MN WildcatMon, November 24, 2025 at 5:00 PM UTC·6 min readNebraska wins a championship, Purdue stuffs Tech in a locker, and all the other news that’s fit to print.
Good morning. Lots of Big Ten hoops to get to, since Rutgers—and boy do we have more on them in a second—is going to get flattened by Tennessee in about an hour.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Weekend That Was
Most Impressive Wins
(Don’t like this change in the plot point? Too bad.)
Expected, But Damn#1 Purdue Boilermakers 86, #15 Texas Tech Red Raiders 56
Purdue didn’t just take home the Baha Mar Championship, they beat the brakes off Texas Tech in a way that, Price is Right-style, they should be allowed to take home the Red Raiders’ showcase prize, too.
The Boilers absolutely hammered the Red Raiders on the glass, grabbing 38.5% of their misses…but better yet was that they just didn’t fucking miss: 34/58 from the field and 8/14 from deep, which helped them turn a 26-23 advantage with 7 minutes left in the first half into a 49-26 rout at halftime.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementYou read that correctly: a 23-3 run to close out the first half on one of the best 15 teams in the country.
Purdue’s got length, of course, but their efficiency on offense is just going to flatten some teams.
A Pleasant SurpriseNebraska Cornhuskers 86, Kansas State Wildcats 85
Sam Hoiberg ran down a Pryce Sandfort missed three in the final second of the game, sank one free throw, and helped Nebraska win a coin flip in a back-and-forth second half at the Hall of Fame Classic in front of a raucous crowd in Kansas City.
The Huskers had already dispatched a game-but-overmatched New Mexico squad in the first game, and the K-State experience was the kind of win that will look nice—and season the latest band of Hoiberg’s bunch—come March. Iowa transfer Sandfort is going to be a volume chucker all year—5 threes on 14 attempts!—and when it’s hitting, watch out. The Huskers’ size—running out both Berke Buyuktuncel and Rienk Mast against the Wildcats—helped them defend their glass get to the line…though 60% from the stripe won’t cut it, Big Red.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMost Embarrassing Loss
Central Connecticut Blue Devils 67, Rutgers Scarlet Knights 54
So much for the Trapezoid of Terror.
No one told the Blue Devils, at least, who waltzed in with one of the 20 worst offenses in D-I hoops—but an above-average defense—and stuffed the ol’ Pikiell Clang-and-Bang in a dumpster. The Knights shot 26% from deep and just 36% from the field: ballyhooed Canadian forward Dylan Grant had his worst night of the year, Tariq Francis wasn’t much better, and the rest of the Rutgers lineup just doesn’t offer enough scoring.
All the Rest
No MTE Breakthroughs#9 BYU Cougars 98, #23 wisconsin badgers 70 (Bad Boy Mowers, Salt Lake City)
Virginia Cavaliers 83, Northwestern Wildcats 78 (Greenbrier Tip-Off)
Northwestern Wildcats 79, South Carolina Gamecocks 77 (Greenbrief Tip-Off)
The badgers learned there’s a wide chasm between them and the best, while the ‘Cats suffered another blown opportunity in White Sulphur Springs—and tried to blow a second, for good measure, until Arrinten Page and Nick Martinelli rescued them late.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOur Expectations for You Were LowProvidence Friars 77, Penn State Nittany Lions 65 (in Uncasville, CT)
San Francisco Dons 77, Minnesota Golden Gophers 65 (in Sioux Falls, SD)
#17 Michigan State Spartans 84, Detroit Mercy Titans 56
#19 UCLA Bruins 86, Presbyterian Blue Hose 46
#8 Illinois Fighting Illini 98, Long Island Sharks 58
FEAST WEEK BEGINS
Monday, November 24
Player Era Festival (several)This is a pool-play-based tournament at a couple sites in Vegas, with tip-offs running from 12pm to 11pm Central Time. Per the NCAA, teams finishing 2-0 will qualify for the championship and third-place games (8:30 and 6pm CT on Wednesday, TNT), followed by 1-1 teams, each determined on point differential, then points scored, then points allowed. Additional matchups based on the first two days of competition will air on November 26 and 27.
If that sounds made-up, bullshit, and arbitrary—welcome to the new world of college basketball. Same, in so many ways, as the old world.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement#20 Tennessee Volunteers vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights12pm | TNT | UT -14.5 | O/U 143.5MGM Grand Garden Arena (Las Vegas, NV)
Rutgers just lost to Central Connecticut. Tennessee has one of the best defenses in the country.
Hope the NIL payouts were good.
Oregon Ducks vs. #22 Auburn Tigers7pm | truTV | Auburn -4.5 | O/U 152.5Michelob Ultra Arena (Las Vegas, NV)
Oregon’s offense has scuffled this year. Perhaps a little scoring-fest with Auburn would get everybody right.
San Diego State Aztecs vs. #7 Michigan Wolverines9:30pm | truTV | Mich -7 | O/U 149.5Michelob Ultra Arena (Las Vegas, NV)
Brian Dutcher against his old school—I guess the narratives write themselves?
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Minnesota alumnus has led the Aztecs to a pair of Final Four appearances in the last three seasons, though this iteration of the Aztecs isn’t quite as up on Dutch’s preferred brand of wrestleball—see, USC, it happens to everyone! The Aztecs lost to Troy, 108-107.
Magoon Gwath will be a great test for the Wolverines’ frontcourt. Definitely worth a watch.
UNLV Rebels vs. Maryland Terrapins10:59pm | TNT | MD -2.5 | O/U 162.5MGM Grand Garden Arena (Las Vegas, NV)
Your guess is as good as mine: the Rebels lost to UT-Martin and Montana, but beat Memphis and St. Joseph’s by double-digits.
Actually, it’s not too hard: Josh Pastner (yes, really) and the Rebels were missing combo guard Isaac Williamson and are still missing C Emmanuel Stephen. Since Williamson’s return, he’s hitting 47% from deep and averaging 17 a game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSouthwest Maui Invitational (USC)USC Trojans vs. Boise State Broncos4pm | ESPN2 | USC -5.5 | O/U 150.5Lahaina Civic Center (Maui, HI)
The Broncos are 4-1 on the season and would VERY MUCH appreciate it if you didn’t ask any follow-up questions about that los—
—it was to Hawai’i Pacific, 79-78, in the opening game of the year.
Now.
Why the Broncos were opening the year with a D-II team is a great question.
Why the Broncos were opening the year with a D-II team from Hawai’i is a great question.
Why the Broncos opened the year with a loss to a D-II team from Hawai’i when surely, like, the College of Idaho would’ve come by and given the Broncos a game—this, too, is a great question.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementI would also challenge you to interrogate whether USC should be throwing glass stones given that they just went to triple overtime with Troy and needed Troy to piss down their legs in the final minutes.
But, hell, we’re here to enjoy the sunshine and bad basketball in Lahaina. Rest in peace, Bill.
Seton Hall vs. NC State (1:30pm, ESPN2)
USC vs. Boise State (4pm, ESPN2)
Washington State vs. Chaminade (8pm, ESPNU)
Arizona State vs. Texas (10:30pm, ESPN2)
#8 Illinois Fighting Illini vs. UTRGV Vaqueros7pm | BTN | Illinois -32 | O/U 167
This, too, is a basketball game.
If you still talk about basketball, here’s your spot to do that. Have a great Monday.
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