Right now, Big Ten men's basketball is all about the Maize and Blue.
After Sunday night's 60-58 victory over intrastate rival Michigan State, Michigan now stands alone atop the Big Ten at 6-0 and 13-6 overall, with the nation's longest winning streak at 13 games.
The victory was a big one for the fans and the school, which hadn't beaten Michigan State in its last eight meetings. The fans responded by rushing the court in celebration.
Ironically enough, in a season that began with their best start since 1976, the Wolverines will be unable to participate in postseason play. Self-imposed sanctions, stemming from the well-publicized booster scandal involving Chris Webber and Ed Martin, prohibit Michigan from playing in the NCAA Tournament this season, though they will compete in the Big Ten Tournament.
Still, Michigan men's basketball coach Tommy Amaker is proud of what his team has accomplished so far this season.
"We have a plan and a philosophy, and a vision and a belief of what we want our Michigan basketball program to become one day," Amaker said. "We're involved in that journey right now, we've been fortunate to have won these games."
It will only get harder for the Wolverines, though. This week, they'll be challenged by two road games at nationally ranked Illinois tomorrow night and then Minnesota on Saturday.
Handing out the hardware
Michigan State sophomore guard Chris Hill was named Big Ten Player of the Week, as he averaged 20 points, six rebounds and three assists per game, despite coming off the bench for the Spartans.
Hill punished the Nittany Lions in Michigan State's blowout win in East Lansing last week, scoring 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting in just 23 minutes.
Hill followed up that performance with another 20-point outing in the close loss to Michigan.
"It's been a real struggle because we put him in a tough position," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "Chris has been a 2-guard all his life, but we had to move him over to the point. I appreciate the fact that he's trying to do both, because we really need his scoring."
Approaching a milestone
Purdue's Gene Keady earned his 249th Big Ten victory on Saturday against Indiana.
The conference's second winningest coach of all time continues his march toward 250 league wins.
The Boilermakers snapped a four-game losing streak against the Hoosiers, beating No. 16 Indiana, 69-47.
"We're tickled to death with the way things turned out on Saturday," Keady said.
"We played probably as a good a game as we had in two or three years."
Keady now has an all-time Big Ten mark of 249-142.
He needs just one more win to join former Indiana head coach Bob Knight as the only conference coaches to compile 250 wins.
