The Washington Post - 11.03.2020

wednesday, march 11 , 2020. the washington post eZ M2 D5

college basketball

days that follow could determine

its NCAA tournament hopes.

Pegged as a No. 10 or No. 11

seed in the NCAA tournament,

Indiana is clinging to inclusion,

and a loss to Nebraska could

jeopardize the team’s spot on the

right side of the bubble. But

playing in Indianapolis, about 50

miles from its campus in Bloom-

ington, could be an advantage f or

an Indiana team with much at

stake.

“If you can advance in this

tournament, if you can win in

this tournament,” Indiana Coach

Archie miller said monday on a

teleconference with reporters, “it

sets you up as being confident to

be able to do that against the

best, because that’s what it’s been

about all year.”

Michigan state in March

Coach Tom Izzo has a reputa-

tion for preparing his teams to

play well in march, and his

michigan State team has played

well heading into the conference

t ournament. The Spartans won

five straight games to close the

regular season, including victo-

ries at maryland, at Penn State

and against ohio State at home.

michigan State beat maryland,

78-66, on feb. 29, spoiling the

Te rrapins’ first chance to earn a

share of the conference title.

forward Xavier Tillman and

point guard Cassius Winston

form one of the elite inside-out-

side pairings in the country.

(Tillman won the league’s defen-

sive player of the year award, and

Winston was named first-team

all-conference.) But the players

who surround them, including

freshmen rocket Watts and ma-

lik Hall, played at a high level,

too.

“michigan State probably

could have beaten anybody that

night,” maryland Coach mark

Turgeon said.

The Spartans won the Big Te n

tournament last season and beat

Duke in the NCAA tournament to

advance to the final four. The

2020 squad, seeded No. 2 in the

conference tournament, is miss-

ing a few pieces from a year ago,

but this program and this coach

have a history of being at their

best at this time of year.

The unlikely no. 1 seed

Wisconsin began the confer-

ence slate 6-6 and seemed likely

to fall even further when Kobe

King, the team’s second-leading

scorer at the time, left the pro-

gram Jan. 30. But Wisconsin won

its final eight games, earning a

share of the Big Te n regular

season title in the process. The

Badgers will be the No. 1 seed in

Indianapolis because of the con-

ference’s tiebreaking procedures.

The Badgers don’t have a star

player and didn’t have anybody

selected to the all-conference

first or second teams, but Greg

Gard was named Big Te n coach of

the year for getting the most out

of what he has. Wisconsin has

relied on solid defense and con-

tributions from a well-rounded

group of players, including for-

ward Nate reuvers (13.1 points

per game) and sixth man micah

Potter (10.1).

Maryland has a lot to prove

After defeating michigan on

Sunday to earn a share of the Big

Te n title, the Te rrapins’ celebra-

tion was one of joy and relief. The

program hadn’t won a confer-

ence title since 2010, two seasons

before Turgeon arrived in College

Park.

maryland had two chances to

win the conference title earlier,

but it lost to michigan State at

home and then on the road at

rutgers. Instead, the Te rps lifted

the trophy after the regular sea-

son finale. The only bit of an-

guish arose because maryland

failed to capitalize on its two-

game lead with five games to go

and couldn’t win the conference

outright.

When asked whether there

would be any regret for not doing

so, Turgeon said: “No, because if

our guys are, the type of kids that

we have here,” Ewing said. “Every-

body’s willing to pitch in and help.

... T hey pretty much know a lot of
the stuff even though we change
plays a lot. They know most of the
stuff that we’re doing, and also
they know the defensive princi-
ples that we have.”
In St. John’s, seeded ninth in the
10-team tournament, No. 8 seed
Georgetown will face a fast-paced
squad that likes to press on defense
and will surely test the Hoyas’ legs.
The Hoyas swept the red Storm in
two meetings this year, on Jan. 8
and feb. 2, earning the latter win
without mcClung. Georgetown is
hoping to avoid a repeat of 2018,
when it piled up two regular sea-
son wins before falling to St. John’s
in the first round of the tourna-
ment, 88-77.
The Hoyas have yet to win two
games in a Big East tournament
under Ewing.
“We’re going to have our work
cut out for us,” Ewing said. “Who
knows who I’m going to have to
put in to spell them, but I think the
guys are used to it.”
malinowski wasn’t sure wheth-
er he would make it to madison
Square Garden for Wednesday’s
opener, but he has been enjoying
watching Hoyas games at Capital
one Arena lately in his new seat
behind the bench. He is happy to
help the Hoyas any way he can —
even if it means taking it easier
than he is used to in practice.
“I don’t want to be another
reason for injury,” malinowski
said with a laugh. Point guard
Te rrell A llen “tried to take a charge
on me one practice; I just picked
the ball up and traveled. I was like:
‘Hey, I’m just here to help. I’m not
here to get anybody hurt.’ We both
just started l aughing at e ach o ther.
“I know it’s n ot about me when I
come back — just feed the big guys,
run around. Coach is good about
it. He hasn’t yelled at me once,
which has been kind of nice.”
[email protected]

