couldn’t close the deal. Minnesota is a very dangerous No. 12 seed at a conference tournament, which in many ways tells you everything you need to know about the Big Ten Tournament.

Let’s play more seed-based games: If No. 11 seed Indiana beat No. 6 Penn State in a second-round game, would THAT be a stunner? Indiana recently beat PSU.

If No. 10 seed Purdue — which beat No. 2 seed Michigan State by 29 points earlier this season — makes its way to the semifinals on Saturday by beating Ohio State (second round) and Michigan State (quarterfinals), would it be a massive upset? Not at all. Maybe a slight surprise, but not an earthquake.

Last but certainly not least, if Wisconsin loses to Michigan or Rutgers — both NCAA Tournament teams — it wouldn’t be a gigantic shocker. It is very rare that an 8-9 game in a conference tournament involves two NCAA Tournament teams, but this is a rare season, and the Big Ten is ridiculously deep.

Rutgers versus Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament final on Sunday? Michigan versus Indiana in the Big Ten final? I wouldn’t expect those outcomes… but they wouldn’t be completely shocking. With nine certain NCAA Tournament teams and 11 teams being within the realm of possibility, the Big Ten Tournament could create numerous outcomes which wouldn’t be hugely surprising.

Expect just about anything… except for Northwestern and Nebraska winning a game.