A roundup of Big Ten basketball action from Monday, Dec. 7, 2015:
Iowa 90, Western Illinois 56
The Hawkeyes dropped 53 points in the first half, shooting 50 percent in the blowout. Jarrod Uthoff had a huge game with 27 points, making four 3-pointers and grabbing nine rebounds. Dom Uhl had 15 points off the bench, and Adam Woodbury scored 10 points. Iowa came away with 10 steals, Anthony Clemmons recording three swipes in his stat-heavy night, also scoring nine points, handing out six assists and blocking a shot.
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Purdue 80, IUPUI 53
The Boilers kept their record perfect at 9-0 with a runaway win. Purdue allowed just 23 second-half points, out-shooting IUPUI, 51.9 percent to 32.8 percent on the night. The Boilers came away with 10 steals -- four from Kendall Stephens -- and blocked nine shots -- Isaac Haas swatting three. A.J. Hammons led the way with 14 points, Stephens had 13 with three made 3s, and Caleb Swanigan, Haas and Vince Edwards also scored in double figures.
[MORE BIG TEN: Spartans allow just 33 points to Binghamton in improving to 9-0]
A roundup of Big Ten basketball action from Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015:
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Maryland 76, Connecticut 66
The Terps, behind Melo Trimble and Diamond Stone, led from start to finish, but things got dicey as the lead shrank late. Maryland was up by 15 with a little less than eight minutes to play, but a 16-4 UConn run made it just a three-point margin inside of three minutes. But immediately following the 3 that cut it to three, UConn head coach Kevin Ollie was hit with a game-changing technical when he threw some papers on the court.
Three Trimble free throws and a Rasheed Sulaimon layup later, breathing room was reestablished and the Terps held on. Trimble was exceptional with 25 points, 14 of them coming from the charity stripe, and Diamond Stone was strong, too, with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Southern Methodist 82, Michigan 58
Michigan was hammered, as SMU shot 57.4 percent from the field compared to an ugly 35 percent for the Wolverines. Michigan missed 26 3-point attempts, made just six of its 12 free-throw tries and lost the rebounding battle by 25. Caris LeVert made just one basket, going 1-for-13 from the floor, and the lone make came in the final five minutes of the game. Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman and Duncan Robinson each had 15 points, Robinson hitting five 3s.
[MORE BIG TEN: Illini bounce back with win over Western Carolina]
South Dakota State 84, Minnesota 70
Shockingly, the Gophers finished with 70 points after scoring just 22 in the first 20 minutes, trailing the Jackrabbits, 45-22, at the break. SDSU shot nearly 50 percent from the field and hit 11 3-pointers on the night. Meanwhile, Minnesota shot just 36.8 percent from the field. Nate Mason scored 18 points, hitting three 3s, and Kevin Dorsey and Dupree McBrayer each were in double figures off the bench, McBrayer going 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. For the Gophers, it wasn’t the second home loss to a team from South Dakota in four days.
Ohio State 74, Air Force 50
The Buckeyes out-shot the Falcons, 47.4 percent to 33.3 percent, in a comfortable win. Air Force scored only 16 first-half points and turned the ball over 18 times. Marc Loving had 18 points to lead Ohio State, part of a double-double with 10 rebounds. JaQuan Lyle had 12 points, and Jae’Sean Tate had 11. Trevor Thompson blocked four shots.
[SHOP BIG TEN: Get your Terps gear right here]
Penn State 76, George Washington 66
The Lions missed 19 3-point attempts on the evening, scoring just 33 points in each half. And sending the Colonials to the free-throw line 28 times didn’t help much, either. Shep Garner scored 22 points to lead all scorers, and Brandon Taylor had 15. Payton Banks reached double figures with 10 points but was just 4-for-13 from the field, including 1-for-7 from 3-point range.
Rutgers 75, Central Connecticut 59
Both teams were under 30 points in the first half, but Rutgers nearly touched 50 in the second. The Knight shot 49.1 percent from the field, holding the visiting Blue Devils below 40 percent. The big edge came from the free-throw line, where Rutgers went 13-for-17. Corey Sanders had 18 points, going 4-for-4 from 3-point range. He also handed out six assists, grabbed five rebounds and came away with four steals. Bishop Daniels had 17 points off the bench, adding six rebounds and six assists.