first round of the Big East tourna-

ment at madison Square Garden

— any willing and able former

players who popped by for a visit

were in danger of being put to

work.

“I just came in a couple of times,

and Coach was like, ‘Hey... can

you keep coming?’ ” malinowski

said. “They needed help and I

needed to stay in shape, so it

worked out.”

Ewing’s current players have

been essentially confined to two

states when it comes to their bas-

ketball — either playing extended

minutes or sitting in ice baths.

Losing sophomore guard mac

m cClung to a foot injury at the

beginning of february and then

senior center omer Yurtseven to

an ankle injury shortly after exac-

erbated the challenge of simply

holding practice, where Ewing

had to balance preparing his play-

ers with keeping their legs fresh.

mcClung has missed nine of the

past 10 games and Yurtseven has

missed six of seven; neither is

expected to play Wednesday.

With h is two leading s corers out

and his roster depleted, Ewing

recruited help from former play-

ers such as malinowski, who is

living at home in Chantilly, Va.,

while awaiting his next overseas

opportunity.

The former wing has practiced

occasionally leading up to the Big

East tournament. Trey mourning

came back and helped during the

NBA’s All-Star Weekend while he

had a break from playing with the

miami Heat’s G-league affiliate.

former big man Kaleb Johnson

has been back, too. The trio of 2019

seniors all reunited a t one practice

in february.

What makes malinowski and

his former teammates perfect

practice-squad guys is that they

already know the bones of most of

Georgetown’s plays.

“It’s great. To me, it shows how

hoyas from D1

Familiar faces help the Hoyas

somehow get through practice

Jonathan newton/the washington post

BY EMILY GIAMBALVO

Throughout this college bas-
ketball season, those connected
to the Big Te n have continually
proclaimed that, top to bottom, it
is the best conference in the
nation. The league’s coaches have
frequently referenced that belief
— perhaps as self-serving com-
mentary because it boosts the
narrative around impressive
wins and tempers the blow after
losses. But analysts agree, and so
do the analytics.
The top few teams might not
be better than those in other
conferences, ESPN’s Jay Bilas
said last month. But when assess-
ing the top 10 programs in the
Big Te n, he said, “I don’t think it’s
a close call.”
At the Big Te n tournament,
which begins Wednesday in Indi-
anapolis, these teams will run
through a gantlet of games to
determine a champion. Wiscon-
sin, michigan State and mary-
land shared the regular season
crown. Te n teams are well posi-
tioned to play in the NCAA tour-
nament, but a run in Indianapo-
lis could improve a team’s seed-
ing, and an early exit could force
it to fall.
Despite the number of quality
teams, those at the top of the
league haven’t s hown m uch sepa-
ration from the middle-tier pack,
offering little assurance that a
program could make a run to the
conference’s first national title
since 2 000. (maryland won in
2002 but was not part of the Big
Te n at that point.) The top 12
teams in the Big Te n are ranked
in the top 40 of Ken Pomeroy’s
ratings.
In the Bracket matrix, which
compiles the l atest NCAA tourna-
ment projections from numerous
sites, seven Big Te n teams are
seeded between No. 3 and No. 6.
The champion of the Big Te n
tournament, if it’s michigan
State or maryland, could rise to a
No. 2 seed. But that would re-
quire surviving three games
against foes from a deep field
that poses serious threats.
Here are some of the key story
lines heading into the Big Te n
tournament:

Indiana’s ncaa h opes

The Hoosiers finished their
conference schedule with a 9-11
record and enter the conference
tournament as the No. 11 seed.
They’ll face No. 14 seed Nebras-
ka, the bottom team in the
league, on Wednesday, but Indi-
ana’s opportunity to earn quality
wins — against No. 6 Penn State
and then No. 3 maryland — in the

the league was terrible, I would

say that, but the league was

t errific.... Would we have liked

to [have] won it outright? Abso-

lutely. But we’re still champs,

right?”

maryland is teetering between

a No. 3 and No. 4 seed in most

NCAA tournament projections. A

win or two in Indianapolis would

help secure a spot on the No. 3

line, and a Big Te n tournament

title could bump maryland to a

No. 2 seed. The Te rps haven’t had

an NCAA seed higher than No. 4

since 2002, when the program

won the national title.

