With February rolling on, the Big Ten has given fans high-level matchups week in and week out. No. 10 Michigan State took down Illinois, USC defeated Indiana and Michigan returned to its dominant form against Ohio State. Iowa extended its win streak to six games after a 2-0 week with wins over Washington and Northwestern, while Maryland picked up its second conference win against Minnesota.
And the best is still yet to come.
Michigan State’s up-and-down week leaves the Spartans with questions
Coming into this past week, Michigan State appeared to be stuck in a rut. Rutgers took the Spartans to overtime on Jan. 27, yet Michigan State pulled out an 88-79 win. However, the now 2-11 in the Big Ten Scarlet Knights taking the Spartans into extra time was a disappointing performance from Michigan State, who were riding a six-game win streak into the contest.
And the performances didn’t get much better, as Michigan took down the Spartans in East Lansing, Michigan, 83-71 on Jan. 30. But this week was supposed to be a chance for Michigan State to land back on its feet. An easier showdown against Minnesota before taking on No. 5 Illinois at the Breslin Center was in front of the Spartans.
Yet it was a confusing week for the Spartans, as they were upset 76-73 by the Golden Gophers on Wednesday before taking down the Fighting Illini 85-82 in overtime on Saturday.
Minnesota is not a team to take lightly in Big Ten play, even though the Golden Gophers record stands at 4-9 in conference after a 67-62 loss to Maryland on Sunday. Minnesota upset a ranked Indiana team in December, defeated Iowa by three points in January and started February by taking down Michigan State.
The Spartans were the less physical team on Wednesday. In the front court, Jaxson Kohler finished the game with 9 points, going 1 for 5 on his 3-point attempts, and Carson Cooper had zero points on his three attempts from the field.
It was a performance where Michigan State had to turn to Jeremy Fears, but Fears was assessed a technical foul with four minutes remaining in the second half and the Spartans trailing 67-51. Fears finished the game with 10 points and added 11 assists, which wasn’t enough to help Coen Carr’s 16-point performance in the second half that almost was enough to give Michigan State a comeback win.
And Michigan State’s troubles got even worse in the middle of the week after sophomore guard Divine Ugochukwu was announced as out for the remainder of the season with a foot injury that required surgery. Ugochukwu has been in and out of the starting lineup this season, but his 5.1 points per game were a hole that Illinois could have exploited on Sunday.
However, the Fighting Illini didn’t.
Michigan State turned to younger pieces to help the Spartans pick up their fourth ranked win of the season. Freshman forward Jordan Scott had 10 points in his 28 minutes on the floor, while freshman forward Cam Ward came off the bench and played a crucial role around the basket on the defensive end.
Fears regained a sense of confidence on Sunday that helped him finish with 26 points and 15 assists. Kohler and Cooper combined for 20 points, plus two 3-pointers and 10 points from Kur Teng gave Michigan State enough to overcome Illinois.
It was an up-and-down week for Michigan State that could have sunk the Spartans chances of gaining a two seed in the NCAA Tournament. With seven games remaining on its schedule, Michigan State has plenty of chances to pick up quality wins.
The Spartans travel to Wisconsin on Friday, before playing UCLA, Ohio State and No. 13 Purdue throughout the next two weeks. Plus, Michigan State has a crucial rematch at No. 2 Michigan to close out the regular season.
What NCAA Tournament bubble teams must do before the season ends
Indiana: After a losing skid throughout the middle of January, which saw the Hoosiers lose four straight games, Indiana worked its way back into the right side of the bubble. Indiana defeated in-state rival Purdue before winning a double overtime thriller against UCLA. But the Hoosiers finally had a letdown performance against USC last Tuesday. Indiana fought back throughout the latter half of the final 20 minutes, but Lamar Wilkerson’s 33 points weren’t enough to complete the comeback attempts.
The Hoosiers did get back into the win column by taking down Wisconsin on Sunday after Wilkerson drew a foul and made both free throws to give Indiana a 78-77 win. Now, Indiana has to turn its attention to two crucial away games: No. 8 Illinois on Sunday and No. 13 Purdue on Feb. 20. If both games turn into losses, the Hoosiers would be lacking a third quality win, but if Indiana was able to take one, its chances of making the NCAA Tournament would be greatly improved.
USC: The Trojans are a 10 or 11 seed according to most Bracketology experts. Freshman guard Alijah Arenas is finally playing his first minutes of the season after returning from a car crash suffered in April 2025 and a knee injury in July 2025. Arenas led all USC scorers in the win against Indiana on Tuesday (29 points) and Penn State on Sunday (24).
The freshman has also been the focal point of the Trojans offense since returning. Arenas finished with 23 attempts against the Hoosiers and 17 versus the Nittany Lions. But he was crucial in the Penn State win after Freddie Dilione V made a layup to tie the game at 75-75 with 12 seconds left. Arenas took the inbounds pass and made a layup high off the glass to keep USC’s tournament chances alive. The Trojans still have chances to pick up resume-boosting wins: Illinois, Nebraska and two games against UCLA. USC will play at Ohio State on Wednesday in a matchup against two teams on the bubble.
