Tuesday, Feb. 10, 1998

Spartans sitting pretty; Purdue seeks revenge

By TODD J. ENGEL
Collegian Sports Writer

With less than a month remaining until the inaugural Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament held March 5-8 at the United Center in Chicago, the conference is finally starting to take shape.

With a 10-1 conference record, No. 13 Michigan State reigns supreme this week. The Spartans faced a potential season-buster of a game against Northwestern on Jan. 31, when the Wildcats took them to overtime only to see their quest to knock off the conference leader fail by a 72-66 score. The Spartans were able to rebound without difficulty, 84-58, over Ohio State (the only team without a conference win), and 75-64 over No. 24 Iowa.

Unranked Illinois is a close second with a 9-2 conference record. No. 8 Purdue and Indiana round out the top four with 8-2 and 7-3 records, respectively. The Spartans and Fighting Illini tipoff Thursday at 8 p.m. EST, at Illinois. However, the game of the week pits Indiana against Purdue in the second half of an intrastate rivalry.

Game of the week

The battle of Indiana all over again. This time the Hoosiers must travel to West Lafayette, were the Boilermakers will seek revenge for a 94-88 loss back on Jan. 18 in Bloomington. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 tonight on ESPN.

Last time out freshman forward Luke Recker shredded the Purdue defense for a game-high 27 points. Sophomore guard A.J. Guyton and junior forward William Gladness added 21 each.

Purdue and Indiana rank first and second respectively in conference scoring with 81.3 and 80.6 points per game apiece. The Boilermakers hold down the No. 4 spot in the conference in terms of scoring defense at 69.2 points per game, while the Hoosiers are 11th, giving up 73.8 points per contest.

This factor alone is not enough to knock off a Bobby Knight-coached team. But playing in Mackey Arena is. Prediction: Purdue prevails, 77-70.

Lisicky's line

Penn State shooting guard Pete Lisicky currently is tops in the Big Ten and second nationally in free throw percentage at 94 percent. The senior guard has missed only 4 of 66 attempts this season. Lisicky was shooting 93 percent entering last week in the national ranking and has hit his last 31 in a row. Danny Sprinkle of Montana State holds down the No. 1 spot nationally at 95 percent.