The Te rps haven’t played well

late in the season or in the

postseason in recent years. Last

season, maryland lost its first

game of the Big Te n tournament

to Nebraska, which fired coach

Tim miles soon afterward. Since

joining the Big Te n, the Te rps

have a 2-5 record in the confer-

ence tournament.

This maryland team has won

some critical games — against

ohio State at home, the finale

vs. michigan with a title on the

line and close contests on the

road against michigan State, In-

diana and Illinois — but now the

Te rps need to prove that they can

find sustained success in march.

The potential spoilers

minnesota and Purdue are two

of the teams seemingly out of the

NCAA tournament picture —

barring a run to the Big Te n title.

But both o f those programs could

manage to derail other teams’

tournament runs.

Purdue, the No. 10 seed, had an

erratic campaign, scoring as few

as 37 points in a loss at Illinois

and as many as 104 in a win

against Iowa. The Boilermakers

have wins against Wisconsin and

michigan State, the top two

seeds, and for Purdue, the confer-

ence tournament in Indianapolis

is only about 70 miles from its

campus in West Lafayette.

minnesota nearly beat mary-

land last month, leading until the

Te rps’ Darryl morsell hit the

go-ahead three-pointer with 1.9

seconds to go. four days later, the

Gophers lost, 71-69, at Wiscon-

sin.

The Golden Gophers will be-

gin play as the No. 12 seed

Wednesday against No. 13 seed

Northwestern, but minnesota is

ranked 29th nationally in Pome-

roy’s ratings. If minnesota wins

its opening game, it would play

No. 5 seed Iowa, which played

much better early in its confer-

ence schedule than it has in the

past month.

[email protected]

As top contenders clash, Big Ten will showcase its depth

nick wass/associated press

al goldis/associated press

andy Manis/associated press

aaron Wiggins, top left, and his Maryland teammates earned a share of the Big Ten title with Tom Izzo’s Michigan state squad and

Wisconsin. The Badgers’ Greg Gard, top right, was named Big Ten coach of the year, and archie Miller’s Indiana could be a dark horse.

will tell the NCAA is based on

public health. for them, it’s going

to be also a business decision. It

has to be.”

Early Tuesday, the Ivy League

canceled its men’s and women’s

conference tournaments and de-

clared its regular season champi-

ons, the Yale men and Princeton

women, its NCAA tournament

representatives.

Both tournaments were to be

held at Harvard, which has taken

extreme caution against the coro-

navirus. The university asked stu-

dents not to return from spring

break and announced it will close

dormitories march 15 while mov-

ing all classes online by march 23.

Close to the Cambridge, mass.,

campus, 32 cases have been con-

nected to a conference the

b iopharmaceutical company

B iogen held in Boston.

“We understand and share the

disappointment with student-

athletes, coaches and fans who

will not be able to participate in

these tournaments,” Ivy League

Executive Director robin Harris

said. “regrettably, the informa-

tion and recommendations pre-

sented to us from public health

authorities and medical profes-

sionals have convinced us that

this is the most prudent decision.”

meanwhile, schools that have

qualified for the NCAA tourna-

ment are preparing on uncertain

ground. Utah State Athletic Di-

rector John Hartwell said the

school’s traveling party last year

consisted of 120 people and in-

cluded players, coaches, a 30-

member pep band, cheerleaders,

support staff, administrators and

family members. If the NCAA

mandates only essential person-

nel can attend games, that will

shrink to roughly 30 to 35.

“It’s important that we’re vigi-

lant and paying close attention

and monitoring all of the activity,”

Hartwell said. “But at the same

time, [we’re] trying to maintain

as much of a normal routine of

life as we can.”

[email protected]

make any decisions regarding

those games.

While forming an advisory

panel of experts and epidemiolo-

gists, the NCAA has played down

worries the coronavirus will im-

pact its most lucrative event. In

an interview Saturday on CBS,

NCAA Senior Vice President of

Basketball Dan Gavitt said the

NCAA is “definitively planning on

running the tournament at all 14

sites with fans from the first four

in Dayton to the final four in

Atlanta.”

