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ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 2 51 f NEBRASKA 19-13 OVERALL, 11-7 BIG TEN T im Miles is talking about "unfinished business." After finishing in fourth place in the Big Ten — the Cornhuskers' best conference finish since 1999 — and advancing to the NCAAs for the first time since 1998, the season ended on tight losses to Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament and then to Baylor in the NCAAs. "We didn't have a chance to end things the way we wanted to," Miles said. But with seven of its top eight players back from a team that was 19-13, Miles' group could have a deeper run in 2014-15. Juniors Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields, All-Big Ten selections, are back after averaging 18.1 points and 12.8 points. Petteway's average led the Big Ten. It's the first time in 11 years Nebraska returns a pair of dou- ble-digit scorers as well as its top six rebounders and three assist men. But Miles knows it's not just about putting uppoints. Nebraska surged at the end of conference play because its defense held its final 14 opponents to 39 percent shooting. "Once we started playing very solid defense and be- came a good defensive rebounding team, we became a good team but not until," Miles said. "Defense has got to be our calling card." OHIO STATE 25-10 OVERALL, 10-8 BIG TEN T he Buckeyes advanced to their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament but lost 60-59 to Dayton in their first game. Now, they're down three starters, and will have to re- load. "We're going to be a different team," Coach Thad Mat- ta said. "We'll play a little bit different, but I've been very pleased with the direction we're heading." It'll be interesting to see what kind of defensive pres- ence the Buckeyes can bring without feisty point guard Aaron Craft disrupting offenses. Ohio State led the league in defense last season, the only Big Ten team to keep opponents under 60 points (59.8) by forcing more turnovers than any other team (14.3 pg). Craft was the (blushed) face of that effort, leading the league in steals. But Shannon Scott was No. 2 — and also an All-Defensive Team member — and he'll be charged with not only leading the Buckeyes' defensive effort this season but also sparking the offense. He's not a bad fill-in, considering he was second on the team with 3.4 assists per game and had nearly a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Scott will need to find the hot hand amongst a group of pieces — Sam Thompson and Amir Williams are the most experienced — who have yet to prove they can score consistently. MICHIGAN STATE 29-9, 12-6 BIG TEN T he cupboard isn't exactly bare for Tom Izzo after another Elite Eight appearance, but it's been severely raided. Gone are three all-conference players, Gary Harris, Adreian Payne and Keith Appling, that accounted for three of the Spartans' top four scorers and provided a considerable pulse to the team's personality. The weight now falls on Branden Dawson (11.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg), West Virginia transfer Eron Harris and former role players who will be forced into starting spots. Denzel Valentine has been a productive player — 144 assists in 38 games last season — and Travis Trice had to play some point without Appling, but can they do it consistently and when counted on primary options? ILLINOIS 20-15 OVERALL, 7-11 BIG TEN A fter nine newcomers in the program last season led to some struggles in John Groce's second year, the coach is expecting a more settled, experi- enced and deeper team in 2014-15. And that could have the Illini pushing to get back to the NCAAs after a year break away. Even with the hit they took in September when starting guard Tracy Abrams was lost for the season with an ACL injury. That's because they could get equal production — Abrams averaged 10.7 points and 3.2 assists last season — with Oregon State transfer Ah- mad Starks finally eligible. Starks' waiver to play im- mediately last season was denied, but the play-making