Big Ten Roundup (Feb. 19): Northwestern Continues Winning Ways, Shuts Down Iowa

Northwestern blew out Iowa for its fifth-straight win and remains a game behind Purdue, who crushed Ohio State, in the Big Ten race. Here is our Big Ten roundup for Sunday, plus the schedule for the week and the latest conference standings.

It's been a heck of a week for Northwestern, maybe the best week in school history.

The Wildcats crushed Iowa 80-60 on Sunday at sold-out Welsh-Ryan Arena, getting their 11th Big Ten win and tying a school record for conference victories that's stood since 1931. The blowout came on the heels of huge home wins against then-No. 1 Purdue last Sunday and No. 14 Indiana on Wednesday night, and was their fifth-straight win.

Epic. Historic. Exciting. At Northwestern, the words all work.

"Obviously, another special night at Welsh-Ryan. What a week,'' Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. "You can't talk enough about the atmosphere, with the students right on top of the action and the way they are rallying around this team. 

"I couldn't be prouder of my team, because Iowa is really good and they're the hardest to guard. To hold them to 60 points is quite a feat. We made it hard on them. We needed other guys to step up with Chase (Audige) in foul trouble, and this was a great team win. Three at home this week, we were able to take care of business, which is big.'''

Northwestern guard Boo Buie finished with 23 points for the Wildcats, who are now 20-7 overall and 11-5 in the Big Ten, just a game behind Purdue. Ty Berry hit three three-pointers and scored 16 and Lafayette, Ind., native Brooks Barnhizer came off the bench to score 12 and grab a team-high seven rebounds.

Northwestern snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Hawkeyes, who were just 3-for-24 from three-point range and were never in the game. Kris Murray led Iowa with 14 points, but he was 0-for-6 from three-point range.

“You have to give credit to (Northwestern),” said Iowa coach Fran McCaffery, who was ejected from the game for getting two technical fouls after arguing a call. “They played well from the start. And they played better than us. If you shoot 3-for-24 for the game, you’re going to have a hard time winning.

“We didn’t get it sync,” McCaffery said. “Our transition, our half-court offense, nothing was flowing correctly. And you can’t blame anybody. You just have to be better.”

Northwestern has 11 league wins for just the second time in school history, with the first happening in 1931, a mere 92 years ago. The Wildcats are alone in second place, but have a tough stretch to finish the season with three road games at Illinois, Maryland and Rutgers, and a home game against Penn State.

To watch Northwestern's postgame press conference, CLICK HERE

Sunday's other Big Ten games

• NO. 3 PURDUE 82, OHIO STATE 55: Zach Edey scored 26 points and Purdue rolled to an easy 82-55 victory over Ohio State at Mackey Arena to maintain its lead in the Big Ten. It was a big win for Purdue (24-4, 13-4 in Big Ten), which had lost three of four. Ohio State (11-16, 3-13 in Big Ten) has lost eight straight games and 13 of 14. Freshman Brice Sensabaugh led the way with 20 points. To read the complete game story from BoilermakersCountry.com, CLICK HERE
• NEBRASKA 70, MARYLAND 66, OT: Derrick Walker had 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Keisei Tominaga scored 20 as Nebraska beat Maryland 70-66 in overtime. It was Nebraska's (14-14, 7-10 in Big Ten) third straight win. Maryland (18-9, 9-7 in Big Ten) had won six of seven coming in, but shot just 33 percent from the field.

This week's Big Ten schedule

Monday's games

• Minnesota at Illinois, 9 p.m. ET. TV: Big Ten Network. Point spread: Illinois is a 14.5-point favorite according to the SISportsbook.com gambling website. 

Tuesday's games

• No. 14 Indiana at Michigan State, 9 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN.

Wednesday's games

• Minnesota at Maryland, 7 p.m. ET. TV: Big Ten Network.
• Iowa at Wisconsin, 9 p.m. ET. TV: Big Ten Network.

Thursday's games

• Penn State at Ohio State, 6:30 p.m. ET. TV: FOX Sports 1.
• Michigan at Rutgers, 8:30 p.m. ET. TV: FOX Sports 1.
• Northwestern at Illinois, 9 p.m. ET. TV: Big Ten Network.

Saturday's games

• Michigan State at Iowa, Noon ET. TV: ESPN.
• Minnesota at Nebraska, 3:30 p.m. ET. TV: Big Ten Network.
• No. 14 Indiana at No. 3 Purdue, 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: FOX.

Sunday's games

• Illinois at Ohio State, Noon ET. TV: CBS.
• Northwestern at Maryland, Noon ET. TV: Big Ten Network.
• Wisconsin at Michigan, 2 p.m. ET. TV: CBS.
  
• Rutgers at Penn State, 6:30 p.m. ET. TV: Big Ten Network.

Big Ten conference standings

Big Ten standings through the games of Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023