We’re approximately at the midway point of the conference schedule, so it’s a logical time to check in our preseason predictions. Were we close?

With every Big Ten team having played at least nine conference games, we’ve reached the midway point of the Big Ten season. It’s been a fantastic race thus far, with Indiana one game ahead of the pace, and it should only get better.

Ben Brust scored 20 points and Wisconsin overcame a ragged start on Sunday to beat Illinois 74-68. The Badgers (15-7, 6-3 Big Ten) shot under 30 percent for most of the first half and combined with the Illini to score 14 points in the game’s first eight minutes.

On Saturday night’s “The Journey: Big Ten Basketball 2013,” we put the spotlight on Ohio State’s Deshaun Thomas, Purdue’s Johnson brothers and Wisconsin’s new point guards. In this clip, you get a taste for all three of the latest episode’s storylines. Best of all: We have family video of Terone and Ronnie Johnson as youngsters, and it’s nothing short of cute. Check out the Johnson’s family footage from 1993 in this video.

In a matchup of the Big Ten’s two best defenses, it was Ohio State that prevailed with a nine-point home victory over Wisconsin. Both of these teams rely on good old fashioned B1G defense: make you miss (without fouling), then secure the carom. Turnovers are optional.