BiG Ten Football, Basketball News

 

Illinois and Wisconsin Earn First Weekly Men’s Basketball Honors

Wisconsin’s Nate Reuvers claims his first Player of the Week;

Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn collects Freshman of the Week

 

Player of the Week

Nate Reuvers, Wisconsin
F – Jr. – 6-11 – Lakeville, Minn. – Lakeville North High School – Major: Business Finance and Investment Banking

• Averaged 18.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.5 blocked shots per game in a pair of games for the Badgers
• Recorded a career-high 22 points along with six rebounds and four blocked shots against No. 20 Saint Mary’s (Calif.)
• Posted 14 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high tying nine blocked shots in a victory over Eastern Illinois
• The nine blocked shots equaled a school record, which was originally set by Brad Sellers in 1982 and then tied by Reuvers last year
• Came up one blocked shot shy of a triple-double, which would have made him the first Big Ten student to post a triple-double with double-figure blocked shots since Calvin Booth of Penn State in 1998
• Earns the first Big Ten Player of the Week honor of his career
• Last Wisconsin Player of the Week: Ethan Happ (Dec. 10, 2018)

Freshman of the Week

Kofi Cockburn, Illinois

C  – 7-0 – Kingston, Jamaica – Oak Hill Academy (Va.) – Major: General Studies

• Averaged 14.0 points and 10.7 rebounds while shooting 60 percent from the floor in helping Illinois to a 2-1 week to open his collegiate career
• Became the first Illinois freshman in 37 years to record double-doubles in his first two college games, the first since Efrem Winters in 1982
• Opened his career with 10 points and 11 rebounds in a victory over Nicholls
• Posted  23 points and corralled 14 rebounds while shooting 8-of-12 from the floor in a victory at Grand Canyon on Friday
• Closed the week with nine points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots at No. 21 Arizona
• Last Illinois Freshman of the Week: Ayo Dosunmu (Feb. 18, 2019)

 

2019-20 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Players of the Week

Nov. 11

P: Nate Reuvers, Jr., WIS

F: Kofi Cockburn, ILL

 

Indiana and Rutgers Earn Big Ten Weekly Women’s Basketball Awards

Hoosiers’ Mackenzie Holmes and Scarlet Knights’ Arella Guirantes are the first weekly honorees of the 2019-20 season

 

Player of the Week

Arella Guirantes, Rutgers

G – Jr. – Bellport, N.Y. – Bellport – Major: Journalism & Media Studies

• Averaged 22.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game last week to help Rutgers open its season with a pair of wins

• Scored a career-high 27 points (including a career-best four three-pointers) on Nov. 5 in the Scarlet Knights’ season-opening victory at South Alabama

• Added 17 points and eight rebounds on Nov. 9 in RU’s win at home over Coppin State

• Earns her first Big Ten Player of the Week award

• Last Rutgers Player of the Week: Kahleah Copper (Nov. 16, 2015)

 

Big Ten Women’s Basketball Weekly Honor Roll

Mackenzie Holmes, Fr., F, IND: See below

Amy Dilk, So., G, MICH: Averaged 12.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in two wins, posting her first career double-double (12 points/career-high 11 rebounds) in Nov. 8 season opener against Western Michigan

Sam Haiby, So., G, NEB: Registered 18.0 points per game with a .538 field goal percentage in two wins last week, highlighted by career-high 28 points and game-tying three-pointer in regulation to pace the Huskers in Sunday’s overtime win at Missouri

 

Freshman of the Week

Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana

F – Gorham, Maine – Gorham – Major: Social Work

• Tallied 18.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game with an .833 field goal percentage last week, pacing the No. 24/RV Hoosiers in two victories

• Scored a career-high 22 points (on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting) while adding five rebounds and five blocks (fourth-most by an Indiana freshman in school history) in Sunday’s win over Nicholls State

• Contributed 15 points and seven rebounds in her college debut on Nov. 7, a win over Mount St. Mary’s

• Collects her first Freshman of the Week award

• Last Indiana Freshman of the Week: Jaelynn Penn (Jan. 29, 2018)

 

