Big Ten Roundup: Purdue Wins at Penn State; Michigan-Michigan State Postponed

The good news in the Big Ten on Saturday was that Purdue won a big road game at Penn State and Rutgers continued to roll at home, pounding Nebraska. The bad news was that the first league game was postponed, with Michigan-Michigan State getting shelved because of a COVID situation inside the Wolverines' program.

Purdue needed a win in the worst way on Saturday, and found a way to scratch out a 74-67 victory at Penn State.

Senior Trevion Williams led the way with 21 points and the No. 3-ranked Boilers hung on despite blowing a 13-point second half lead. They are now 2-2 in the Big Ten, and 13-2 overall. Penn State fell to 2-3 in the league, and 7-6 overall, ending a two-game winning streak.

"Anytime you can win close games that helps you as a coach," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "You don't want to be in them but anytime you can win those games I think it helps with your confidence. But we just have to keep getting better in practice every day. … We just got to do a better job of playing on edge every day."

Mason Gillis had 14 points for Purdue, Sasha Stefanovic added 13 and Jaden Ivey had 12. For the full game story, CLICK HERE

The victory was Purdue coach Matt Painter’s 182nd in Big Ten play, moving into a tie for seventh with Jud Heathcote on the Big Ten’s wins list in league games only. He has 368 wins at Purdue, needing just three more wins to tie Ward “Piggy” Lambert for second on Purdue’s career victories list.  

Rutgers 93, Nebraska 65

Ron Harper Jr. scored 29 points and led five players in double-figure scoring as Rutgers routed Nebraska 93-65 for its fourth straight win Saturday. The Scarlet knights are now 3-1 in the Big Ten, and 9-5 overall. Nebraska fell to 0-5 in the league, and 6-10 on the season.

The 93 points are the most Rutgers has ever scored in regulation in a Big Ten game. Rutgers improved to 9-1 at home this season, 46-7 at home over the past three seasons and 27-2 in home games over the past two seasons (with fans allowed in the arena). 

"My team is playing good basketball right now," Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. "I have a ton of respect for Nebraska; that's a good team. We rebounded well today and shared the game. We continue to really pass the basketball. The team did a great job. Everyone that checked into the game gave us good minutes. It was a big game for us today." 

Michigan-Michigan State postponed

Because of continued COVID-19 issues inside Michigan's basketball program, Saturday's game with Michigan State was postponed, and will be rescheduled by the league at a later date.

The Big Ten's recent COVID rules say that a team must play if it has seven scholarship players available, but the Wolverines didn't after Friday night's team testing. Michigan State was already in Ann Arbor for the game.

Michigan is supposed to play Purdue on Tuesday night in Ann Arbor, so it's going to be interesting to see if they have enough players available by then. 

The Spartans were ready to play, and rightly so. They are 4-0 in the Big Ten so far, and 13-2 overall with their only losses to top-five teams Duke and Kansas. Michigan has been heading in the opposite direction, with just a 7-6 record overall and a 1-2 mark in the Big Ten.

This week's schedule, results

Monday's results

• Wisconsin 74, Purdue 69
• Iowa 80, Maryland 75

Tuesday's results

• Rutgers 75, Michigan 67
• Illinois 76, Minnesota 53
• Tuesday's roundup, CLICK HERE

Wednesday's results

• Michigan State 79, Nebraska 67
• Penn State 73, Northwestern 70

Thursday's results

• Indiana 67, Ohio State 51
• Illinois 76, Maryland 64
• Wisconsin 87, Iowa 78
• Thursday's roundup, CLICK HERE

Saturday's results

• Purdue 74, Penn State 67
• Rutgers 93, Nebraska 65
• Michigan State at Michigan, postponed

Sunday's games

• Minnesota at Indiana, Noon ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Northwestern at Ohio State, 5:30 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)
• Wisconsin at Maryland, 7:30 p.m. ET (TV: Big Ten Network)