Jan. 26, 2010

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FACES of the Big Ten

Mark Titus, ohio state senior guard


Mark Titus, author of the popular college basketball blog clubtrillion.com, is a walk-on on the Ohio State men's basketball team. Titus, a Brownsburg, Ind., native, has used his musings to help raise awareness and monies for the "A Kid Again" charity, which aims to enrich the lives of children suffering from life-threatening illnesses and their families. In return for a $25 donation to "A Kid Again," donors receive a "Club Tril" T-shirt. Since the shirts became available in late November, more than 1,300 have been sold, providing enough revenue to purchase holiday presents for over 200 children in Central Ohio.

 

Big Ten. Big Notes.

DESTINATION INDY: Big Ten Basketball Fans - March is on! Help paint Indianapolis your school colors when the Big Ten Tournament invades Conseco Fieldhouse March 11-14. For the first time the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament will feature a special discounted rate of $50 for all-session tickets available only to students. January 31st is the deadline to guarantee seats in your school's respective ticket blocks. Call your favorite Big Ten School's ticket office to secure your seats today. For more information, visit Big Ten Tournament Central at bigten.org.

THE AMAZING RACE: Michigan State remains on top of the Big Ten standings with a 7-0 record after escaping with a 65-64 win at Minnesota on Sunday. Wisconsin is alone in second place at 6-2 following a pair of home wins last week. The race for the conference title heats up towards the middle of the pack as seven squads sport similar conference ledgers. At 4-3, Illinois, Ohio State and Purdue are tied for third place in the Big Ten, while Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Northwestern are knotted in sixth with 3-4 Big Ten marks.

BO JOINS CENTURY CLUB: Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan made history Sunday tying former Indiana mentor Branch McCracken as the second-fastest coach in conference history to record 100 Big Ten wins, doing so in 140 games with the overtime triumph over Penn State. Ryan and McCracken trail only Bob Knight, who reached the milestone in 131 games at the helm for Indiana. With the win, Ryan improved his Big Ten best winning percentage to .714.  He joins Michigan State's Tom Izzo as the only two active coaches among the 18 in conference annals to have accomplished the feat.

BIG TEN SCORING TITLE CHASE: Michigan's DeShawn Sims paces the cluster of Big Ten scoring leaders with 20.9 points per game in Big Ten only contests. Purdue's E'Twaun Moore and Penn State's Talor Battle follow closely behind the conference frontrunner with 20.1 and 19.6 points per game, respectively. Rounding out the top five leading scorers in the Big Ten are Northwestern's John Shurna (18.7 ppg.) and Purdue's Robbie Hummel (18.0 ppg.). 

A GRAND NIGHT: Saturday proved to be a grand night for Minnesota's Lawrence Westbrook, who connected on a pair of free throws early in the second half against Michigan State to notch his 1,000th career point. The senior guard now owns 1,006 career tallies and paces the Gophers in scoring with 13.4 points per contest. The charity stripe proved generous again on Sunday as Wisconsin's Jason Bohannon registered his 1,000th career point on a late free throw to secure the UW win over Penn State. The senior guard needed just 12 points to reach the milestone, and did one better by posting 13 to become the ninth Badger under Bo Ryan to surpass the mark. Both Westbrook and Bohannon are the 35th players at their respective programs to reach the scoring plateau. With its new additions, the Big Ten now boasts 12 active players who have eclipsed 1,000 points for their career. With plenty of season left, three more Big Ten sharpshooters are on pace to join the 1,000-point club in Illinois' Demetri McCamey (985), Purdue's JaJuan Johnson (948) and Northwestern's Michael Thompson (905).

MEMBERS ONLY: With eight assists against Northwestern on Tuesday, Evan Turner became the second player in Ohio State history to exceed 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in a single career. The junior guard joins Jimmy Jackson as the only two Buckeyes in OSU lore to achieve the exclusive trifecta. Michigan's Manny Harris is also nearing another career milestone and needs just seven boards to become the 27th Wolverine to register 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career. He currently has 1,451 points and 493 rebounds and is the only Big Ten player to rank in the top 15 in points, rebounds, assists and steals in the conference. Teammate DeShawn Sims is also part of the exclusive listing (1,358 points and 623 rebounds). Sims and Turner join Michigan State's Raymar Morgan (1,421/654) and Purdue's Robbie Hummel ( 1,082/557) as the active players with the feat.

ALL FOUR ONE: Penn State's Talor Battle is one of only two players in the ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10 or SEC to pilot his team in points (19.1 ppg.), rebounds (5.6 rpg.), assists (3.7 apg.) and steals (1.1 spg.). Seth Tarver of Oregon State is the other. The Nittany Lion junior ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring, 14th in rebounding, ninth in assists and just outside the top-15 in steals per contest. He also paces the conference with nine 20-point performances in 2009-10, including three 30-point efforts most recently against Iowa on Jan. 16. Last week, he became the fourth NIttany Lion in program history to record 1,000 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists and now stands 14th all-time in scoring (1,314) at Penn State and ninth in assists (358).  Ohio State's Evan Turner is the only other player among ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-10 and SESC to lead his team in points, rebounds and assists and could eventually rank in the top 15 of the conference in those categories once he plays enough games to qualify.

MASTER OF DEFENSE: Wisconsin has held nine opponents to 50 points or less in 2009-10, the most of any team in the nation. Through 20 games, the Badgers have relied on their defensive tradition to force opponents into 21 scoring droughts of four minutes or longer. They are 15-0 in such games. Over the past eight seasons, the Badgers have rated among the Big Ten's top three in scoring defense in every campaign but one while also finishing among the nation's top 10 five times. This season, the Badgers once again lead the Big Ten in scoring defense, allowing only 57.0 points per game, which is good enough to rank seventh in the nation. UW has applied that same scoring cap on teams in recent years, limiting opponents to an average of 57.0 points since 2006-07 to lead all Division I teams.

COACHES UNITE TO KICK CANCER: Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers awareness weekend is set to kick off Jan. 29-31.  All Big Ten coaches competing this weekend will join participating NABC members in sporting sneakers instead of dress shoes with their suits during weekend games to demonstrate their support for the American Cancer Society. Coaches vs. Cancer participants have raised more than $55 million since 1993 to help the Society fund ground-breaking cancer research, provide up-to-date cancer information and education, advocate for public health policies that benefit communities, and deliver services that improve the quality of life for patients and their families.

 

Big Ten Men's Basketball

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