Shuffled deck
Eight clubs seek first-round byes for cagers' Big Ten Tournament

By CRAIG KACKENMEISTER
Collegian Staff Writer

The Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament is just two weeks away and the top eight teams in the conference are still trying to make a last-ditch effort for a first-round bye.

No. 4 Michigan State (12-1 Big Ten) pretty much has the top seed tied up. After a loss to Wisconsin to start the conference season, the Spartans have rattled off 12 victories in a row in what many consider the best conference in the nation.

No. 11 Ohio State (9-3) and No. 13 Wisconsin (9-4) are battling for second place, but the biggest bottleneck is in the middle of the standings between No. 19 Indiana, No. 17 Purdue and Northwestern -- all knotted at 6-6.

The Boilermakers may have the toughest schedule of the three going into the tournament. They host Penn State (2-10) Saturday then play a home-and-home with Minnesota (5-7) -- one game is a makeup from a weather cancellation earlier in the season -- and finish the regular season against Michigan State.

After its game against Illinois (2-11) last night, Northwestern has to travel to Ohio State and No. 20 Iowa (7-6) before closing its season at home against the Golden Gophers.

The Hoosiers, after last night's tussle with Ohio State, have to travel to Illinois and close at their season at home against Iowa.

Hoosier daddy?

It seemed Indiana coach Bob Knight had a problem with that exact question when it was asked by taunting Northwestern fans during the Hoosiers' 69-62 overtime win last Saturday.

After the game, Knight went over to shake Wildcats coach Kevin O'Neill's hand, but the two instead got involved in a heated conversation. After Knight whispered something into O'Neill's ear, the Wildcats coach grabbed Knight on the shoulder as he was trying to walk away.

O'Neill said after the game that the incident was a result of his not controlling the crowd and what they were chanting.

Game of the Week

The game of the week had to be Michigan State's 84-82 last-second victory at Minnesota last Saturday. Spartans guard Mateen Cleaves scored 23 points including the game-winning layup with 1.2 seconds left in regulation.

The leading scorer in the Big Ten, Gophers guard Quincy Lewis, continued to put up dominant numbers with 29 points, and teammate Kevin Clark added 15 to lead the Gophers, who have now lost three straight and five of their last seven games.

Players of the Week

Purdue junior guard Jaraan Cornell and Ohio State junior guard James "Scoonie" Penn took home co-Big Ten Player of the Week accolades this week.

Cornell averaged 22 points and pulled down five rebounds in two games last week to lead Purdue to a pair of victories including an 86-81 overtime victory over Indiana and a 63-50 victory over Illinois.

In the Boilermakers' victory over Illinois, Cornell scored a career-high 30 points, pulled down five rebounds, handed out two assists and had two steals.

Penn averaged 24 points and 3.5 assists in the Buckeyes' two victories last week. Penn tallied a career-high 27 points including a career-best six 3-pointers -- all in the second half of the Buckeyes' 73-69 victory over Iowa. In the 74-69 victory over Michigan, Penn scored 21 points and tallied five assists.