2019-20 Big Ten Players of the Week

Nov. 11

P: Arella Guirantes, Jr., RU

F: Mackenzie Holmes, IND

 

Co-Offensive Player of the Week
Josh Imatorbhebhe, Illinois
Jr., WR, Suwanee, Ga./North Gwinnett

• Tallied four receptions for a career-high 178 yards and two touchdowns at Michigan State, the most receiving yards by an opponent at Spartan Stadium since at least 2000 and the most by an Illinois player ever in the 47-game series history against Michigan State
• Had a 46-yard touchdown reception as time expired in the first half and an 83-yard touchdown to start the fourth quarter
• Added a key 37-yard reception on 4th and 17 on the Illini’s game-winning touchdown drive in the final minutes
• Claims his first career Offensive Player of the Week award
• Last Illinois Offensive Player of the Week: Reggie Corbin (Nov. 5, 2018)

Tanner Morgan, Minnesota
So., QB, Union, Ky./Ryle

• Completed 18-of-20 passes (90%) and threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns in a win against Penn State as Minnesota moved to 9-0 on the season
• Became just the second FBS quarterback in the past 20 seasons to have multiple games in a single season completing 90 percent of his passes (min. 20 attempts)
• Now has 21 touchdown passes this season, the third-most in program history and the highest total since Bryan Cupito had 22 in 2006
• Earns his second career Offensive Player of the Week award
• Last Minnesota Offensive Player of the Week: Tanner Morgan (Sept. 30, 2019)

Co-Defensive Player of the Week
Sydney Brown, Illinois
So., DB, London, Ontario/ St. Stephens Episcopal

• Had 13 tackles, including a game-high eight solo stops, and a career-high two interceptions in Illinois’ victory at Michigan State
• Recorded an interception late in the first half to set up an Illini offensive touchdown on the last play of the first half
• Returned his second interception 76 yards for his first career touchdown during the Illini’s 27-point fourth quarter
• Claims his first career Defensive Player of the Week honor
• Last Illinois Defensive Player of the Week: Dele Harding (Nov. 4, 2019)

Antoine Winfield Jr., Minnesota
So., DB, The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands

• Led Minnesota with a team-high 11 tackles (nine solo) and a pair of interceptions in a win against Penn State
• Returned his interceptions for a total of 33 yards, setting up a pair of touchdowns
• Now has seven interceptions on the year, which ties Minnesota’s school record set by Jeff Wright during the 1970 season
• Receives his third career Defensive Player of the Week honor and second of the season
• Last Minnesota Defensive Player of the Week: Kamal Martin (Oct. 14, 2019)

Special Teams Players of the Week
J.D. Dellinger, Purdue
Jr., K, Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Country Day

• Booted a game-winning 39-yard field goal into the wind with three seconds left to hand Purdue a 24-22 road victory at Northwestern
• Marked the second fourth-quarter/overtime game-winning field goal in his career and his first since 2016
• Moved into seventh in school history with his 30^th career made field goal
• Earns his second career Special Teams Player of the Week honor and first since 2016
• Last Purdue Special Teams Player of the Week: Spencer Evans (Nov. 5, 2018)

Freshman of the Week
David Bell, Purdue
WR, Indianapolis, Ind./Warren Central

• Caught a career-high 14 passes for 115 yards and a touchdown in a come-from-behind road victory at Northwestern
• His 14 catches were the most by a Purdue freshman since at least 1997 and tied for the most by a Big Ten wide receiver this season
• Had two receptions on the game-winning drive in the fourth quarter
• Earns his third career Freshman of the Week award
• Last Purdue Freshman of the Week: King Doerue (Nov. 4, 2019)

 

The fifth annual Gavitt Tipoff Games, an annual early-season series of eight games played between the Big Ten and BIG EAST Conferences and named in honor of BIG EAST founder and basketball visionary Dave Gavitt, runs from Monday, Nov. 11, through Thursday, Nov. 15. Gavitt had a profound and lasting influence on the sport of basketball on the collegiate, professional and Olympic levels. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

• The Gavitt Tipoff Games are played in the first full week of the college basketball season. The series will span eight years (2015-22), with games played at home sites. In each of the first three seasons, the Big Ten and BIG EAST split the eight games, 4-4. In 2018, the Big Ten claimed victories in five of the eight games including a win in the rematch of the 2018 NCAA Championship game as Michigan defeated Villanova, 73-46.

