Big Tendencies to Lose
In my last post, I already covered Seton Hall's upset victory over the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor. However, the Big Ten's ranked teams haven't stopped losing yet. Today, I'll be discussing three more teams in this conference that suffered unexpected defeats in their recent contests.
#10 Illinois 66 - 67 Marquette
A 12-point lead with just under 10 minutes remaining eventually narrowed down to a wild finish in Milwaukee. With the help of two clutch steals in the final minute by Tyler Kolek (also made the go-ahead layup) and Kur Kuath, the Golden Eagles eked out a one-point victory against the Fighting Illini. This result suggests that Illinois may not be in the same stratosphere as they were last season, but is more so the foundations of conference hierarchy as a whole: the Big East is stronger than the Big Ten. Shaka Smart has also done an impressive job so far in his first year with Marquette, already silencing expectations to finish 9th in the Big East with wins over Illinois and West Virginia. This will be a solid tournament team.
#20 Maryland 66 - 71 George Mason
This game was weird. I can't help but feel like Maryland was controlling the tempo for much of the game (at least in the second half). There were too many possessions where Mark Turgeon's Terps stifled George Mason for almost the entire shot clock for the Patriots to come away with a bucket at the very end. That being said, it was an inefficient night for Eric Ayala (6-17), and Maryland just could not muster up a stop when they needed to. Josh Oduro's experience came in clutch for George Mason time and time again with clutch baskets down low. While Maryland will almost certainly fall out of the top 25, it'll be interesting to see how George Mason and the Atlantic 10 perform down the stretch.
#19 Ohio State 65 - 71 Xavier
Third time's the charm for this Buckeyes squad: as in they lost to the third Ohio opponent they faced. After a nail biter over Akron and a blowout against Bowling Green, it was the Musketeers who finally took Ohio State Down. E.J. Liddell kept them in the game despite playing through 3 fouls for a significant portion of the contest, but Xavier was always a step ahead. While the Musketeers didn't shoot well from beyond the arc (5-24), they spread the floor and were extremely effective at creating shots for the team as a whole. I'm most definitely excited to watch the Big East this season with all the competition that looks to be present in this conference.
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