It wasn't the game of the night, but Northwestern's 79-72 loss to a Dylan Harper-less Rutgers team was certainly the statement of the night.


Unfortunately for Chris Collins and his Wildcat bunch, the statement was: Northwestern is going to bow out of contention for the NCAA Tournament and maybe even the Big Ten Tournament.

A reminder for folks, the bottom three in the conference will no longer be allowed entrance into the end of the year chance to dance tournament that will take place this year in Indianapolis, Indiana. I think we can all agree that that's exactly where that tournament is supposed to take place, and while Minnesota is nice and all, the midwest deserves its post season basketball.


Anywho, this directly leads to the major award for the night.

Ace Bailey, who damn near tied his already impressive freshman scoring record of 39, was everything for Rutgers on his way to scoring 37 points and was everything his soon to be NBA Draft pedigree will say he is. Bailey was 5 of 8 from three, 8 of 12 from inside the arc, and even knocked down all six of his free throws and added in three blocks while turning the ball over just once in 35 minutes.


Bailey is starting to come into his own, and the only shame in Piscataway is that it hasn't happened while fellow freshman Dylan Harper was healthy enough to join him on the floor. Harper was ruled out before the game after hobbling and struggling off the bench in Rutgers last game. The lower leg injury has hampered Harper for weeks at this point.


It's been a disappointing journey for coach Steve Pikiell this season as the Scarlet Knights have struggled to defend anyone. But Rutgers does still have a chance to make the Big Ten Tournament and if Harper gets healthy and can join this form of Ace Bailey, there's not going to be many Big Ten teams lining up to face the Scarlet Knights in a win or go home scenario.

Don't look now, but the Maryland Terrapins are turning into quite the little team.


Maryland took down Wisconsin, 76-68, behind a 12 points, 12 rebound double-double by freshmen Derik Queen game and a banked in, you have to be kidding me three-pointer by Ja'Kobi Gillespie.

It was a team effort though as Maryland hounded Wisconsin defensively, forcing the Badgers to shoot under 40% from the field and just 9 of 27 from three while five Terrapins scored in double-digits.

Maryland has now won four straight games including away wins at Indiana and Illinois and has won six of its last seven games. It's now 17-5 on the season and holds at four losses in conference play with one of the more managable closing schedules in the conference.


But for every triumph there is sadness.

Wisconsin now moves to 6-4 in conference play with three of those being road losses. There's nothing to be ashamed of in Wisconsin's profile, it has lost to a game Michigan team, a juggernaut Marquette team on the road, and to Illinois, UCLA, and now Maryland on the road.

Unfortunately, Wisconsin still has to go to East Lansing and Mackey Arena. Five wins is not going to win the Big Ten this season, so even if it goes 1-1 in the hardest to win environments in the conference, the Badgers chances for the conference title are now over.

So overall, a sad night for the Big Ten, as a cellar dwellar emerges, but a contender falls out of the race and a Northwestern team full of spunk hangs on the rim and falls straight on its face at home.

Ohio State at Penn State | 6:30 pm FS1

#18 Illinois at Nebraska | 8:30 pm FS1

#16 Oregon at UCLA | 10:30 pm FS1

Now we're talking. A triple-header on the Fox Sports One channel that features three games that should all be competive, good, and important for the Big Ten conference.

One of the west coast teams will eliminate themselves from contention in the conference, Illinois will attempt to stop an absolute landslide, and Ohio State will try to add to its metric darling status against a desperate Penn State team that's probably already past saving.

Let's throw it out west where two four loss in conference play teams, Oregon and UCLA, battle it out to stay the last of the west coast teams able to stay within four games of Michigan State. Viewing warning: this might, almost definitely will be, an absolute rock fight.


Thanks for reading, and come back tomorrow where we'll have a whole slew of late night Big Ten basketball to talk about.