Paul Klee's college basketball insider

Beat writer Paul Klee's weekly online chat is at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. Submit questions here.

Team of the Week

Ohio State

As one Big Ten assistant said Sunday, "They've got the best players in the league." So it should be no surprise the Buckeyes (17-5, 7-4 Big Ten) have strung together four straight wins to creep back into the league race. (Perhaps it should be more of a surprise Ohio State once was 3-4 in the Big Ten.) Other teams have future NBA guys, but Ohio State is the only one with three first-round locks (Evan Turner, B.J. Mullens, William Buford). The Buckeyes are one of the most efficient teams in the country, though they play at one of the slowest paces. Its zone defense won't scare anyone – but its players will. A Westchester St. Joseph product, Turner on Monday was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the second straight week and the third time this season. Buford reminds us a little of Ray Allen, and he concerns opposing coaches more than former Buckeye Daequan Cook did. We have questions about Ohio State – why is Mullens averaging fewer minutes than Dallas Lauderdale (20.3 to 21.9)? – but the Buckeyes are showing why we voted them third in the preseason Big Ten poll. It's a talent-laden team with a high ceiling.

Team of the Weak

Elbow uproar

The hot topic on the Big Ten coaches media teleconference Monday: elbows. Purdue's Chris Kramer caught one (from Michigan's Manny Harris). Indiana's Devan Dumes was suspended for throwing his (against Michigan State). And Wisconsin's Joe Krabbenhoft used his (on a hard screen on Purdue's Lewis Jackson). "I guess it's a little bit of a virus, a flu going through the league," Bruce Weber said Monday of the rough play that has characterized this Big Ten season. If you watched the Illinois-Purdue game Sunday, you can see why. Only 27 fouls were called. Countless more were committed and not whistled. If I'm a star like Harris, and Kramer is in my grill for 30 minutes, there's a good chance I'm throwing an elbow, too. (And no, I'm not picking on Kramer, he's just an example.) But hands-on defense is allowed in the Big Ten – encouraged even, judging by the officiating – and that's a big reason elbows are up and players (like Harris) are being ejected. They're tired of getting hacked. "One thing leads to another, I guess," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said, hitting it on the nose. It's easy to see why Big Ten teams employ physical, hands-on defense; the league doesn't have the same caliber of players as the ACC, Big East or Pac-10, and they're evening the playing field. When Michigan played at Illinois, coach John Beilein told a referee the smartest thing we've heard this season. After one of his players was mugged under the basket, Beilein said from the sideline, "That's why no one scores in the Big Ten, because you don't make that call." He's right on: of the six power conferences, the Big Ten is last in scoring (67.3 ppg). And if you allow physical defense, the elbows are going to follow. No big deal. It's a physical game.

Games to Watch

1. No. 8 Michigan State at Michigan (6 p.m. today, ESPN) – Strangely, a Michigan official told us the intrastate rivals aren't going head-to-head in recruiting battles. The reason? Beilein prefers a different type of player than MSU's Tom Izzo. Today's game is their only regular season meeting.

2. Florida at Kentucky (8 p.m. today, ESPN) – UK assistant Tracy Webster still follows the careers of the players he helped recruit to Illinois. He was especially close with seniors Chester Frazier and Calvin Brock and sophomores Mike Davis and Demetri McCamey.

3. No. 14 Xavier at Dayton (7 p.m. Wednesday, ESPN Classic) – On the list of "Teams You Don't Want Illinois To Play in the First Round of the NCAA tournament," the Atlantic-10's finest should be near the top. Xavier's Sean Miller has won at least one game in five of his six NCAA tournament appearances as a head coach or associate head coach; Dayton is 4-0 against ranked teams with forward Chris Wright in the lineup.

Conference Call (Scoring averages of the teams in the big six)

1. ACC, 75.9 ppg

2. Big 12, 74.9

3. SEC, 74.6

4. Big East, 73.3

5. Pac-10, 70.3

6. Big Ten, 67.3

Wooden Watch (Three Bob Cousy Award candidates)

1. Stephen Curry, Davidson – The switch to point guard has worked swimmingly; Dell's son leads the nation in scoring (28.7 ppg) and is 16th in assists (6.2).

2. Kalin Lucas, Michigan State – He won't win the Cousy Award, but if MSU wins its first Big Ten title since sharing the crown with Illinois in 2001, the sophomore could be the frontrunner for the league's Player of the Year award.

3. Eric Maynor, Virginia Commonwealth – You remember his game-winning jumper that beat Duke in the 2007 NCAA tournament; Now, he leads the Colonial Athletic Conference in scoring (22.7 ppg) and assists (5.9)

Note: As a voter for the Cousy Award, given to the nation's top point guard, Paul Klee submitted this ballot of 12 finalists: Curry, Lucas, Maynor, Sherron Collins (Kansas), Darren Collison (UCLA), Jonny Flynn (Syracuse), Ty Lawson (North Carolina), Levance Fields (Pittsburgh), Patrick Mills (St. Mary's), Talor Battle (Penn State), Jeff Teague (Wake Forest), A.J. Price (Connecticut).

Polling place: News-Gazette vs. national polls

N-G Top 25

How Klee voted in this week's Associated Press poll:

1. Connecticut – Harry A. Gampel Pavilion only seats 10,167 Huskies fans

2. Oklahoma – Jeff Capel's Sooners can follow Bob Stoops' into title game

3. North Carolina – Durham Herald-Sun provides top-notch Heels coverage

4. Louisville – On RickPitino.com, Cardinals coach has a restaurants review

5. Pittsburgh – Overall record (21-2) is Pitt's second-best mark after 23 games

6. Wake Forest – Coach Dino Gaudio is a graduate of Ohio University

7. Clemson – Lookalike coaches: Oliver Purnell (Clemson), Jimmy Collins (UIC)

8. Duke – Loss to Clemson (74-47) their worst since 1990 vs. UNLV (103-73)

9. Memphis – Tigers capable of a fourth straight Elite Eight appearance

10. Marquette – Tom Crean's former team is 20-3; His current team is 6-16

11. Michigan State – Won't be surprised if Tom Izzo is connected to Arizona job

12. Xavier – Atlantic-10 co-leader is a No. 4 seed in ESPN's Bracketology

13. UCLA – Radiohead's Grammy act – with Southern Cal's band – was riveting

14. Kansas – Will go as far as Chicago product Sherron Collins can take them

15. Butler – Bulldogs host Davidson in ESPN's Bracketbusters on Feb. 22

16. Villanova – Well-dressed coach Jay Wright named to GQ's "Fashionable Four"

17. Arizona State – 16 teams in AP poll come from Big East, ACC and Big Ten

18. Ohio State – One of four Big Ten teams to appear on our Top 25 ballot

19. Florida State – Seminoles nationally ranked for first time in 11 years

20. Illinois – If Illini just hold serve at home, they'll go 10-8 in Big Ten

21. Missouri – Prior to Monday's game, Mike Anderson was 0-4 against Kansas

22. Utah State – Leading the nation in field goal percentage (50.6)

23. South Carolina – Wonder if Steve Spurrier attends their hoops games

24. Purdue – Matt Painter on Monday: "Hummel hasn't practiced since December"

25. Florida – 'Cuse, Dayton, UNLV, Texas, Minnesota, Gonzaga out of our poll

pklee@news-gazette.com

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