• The 2019 edition of the Gavitt Tipoff Games begins on Monday with Iowa hosting DePaul on FS1 at 8 p.m. ET. Tuesday’s action will see Michigan host Creighton (FS1/6:30 p.m. ET) and Minnesota traveling to Butler (FS1/8:30 p.m. ET).

• Two contests in the Gavitt Games will see ranked teams match up, as #16 Ohio State hosts #10 Villanova on Wednesday while #3 Michigan State travels to #12 Seton Hall on Thursday.

• Four different Big Ten teams received votes in the latest Associated Press (AP) poll, issued on Monday. Michigan State tops all teams at No. 2, followed by No. 7 Maryland and No. 16 Ohio State. Purdue is also listed among others receiving votes.

• Wisconsin’s Nate Reuvers was named the initial Big Ten Player of the Week in 2019-20 following a week in which he averaged 18.0 ppg, 10.0 rebounds and 6.5 blocked shots. He tied the school record for blocked shots in a game with nine as he nearly posted a triple-double with 14 points, 14 rebounds and nine rejections vs. Eastern Illinois. He also scored a career-high 22 points against No. 20 Saint Mary’s.

• Illinois’ Kofi Cockburn collected Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolades after posting 14.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He became the first Illini freshman since Efrem Winters in 1982 to record double-doubles in his first two college games.

• The Big Ten welcomes back 17 students that earned All-Big Ten distinction in 2018-19, including Big Ten Player of the Year Cassius Winston of Michigan State. Along with Winston, Penn State’s Lamar Stevens (first team), Maryland’s Anthony Cowan Jr. (second team) and Michigan’s Zavier Simpson (second team) all return joined by three members of the All-Freshman Team: Illinois’ Ayo Dosunmu, Iowa’s Joe Wieskamp and Maryland’s Jalen Smith.

• Big Ten teams will compete in a 20-game conference schedule for the second time, playing seven teams both home and away and six teams once (three home and three away). All 14 Big Ten teams will play one conference home game and one road contest between Dec. 6 and Dec. 18.

• The Big Ten saw a record 10 teams qualify for postseason play in 2018-19. A record eight teams were selected for the NCAA Tournament and two in the NIT.

• An NCAA-record tying seven teams advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with Michigan State advancing to the NCAA national semifinals for the 10th time in school history.

• In the final 2018-19 NET Ratings, 13 of 14 Big Ten programs were ranked inside the Top 100 of the NET Rankings, the most teams in the Top 100 of any conference.

• The 2020 Big Ten Tournament will be held from March 11-15, and will be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for a record 11th time since its inception in 1998.

The Big Ten Tournament remains in the Midwest for a four-year span as it was played at the United Center in Chicago in 2019 and will be played Indianapolis in 2020 and 2022 and in Chicago in 2021.

Weekly Schedule / Results

Nov. 11, 2019	DePaul at Iowa	Iowa City, IA	8:00 pm	FS1
Nov. 12, 2019	Creighton at Michigan	Ann Arbor, MI	6:30 pm	FS1
	North Alabama at Indiana	Bloomington, IN	7:00 pm	BTN
	Minnesota at Butler	Indianapolis, IN	8:30 pm	FS1
Nov. 13, 2019	Villanova at Ohio State	Columbus, OH	7:00 pm	FS1
	McNeese St. at Wisconsin	Madison, WI	7:00 pm	BTN
	Drexel at Rutgers	Piscataway, NJ	8:00 pm	BTN+
	Purdue at Marquette	Milwaukee, WI	9:00 pm	FS1
	Providence at Northwestern	Evanston, IL	9:00 pm	BTN
Nov. 14, 2019	Penn State at Georgetown	Washington, DC	6:30 pm	FS1
	Michigan State at Seton Hall	Newark, NJ	8:30 pm	FS1
Nov. 15, 2019	Elon at Michigan	Ann Arbor, MI	7:00 pm	BTN
	Oral Roberts at Iowa	Iowa City, IA	8:00 pm	BTN+
	South Dakota St. at Nebraska	Lincoln, NE	9:00 pm	BTN
	Minnesota at Utah	Salt Lake City, UT	9:00 pm	Pac-12 Networks
Nov. 16, 2019	Troy at Indiana	Bloomington, IN	8:00 pm	BTN
	Oakland at Maryland	College Park, MD	12:00 pm	BTN+
	Chicago St. at Purdue	West Lafayette, IN	2:00 pm	BTN+
	Rutgers at St. Bonaventure	Toronto, Ontario	7:30 pm	ESPN+/TSN
Nov. 17, 2019	Marquette at Wisconsin	Madison, WI	1:00 pm	FS1

