Somebody wake up Talor Battle

It might not look like much, but Purdue dominated Penn State last night, 61-47. Given how slow this game was (56 possessions), it was actually more convincing than the 14 points might indicate. The most impressive part, however, might have been that the Boilermakers held Talor Battle scoreless. Really, the only offensive weapon the Nittany Lions had all night was Jamelle Cornley, who scored 16 points on 14 shots. Scoring on the inside was particularly difficult for Penn State, as they shot 36.7% from two point range. Purdue swatted seven shots, led by JaJuan Johnson's four blocks.

On the other side of the ball, Purdue scored nearly 1.1 points per possession. Four Boilermakers scored in double figures, led by Johnson's 14/13 double-double. Neither E'Twaun Moore or Keaton Grant had great games, but Purdue got an unexpected boost from Nemanja Calasan and Bobby Riddell, who combined for 25 points on 13 shots. Box score.

This was Penn State's third disappointing offensive performance in a row, and not coincidentally, Battle has scored all of 19 points on those three games. The defense isn't going to carry the Nittany Lions this season, so if Ed DeChellis' team is going anywhere this season, Battle needs to get back to normal.

Also last night,Wisconsin cruised past Iowa, 69-52 in a 53 possession game. That's a pretty high point total for a game this slow. Unfortunately for Iowa, the offense was all on Wisconsin's side of the ball. The Badgers didn't turn it over often, didn't miss often, and when they did, they often got the rebound. In all, Bo Ryan's team scored 1.3 points per possession, led by Jason Bohannon and Joe Krabbenhoft, who combined for 31 points on 18 shots. Badger fans hope that Krabbenhoft remains this assertive through the rest of the season. The guy has shown that he can score when he wants to.

For Iowa, the result was typical - too many turnovers offset some pretty nice shooting, and oh yeah the defense was terrible. Todd Lickliter is in the unfortunate position of rebuilding in only his second season, so this year's goal is really to make sure they finish ahead of Indiana. Frankly, I don't think Hawkeyes fans should have been expecting much more, given the roster overhaul. The good news is that they've gotten a lot of contributions out of underclassmen, which bodes well for the future. Last night was another example, as Jake Kelly scored 17 points on 9 shots (though he was also emblematic of Iowa's struggles, as he also committed five turnovers). Box score.

Tonight, Illinois will try to keep pace at Northwestern.