“They are a different team with him and without him,” Izzo said. “They can still be very effective and win games, but when you watch him up close, he is definitely one of the best players in this league and deserving of all the preseason accolades.”

Hummel, the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year, has been battling a semi-serious back injury for about a month. He had missed three straight games until Saturday, when he scored two points (1-of-7 shooting) in 24 minutes off the bench against Iowa. During his previous four games, he had averaged 8.7 points in 24 minutes.

When Hummel is out of the lineup, the Boilermakers lack the depth that made them the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten.

They still have other weapons, namely guard E’Twaun Moore (13.6 points, 4.8 rebounds) and forward JaJuan Johnson (13.4 points, six rebounds), but they lack the versatility that Izzo said makes them such a nightmare to scout.

“To be honest with you, it’s the most difficult thing for us to do,” Izzo said, “Because every time we get a scheme down that we want to defend this way … we say, ‘What if Hummel’s at the three, what if Hummel’s at the four?’ That’s been a problem, but one we’ll have to deal with.”

Make a statement

Of all the individual matchups that should evolve tonight, the most intriguing might be between a pair of players who won’t even guard each other.

MSU senior guard Travis Walton and Purdue guard Chris Kramer are the apparent frontrunners for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, an award neither have shied away from their desire to win.

In a game that many voters likely will be watching, both will have golden opportunities to emerge as the favorite.

“Travis is gonna get a chance,” Izzo said. “He’s gonna have to guard E’Twaun Moore … or Hummel.”

Although Izzo admitted to having bias, he said Walton is more deserving of the hardware than his adversaries because of the many challenges he’s faced.

“We’ve had to move him all over,” Izzo said. “He’s had to cover some bigger guys, he’s covered some smaller guys and sometimes we switch. Maybe compared to those other two teams, he doesn’t get as much credit because of the way we play.”

Roe gets acknowledged

MSU freshman forward Delvon Roe only played one game last week, but he did enough in the minds of voters to merit Big Ten Player of the Week honors.

Roe played his best game of the season last Tuesday against Michigan, finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead MSU past U-M, 54-42.

“I was happy to see Delvon named player of the week,” Izzo said. “He’s been playing awfully hard; he’s been playing better defensively and rebounding better.”

With his knees back at full strength and his competency of the college game rapidly improving, Roe’s numbers have swelled the past couple weeks. He’s averaged 9.7 points and seven rebounds over his last three games, all MSU wins.

Roe is the third MSU player who’s earned the recognition this season. Junior forward Raymar Morgan and sophomore guard Kalin Lucas won it consecutively the first two weeks of the conference season.

Roe also became the second freshman this season (Ohio State’s William Buford being the first) to win the award.