 

Hoosiers Move Up Three Spots In AP Top 25; Highest Ranking In School History at No. 21

 

Full Poll: https://bit.ly/2p8yw1T

 

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.  – Indiana Women’s Basketball moved up three spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, coming in at No. 21 in the Week 1 poll for the program’s highest ever ranking.

 

The Hoosiers make their eighth all-time appearance in the polls and bested their previous high ranking of No. 22 in in 2013-14 (Jan. 6, 2014). It comes after Indiana won convincingly over Mount St. Mary’s (75-52) and Nicholls State (111-47) to start the season last week.

 

They are back at home on Sunday, Nov. 17 against Jackson State. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET.

 

Attached is the Big Ten weekly football release in PDF format, including updated schedules, television information, notes and more. In addition, a few partial notes are included below:

• With just three weekends remaining in the regular season, 11 Big Ten teams will take the field this week. The action opens on Saturday at noon ET and features five divisional matchups …

• Ohio State stands atop the East Division standings with a 6-0 record, with Penn State close behind at 5-1 in conference play. Indiana and Michigan are in third place at 4-2. Minnesota leads the West Division with a 6-0 Big Ten record, followed by Wisconsin at 4-2, Illinois at 4-3 and Iowa at 3-3 …

• Two of the nation’s five remaining undefeated FBS teams call the Big Ten home, as Minnesota and Ohio State are both 9-0. The Buckeyes have won 15 straight games dating back to last season, the second-longest streak among FBS teams. The Gophers are 9-0 for the first time since 1904 and 6-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since 1961 …

• Minnesota has won 12 of its last 13 games, including 11 in a row, the school’s longest winning streak since an 18-game run from 1939-42. It is also tied for the third-longest active win streak among FBS programs, trailing only Clemson and Ohio State. The Gophers have outscored their last seven conference opponents 274-113, breaking a school record set in 2003 with seven-straight Big Ten games scoring at least 30 points …

• Ohio State currently leads the nation in both scoring offense and scoring defense, scoring 51.0 points per game and allowing 8.6. The Buckeyes have won all nine of their games by at least 24 points this season to become the first Big Ten team since Ohio State in 1973 to start a season with nine straight 20-point wins …

• Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan completed 18-of-20 passes for 339 yards and three touchdowns in the Gophers’ victory against Penn State. Morgan is just the second FBS quarterback in the past 20 seasons to have multiple games in a single season completing 90 percent of his passes (min. 20 attempts). He completed 21-of-22 passes for a career-high 396 yards and four TDs at Purdue on Sept. 28 …

• Down 28-3 in the second quarter and 31-10 in the third quarter, Illinois scored 27 points in the fourth quarter to defeat Michigan State 37-34 on Saturday, giving the Illini four straight conference wins for the first time since 2007. The 25-point comeback marked the largest in school history. The Illini are now bowl eligible for the first time since 2014 …

• Ohio State’s Justin Fields threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in the first half Saturday as Ohio State rolled to a 73-14 win behind 705 yards of offense and 40 first downs. The Buckeyes scored 73 points, the most they have scored in a Big Ten game since 1950. It marks the first time Ohio State has had multiple games with 70 or more points in a season since 1996 …

• Eight Big Ten schools – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin – have reached bowl eligibility by recording six victories on the season. The Big Ten will continue to feature the largest bowl lineup in conference history …