Feb. 20, 2006

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The Final Stretch: With just two weeks left in the Big Ten regular season, six teams are above .500 in conference play as Iowa leads the league contingent with a 9-4 mark. Illinois, Ohio State and Wisconsin are tied for second with matching 8-4 records. With a victory over Michigan on Saturday, Michigan State (7-5) moved into fifth place, while the Wolverines are just a half game behind the Spartans with a 7-6 mark. Of the top three teams, Iowa wraps up the conference slate with two of three contests at home, while Illinois and Wisconsin play three of their four games on the road. Michigan State has the toughest slate of the top six teams as its remaining opponents boast a .604 winning percentage (29-19), however the Spartans will close out the league slate with three out of their four contests at home.

NCAA RPI Rankings: The Big Ten continues to lead the nation with five teams ranked in the top 20 of the RPI rankings which were released by the NCAA last Wednesday. Ohio State ranked No. 8, followed by Iowa (9th), Michigan State (10th), Illinois (13th) and Wisconsin (16th).

Six Named to Naismith Midseason Watch List: Six Big Ten standouts - Illinois' Dee Brown, Iowa's Greg Brunner, Michigan State's Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown and Paul Davis and Wisconsin's Alando Tucker - were named midseason candidates for the Naismith Trophy presented by Cingular Wireless. These players will now be eligible for the final ballot in March when four finalists for the award are announced by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's Board of Selectors. The Naismith Trophy winner will be named at the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis.

15 Big Ten Standouts Earn NABC All-District Accolades: The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced its Division I All-District teams last week as 15 Big Ten student-athletes were recognized for their achievements on the court. Indiana's Marco Killingsworth and Ohio State's Terence Dials were named to the District 10's first team, while Indiana's Robert Vaden and Ohio State's Je'Kel Foster earned second-team accolades. Illinois' James Augustine and Dee Brown, Michigan State's Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown and Wisconsin's Alando Tucker made up the District 11 first team, while Michigan's Daniel Horton, Michigan State's Paul Davis, Minnesota's Vincent Grier and Northwestern's Vedran Vukusic picked up second-team accolades. Iowa's Greg Brunner was a first-team selection on the District 12 squad, while teammate Adam Haluska was named to the second team. All 15 players are now eligible for selection to the NABC All-American Team to be announced at the end of the season.

Horner Becomes Iowa's All-time Assist Leader: Iowa senior Jeff Horner became the Hawkeyes' career assist leader in the win over Michigan State last Monday, collecting 15 points and six assists against the Spartans. Horner's pass to Erek Hansen for Iowa's first basket of the second half moved Horner past Andre Woolridge (575, 1995-97) on Iowa's career list. He currently stands eighth on the Big Ten's all-time assist chart with 582, while Illinois' Dee Brown is ranked sixth on the league's list with 628 dishes in his four-year career.

Big Ten Rebounding Leaders: As Illinois' Dee Brown and Iowa's Jeff Horner eye the league's career assist record, other Big Ten standouts are nearing career milestones this season. Illinois' career leading rebounder, James Augustine, is only 40 boards away from reaching the 1,000-plateau, while Iowa's Greg Brunner, who is the Hawkeyes' career leader in rebounds, has currently tallied 945 all-time boards in his four-year career. Augustine and Brunner are on pace to becoming just the 11th and 12th player, respectively,  in Big Ten history to record 1,000 career rebounds. The last Big Ten standout to record more than 1,000 all-time boards was Indiana's Alan Henderson, who concluded his four-year career with 1,091 rebounds to rank fifth on the conference's career list. Ohio State's Jerry Lucas (1959-62) is the Big Ten's rebounding leader with 1,411 boards.

Big Ten's Grand Company: Indiana's Marshall Strickland (985) and Minnesota's Vincent Grier (988) are less than 25 points away from becoming the next Big Ten standouts to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The league's group of 1,000-point scorers has doubled from the start of the season as 16 standouts are now above that scoring plateau, including three teams with three players. Eight Big Ten seniors began the season on the 1,000-point list in Illinois' Dee Brown (1,724), Indiana's Marco Killingsworth (1,451), Iowa's Greg Brunner (1,420) and Jeff Horner (1,396), Michigan's Daniel Horton (1,425), Michigan State's Paul Davis (1,592), Northwestern's Vedran Vukusic (1,510) and Ohio State's Terence Dials (1,413). Eight more players joined the list this season in Illinois' James Augustine (1,277), Iowa's Adam Haluska (1,144), Michigan's Dion Harris (1,044), Michigan State's Maurice Ager (1,380) and Shannon Brown (1,072), Ohio State's Ron Lewis (1,153) and J.J. Sullinger (1,107) and Wisconsin's Alando Tucker (1,393). The Big Ten's "Grand Company" list appears to the right.

Big Ten Homecourt Winning Streaks: Iowa and Michigan State are vying for the league's longest homecourt winning streaks as both boast 15 consecutive wins at home. Iowa is undefeated at Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season with a school-record 15 wins and has  broken the arena record with 16 consecutive home victories going back to last season. The Hawkeyes have not lost at home since Illinois defeated Iowa, 76-65, on Feb. 19, 2005. Michigan State currently boasts 14 straight home triumphs at the Breslin Center. The Spartans' last loss was also against the Fighting Illini as Illinois claimed an 81-66 victory on Feb. 1, 2005.