Big Ten cagers dominating AP poll

By MICHAEL LELLO
Collegian Staff Writer

Big Ten teams continue to stake their claim as the country's premier basketball conference, making national noise with seven teams ranked in the latest Associated Press poll and perennial league doormat Northwestern even receiving a vote. The Big Ten currently boasts the most ranked members of any conference, ahead of next best the Big East which places four teams in the poll, including No. 1 Connecticut.

Illinois, Michigan and Penn State are the only Big Ten teams shut out of the AP poll. No. 8 Michigan St. (19-4, 8-1 Big Ten) is the highest-ranked conference team.

Game of the week

Michigan State will look to extend its eight-game winning streak Saturday afternoon at No. 14 Iowa (15-4, 6-3). The game features a matchup between two of the conference's top teams, and while the Spartans are a close favorite, they do not have an easy task before them at the hostile Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Iowa, meanwhile, first must contend tomorrow night with No. 18 Purdue (15-6, 3-4), a team coming off last Wednesday's devastating 54-50 upset loss at Northwestern (12-6, 4-4).

Player(s) of the week

Rather than selecting the customary singular athlete, for the second straight week the Big Ten failed to be decisive and tabbed two Players of the Week. The conference was hard pressed to pick a favorite, with both No. 21 Indiana (17-7, 4-5) guard A.J. Guyton and No. 18 Minnesota (13-5, 4-4) forward Quincy Lewis receiving the honors after stellar weeks of performances.

Guyton averaged 30 points for the week, including a career-high, 33-point performance in a 98-95 double-overtime win at Penn State Sunday. Guyton hit both the 3-point shot that sent the game to the second extra period and the game-clinching trey with four seconds left in the contest. The junior attempted 16 3-pointers in the game, tying his own school record, and connected on seven of them to become the top 3-point shooter in Hoosier history with 188.

Guyton faced fellow Player of the Week Lewis last Tuesday and scored 27 points in a losing effort. Lewis, leading the conference with 23.8 points per game, netted 27 including a 5 for 8 performance from beyond the arc in the Gophers' 90-83 overtime win against Guyton's Hoosiers. Against Wisconsin Lewis scored 28 points, shooting 53 percent from the field.

Quote of the week

"Do you understand English? I wish I could tell it to you in Spanish, but I can't."

Indiana coach Bob Knight's response to a reporter who repeatedly asked Knight to expand on his remarks that the key to Indiana's victory over Penn State was the fact that the Hoosiers got into double figures in free throws.