UNDATED (AP) — No. 10 Indiana’s game at No. 18 Wisconsin illustrates the wackiness of this pandemic-marred college football season. It’s December, both teams are nationally ranked, and the stakes really aren’t clear right now. Indiana is 5-1 and, as it stands now, would be in the Big Ten championship game if the Buckeyes don’t reach the six-game minimum necessary to play for the title. Ohio State is one cancellation away from that being the case. Wisconsin has had three games canceled, so it can’t go to the championship game and is essentially playing for a best possible bowl slot.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Adam Flagler scored 18 points and was one of four players in double figures for No. 2 Baylor, which pulled away late Wednesday night to beat No. 5 Illinois 82-69 in the Jimmy V Classic. Baylor won for the first time this season with coach Scott Drew on the sideline. He missed the previous two games after a positive COVID-19 test, but watched his team swing the game with its trademark defense in the second half. Ayo Dosunmu had 18 points and Giorgi Beshanishvili added 15 for Illinois.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel is rebuking any suggestion the Wolverines would try to avoid facing rival Ohio State in the regular-season finale. He calls the notion ridiculous and infuriating. Michigan’s game against Maryland this weekend was canceled after the Wolverines suspended team activities because of an outbreak of COVID-19. It could also threaten their rivalry game against Ohio State on Dec. 12. A cancellation there could leave the Buckeyes with not enough games to be eligible for the Big Ten championship game.
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Miller Kopp scored 18 points and Chase Audige scored 16 and Northwestern opened its season by beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff 92-49. The Wildcats made 14 of 29 3-pointers — eight in the second half — when they created distance from Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Seven different Northwestern players knocked down at least one 3. It’s the highest number of 3s made by a Northwestern team since burying 17 against Rutgers in February 2016. Jalen Lynn led the Golden Lions with 12 points, Markedric Bell 11 and Shaun Doss Jr. 10.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Isaiah Livers scored 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, Hunter Dickinson had his first career double-double, and Michigan beat Ball State 84-65. Dickinson, a freshman, finished with 12 points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Franz Wagner added 14 points and Mike Smith scored 10 for Michigan (3-0). After Ball State’s Ishmael El-Amin made a layup to open the scoring, Wagner scored seven points — including the first four — in an 11-0 run that gave the Wolverines the lead for good. K.J. Walton led Ball State (0-2) with 20 points. Luke Bumbalough added 13 points, including three 3-pointers.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Trayce Jackson-Davis scored a career-high 31 points and Indiana responded to an ugly loss a day earlier by beating Stanford 79-63 in the third-place game at the relocated Maui Invitational. Jackson-Davis made 10 of 16 shots and 11 of 14 free throws to go with six rebounds. His previous career high was 27 points against Minnesota in February. Daejon Davis scored 18 points and Oscar da Silva added 17 for Stanford. Indiana played without guard Aljami Durham, who suffered an ankle injury against Texas.
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) — Seth Lundy hit five 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 32 points, Myles Dread made a 3 at the buzzer, and Penn State beat VCU 72-69. Dread was scoreless and 0 for 4 from the field, all 3-point shots, before he took a pass from Jamari Wheeler and drained the winner from the right wing over the outstretched arm of 6-foot-9 — with a 7-4 wingspan — Hason Ward as time expired. Sam Sessoms scored 17 points for Penn State (2-0). Levi Stockard III led VCU (2-2) with 13 points and Nah’Shon Hyland scored 11.
UNDATED (AP) — Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz is in an unfamiliar position. He is trying to bounce back from a loss for the first time in his career Saturday when the 18th-ranked Badgers host No. 10 Indiana. Mertz threw three interceptions and lost a fumble in a 17-7 loss at Northwestern. Now he faces an Indiana defense that has picked off 16 passes to lead all Bowl Subdivision teams. Mertz says it seems that most of Indiana’s interceptions have resulted from pressure that forces quarterbacks into making bad throws.
