BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota hosts Ohio State after Dawson Garcia scored 20 points in Minnesota's 81-61 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers. The Golden Gophers have gone 8-3 at home. Minnesota has a 2-2 ...

As recently as last week, questions arose about Purdue's offense. Lately, people should be taking note of the Boilermakers' defense.

WEST LAFAYETTE — CJ Cox, making his second consecutive start for Purdue basketball ... second straight start after helping slow down Dawson Garcia at Minnesota. This time Furst was advised ...

Minnesota hosts the Ohio State Buckeyes after Dawson Garcia scored 20 points in Minnesota's 81-61 loss to the Purdue Boilermakers Ohio State Buckeyes (9-5, 1-2 Big Ten) at Minnesota Golden Gophers ...

Trey Kaufman-Renn had 23 points and 11 rebounds to help lead No. 17 Purdue past No. 13 Oregon on Saturday, 65-58.

Entering Friday, 15 of the 18 Big Ten teams are ranked inside the top 70 on kenpom.com. There's also been a real pivot to playing with more pace. The Big Ten is now up to third amongst all the conferences in tempo after rating 24th last year out of 32 leagues.

College basketball has a jam-packed slate ahead, but which games are truly must-see matchups? Here are the top five games to watch this weekend.

Michigan suffered an 84-81 overtime loss, falling to 13-4 and 5-1 in Big Ten play as Minnesota drilled a buzzer-beater to snap the five-game win streak. The Wolverines had several chances to pull away before falling short to the Big Ten’s last place team.

The Big Ten basketball schedule is marching along, with teams like Michigan State starting to superate themselves.

Kylan Boswell and the rest of the No. 19 Illinois men’s basketball team showed their potential on Tuesday night with a 94-69 rout of host Indiana in Bloomington, Ind. Scott Richey covers college basketball for The News-Gazette. His email is [email protected], and you can follow him on Twitter ( @srrichey ).

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Freshman Derik Queen scored 18 of his season-high 27 points in the second half, Rodney Rice added 21 points and Maryland beat Minnesota 77-71 on Monday night. Ja’Kobi Gillespie sank a 3-pointer from the corner with 13 minutes left in the second half to give Maryland its first lead, 49-46, since it was 14-13.

Maryland continues to improve its play as the season continues, and look to be a sure-fire NCAA Tournament team in a crowded Big Ten, now can it contend for a r