The NCAA initially responded

to the Ivy League’s c ancellation by

saying schools and conferences

can make their own decisions on

regular season and conference

tournaments, but that nothing

had changed for the NCAA tour-

nament.

“NCAA member schools and

conferences make their own deci-

sions regarding regular season

and conference tournament play,”

NCAA President mark Emmert

said in a statement. “A s we have

stated, we will make decisions on

our events based on the best,

most current public health guid-

ance available.”

The structure of the NCAA

tournament raises a thicket of

questions. In typical circum-

stances, teams and their exten-

sive traveling parties trek, with

fans in tow, to first- and second-

round host sites scattered across

the country. A host arena may not

be located in or near an outbreak,

but it could be inviting scores of

people from a coronavirus hot

spot. After a weekend of sharing

hotels, restaurants and an arena,

all of those fans would head back

to where they came from.

In an interview last week,

NCAA coronavirus advisory pan-

el member and Emory global

health department chair Carlos

del rio said he and fellow experts

will make recommendations

based on public health but that

the NCAA will make final calls.

“for me, it’s a public-health

decision,” del rio said. “What I

ment of Health confirmed three

positive coronavirus cases in the

state and said 15 other people

were being tested.

“It’s important to understand

our responses are based on the

facts as they stand today,” ohio

governor’s o ffice spokesman Dan-

iel Tierney said. “The governor

strongly recommends the organi-

zation consider having the event

without spectators. At this point,

it’s a strong recommendation. We

have not issued any order.”

Last week, DeWine announced

an order from the ohio Depart-

ment of Health banning specta-

tors from the Arnold Sports festi-

val bodybuilding trade show and

competition. The governor’s of-

fice previously had worked with

event organizers to get them to

voluntarily tell spectators to

r emain home, Tierney said.

Tierney emphasized facts

could change by next week when

the NCAA tournament starts. He

said the NHL’s Columbus Blue

Jackets and the NBA’s Cleveland

Cavaliers called the governor’s

office arguing ventilation in their

arenas would make it safer for

fans than a smaller venue, such as

a high school gym. Tierney said

the governor would study those

claims. The Cavaliers play in

rocket mortgage fieldhouse.

representatives at the Univer-

sity of Dayton and the mid-Amer-

ican Conference, the hosts of the

first four and the Cleveland sub-

regional, said the NCAA would

America’s most popular sporting
events unfolding in front of tele-
vision audiences only, with
squeaking sneakers and bounc-
ing balls providing an echoing,
eerie soundtrack.
The mid-American Conference
and the Big West a nnounced min-
utes apart Tuesday that they
would hold their tournaments —
in Cleveland and Anaheim, Calif.,
respectively — without specta-
tors. The mAC followed the rec-
ommendation of DeWine, who
asked for no spectators at indoor
sporting events “other than the
athletes, parents, and others
e ssential to the game.”
“The safety o f all is our greatest
concern,” mAC Commissioner
Jon Steinbrecher said.
Amid concerns elsewhere, the
ACC began its conference tourna-
ment in Greensboro, N.C., as
scheduled Tuesday, c losing locker
rooms to media and other visitors
but allowing in a crowd. The Big
12 and the Big Te n announced
their men’s tournaments, sched-
uled to begin Wednesday in Kan-
sas City, mo., and Indianapolis,
respectively, would go on without
interruption aside from closing
locker rooms.
The Big Te n’s decision stood in
contrast to the measures taken by
Indiana University, located about
50 miles away in Bloomington,
which announced students
would take classes remotely for
two weeks after next week’s
spring break.
The NCAA men’s tournament
is scheduled to begin march 17
and 18 in Dayton, ohio. Cleve-
land’s rocket mortgage field-
house, which is also hosting the
mAC tournament, is scheduled to
host eight teams for first- and
second-round men’s tournament
games march 20 and 22. The
women’s tournament is sched-
uled to begin march 20 and 21 at
the home sites of the 16 highest-
seeded teams.
on Tuesday, the ohio Depart-

ncaa from D1

As Ivy League cancels, focus turns to NCAA tourney

“We will make decisions

on our events based on

the best, most current

public health guidance

available.”

Mark Emmert, ncaa president,

o n the n caa tournaments.