UCLA: The Bruins finished the week by picking up two wins against teams that would’ve hurt their resume more than they would’ve helped. UCLA started the week with a 98-66 win against Rutgers. Junior forward Xavier Booker went 10 for 11 from the field and a perfect 4 for 4 from 3-point range. The shooting performance totaled 24 points, a career-high for Booker, and helped the Bruins bounce back from an Indiana loss that snapped their 14-game home win streak inside Pauley Pavilion.
Then, Washington hung around with UCLA on Saturday. A layup from Wesley Yates III made it a two-point game with 5:50 left, but the Bruins made 10 of 12 from the free throw line in the last 1:30 to help seal a 77-73 win. Sophomore guard Trent Perry knocked down all three of his 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 23 points for a Bruins group that was missing Skyy Clark’s 13.5 points per game due to a hamstring injury.
But the easy stretch turns into a hard one over the next couple of weeks. UCLA starts with No. 2 Michigan on Saturday, before Michigan State and Illinois. Plus two matchups against USC and a showdown against No. 7 Nebraska to start March give the Bruins many chances to pick up quality wins that can move UCLA off the bubble.
Ohio State: After losing to Wisconsin by 10 points last week, Ohio State responded with a commanding 82-62 win over Maryland. Christoph Tilly, Bruce Thornton and John Mobley combined to score 51 points. Both teams started slow, but the Buckeyes entered the locker room with a 42-30 lead after the opening 20 minutes. Maryland senior guard David Coit was limited to nine points and a 4-for-10 performance from the field after averaging 15.2 points per game this season.
After the win, Ohio State could’ve used the momentum into the Buckeyes second matchup against Michigan. However, the Wolverines thoroughly outperformed Ohio State at the Schottenstein Center on Sunday. Aday Mara knocked down two 3-pointers to compile 24 minutes to push Michigan to an 82-61 win. It was a humiliating performance from the Buckeyes after a “Let’s Go Blue” chant echoed down from Michigan fans. Ohio State now has to turn its attention to USC and an out-of-conference matchup against No. 15 Virginia on Saturday.
Many teams don’t have a chance to pick up a quality win outside of their own conference this late in the season, so the Buckeyes have to capitalize. Ohio State still has matchups against Michigan State, Iowa, Purdue and Indiana in its final eight games. The Buckeyes are 0-7 against Quadrant 1 teams and are sitting firmly on the bubble right now.
Is Purdue trending in the wrong direction after holding off Oregon’s upset attempt?
The Boilermakers came into a Jan. 20 showdown against UCLA with a 17-1 record and 7-0 in the Big Ten. Since that game, Purdue lost three straight matchups to the Bruins, then-No. 11 Illinois and Indiana. It looked like the Boilermakers got their form back after a 30-point victory against Maryland, however, Oregon took Purdue to the brink on Saturday. The Boilermakers came away with a 68-64 win, but the results have not been impressive recently.
The Ducks’ were helped with senior center Nate Bittle returning to action for the first time since Jan. 13 against Nebraska. Bittle had a lower-body injury, but it didn’t look like he had any rust from his time off. The 7-foot Bittle was able to attack Purdue’s Oscar Cluff and Daniel Jacobsen in the post, finishing with 23 points and five rebounds.
But the win still ended up in the Boilermakers hands after Fletcher Loyer was the hero a second straight game for Purdue. Loyer knocked down a 3-pointer with under a minute left in the game and led the way for the Boilermakers with 18 points and three 3-pointers.
Purdue came away with the win in the clutch, but questions remain in West Lafayette, Indiana. The Boilermakers have a tough stretch to end the season. Four straight games against Iowa, Michigan, Indiana and Michigan State give Purdue many chances to slip up.
Purdue is fighting for a 2-seed right now and already have six Quadrant 1 victories this season. Going into postseason play with quality wins can help the Boilermakers in the NCAA Tournament but they need their best player to step up.
Braeden Smith finished Saturday’s game with 13 points and four assists, yet the usually confident senior guard gave the ball away six times throughout the contest. Smith’s ability to be one of the best playmakers in the country hasn’t shown up recently and Purdue’s results have suffered.
One Game to Watch Every Day This Week
Tuesday Feb. 10
No. 13 Purdue @ No. 7 Nebraska, 7 p.m., FS1
Wednesday Feb. 11
USC @ Ohio State, 6:30 p.m., BTN
Friday Feb. 13
No. 10 Michigan State @ Wisconsin, 8 p.m., FOX
Saturday Feb. 14
No. 15 Virginia @ Ohio State, 8 p.m., FOX (Played in Nashville, Tennessee)
Sunday Feb. 15
Indiana @ No. 8 Illinois, 1 p.m., CBS
Elms' Essentials: Championship Week 2025
