Friday, November 10, 2017 // TIP OFF 2017
8B 

lineup 
is 
barely 
changing. 

Northwestern — which will 
instead play at Allstate Arena 
16 miles from campus in 2017-
18 — lost just two players to 
graduation, and has adequate 
replacements in top-150 recruit 
Anthony Gaines and Boston 
College transfer A.J. Turner.

Turner 
and 
Gaines 
join 

a Wildcats team that made 
program history with their first 
NCAA Tournament appearance. 
This year, they will be expected 
to return.

Senior 
guard 
Bryant 

McIntosh 
returns 
as 
the 

torchbearer after posting 14.8 
points and a conference-leading 
5.2 assists per game. McIntosh’s 
sidekick in the backcourt is 
Scottie Lindsey, who emerged 
as a knockdown shooting threat 
in his first year as a starter. The 
two comprise one of the most 
potent offensive combinations 
in the country.

The Wolverine faithful would 

surely like to get forward Dererk 
Pardon out of their memories. 
Against 
Michigan, 
Pardon 

caught a full-court inbounds 
pass for an easy layup as time 
expired to give Northwestern 
its first winning season in the 
conference since 1968. The goal 
has changed now — for 2017-18, 
it’s about winning the Big Ten 
for the Wildcats.

No. 20 Purdue
The Boilermakers got an early 

start to their season, playing 
as Team USA for the World 
University Games and finishing 
in second place after an 85-74 
loss to Lithuania in the finals.

Purdue will have to play 

catch-up, though, as it faces 
perhaps the toughest challenge 
in the conference: replacing 
Caleb Swanigan. While much 
of the Boilermakers’ foundation 
remains the same, Swanigan 
led the Big Ten in rebounding 
and was second in scoring 
— 
production 
that 
7-foot-2 

center Isaac Haas simply can’t 
replicate. Haas calls himself the 

best center in the conference, 
though he’ll have to prove that 
statement on the court.

Outside 
the 
arc, 
Vince 

Edwards and Dakota Mathias 
return as two of the best 3-point 
shooting talents in the Big Ten. 
Swanigan’s 
departure 
will 

certainly hurt Purdue’s 79.7 
point-per-game average, but the 
pieces are in place for one of the 
conference’s most experienced 
teams to continue to have an 
elite offense.

Wisconsin (14 votes)
It’s Ethan Happ and then 

everyone else in Madison this 
season. 
The 
unrecognizable 

Badgers — who are now without 
Zak Showalter, Nigel Hayes, 
Bronson Koenig and Vitto Brown 
— are the team most likely to fall 
after a second-place conference 
finish in 2016-17. Happ put up an 
impressive 14 points per game in 
addition to being the Big Ten 
Defensive Player of the Year, 
but Wisconsin will need one of 
its four high-ranked recruits or 
last year’s role players to step 
up to continue to be a college 

basketball powerhouse.

The player most prepared to 

do that is D’Mitrik Trice. For 
Trice, however, an expected 
increase in production is more 
of a necessity than an option. 
The sophomore point guard was 
the Badgers’ most reliable bench 
player last year, despite a quiet 
5.6 points per game. Happ is 
the unmistakable leader for this 
team, but Trice could be relied 
upon as an emerging offensive 
playmaker to replace Showalter 
and Koenig’s production.

Wisconsin 
hasn’t 
missed 

the tournament since 1999, the 
sixth-longest streak in NCAA 
history. 
Seeing 
that 
streak 

come to an end could be a real 
possibility this season.

Maryland (seven votes)
The Terrapins will be on 

the same learning curve as 
Purdue, as they too have lost 
their unquestioned leader in 
point 
guard 
Melo 
Trimble. 

Maryland 
doesn’t 
have 
the 

same experienced core as the 
Boilermakers, but does have a 
trio of sophomores who could 

take the next step and keep 
the Terrapins in the spotlight: 
Justin Jackson, Kevin Huerter 
and Anthony Cowan.

Jackson’s freshman campaign 

was 
a 
welcome 
sight 
for 

Maryland; his name was even in 
the conversation before the NBA 
Draft. But the 6-foot-7 small 
forward is back, and was named 
a preseason All-Big Ten and 
Julius Erving Award Watch List 
selection. Huerter and Cowan’s 
impacts were not as pronounced 
in their first years, but they did 
not exhibit glaring flaws in any 
facets of their game.

The Terrapins perhaps have 

the most interesting newcomer 
in the conference in Bruno 
Fernando. The Angolan center 
introduces a unique blend of 
size and athleticism that could 
position him as a threat to 
Jaren Jackson’s push for Big 
Ten Freshman of the Year. 
Maryland’s 
frontcourt 
depth 

appears to be its weakest link, 
but the speed of Fernando’s 
adjustment to college ball could 
change that.

BIG TEN
From Page 7B

SAM MOUSIGIAN/Daily

The Michigan men’s basketball team will face a tough challenge in conference play this year, as there are four Big Ten teams in the AP preseason top 25 poll and the Wolverines aren’t one of them.

