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Quarterfinals: Purdue 69, Penn State 61
A day filled with upsets in the quarterfinals round of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday ended with a chalky outcome as No. 3 seed Purdue toppled No. 11 seed Penn State 69-61 to advance to Saturday’s semifinals.
The Boilermakers got a good scare out of the Nittany Lions, as they trailed for more than 15 minutes of game time and faced the heat as Penn State applied the pressure late. But Jaden Ivey’s 17 points helped guide Purdue home as he hit clutch shots down the stretch and came up with a handful of hustle plays to boot.
Purdue will face No. 7 seed Michigan State in the semis after the Spartans cruised past No. 2 seed Wisconsin. Michigan State won the lone regular season bout with the Boilermakers, 68-65.
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Quarterfinals: Michigan State 69, Wisconsin 63
No. 7 seed Michigan State upended No. 2 seed Wisconsin behind a career-high 19 points from 7-foot senior Marcus Bingham Jr. It marked the third upset by seed of Friday’s quarterfinals action in the Big Ten Tournament (and the sixth of the week), The Spartans led for most of the second half despite making one 3-pointer all game, hitting big free throws late when needed. They advance to the semifinals on Saturday and await the winner of Friday night’s tilt between Penn State and Purdue.
Wisconsin senior Brad Davison did his best to drag the Badgers back into the mix after playing from behind for most of the game. Davison finished with 23 points before eventually fouling out. But Badgers star Johnny Davis uncharacteristically struggled, and coming off an injury last week, he went just 3 of 19 shooting from the floor.
Sparty’s win continues a trend of upsets this week in the Big Ten Tournament. It’s the first time the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds have been eliminated in the quarterfinals after Illinois earlier in the day bit the dust to No. 9 seed Indiana.
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Quarterfinals: Iowa 84, Rutgers 74
No. 5 seed Iowa took care of No. 4 seed Rutgers in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday behind a 26-point effort from Keegan Murray. The Hawkeyes advance to face No. 9 seed Indiana in the semifinals tomorrow as both of the top seeds on the top side of the bracket have been eliminated. Few teams are playing better in the country than Iowa right now, which has won seven of its last eight and 10 of its last 12.
This game featured some serious tension as Connor McCaffery was ejected after picking up his second technical foul late in the game while jawing at Rutgers players entering a timeout. That prompted head coach Fran McCaffery to come out and get in the face of the officials about something. Then, shortly after, the strength and conditioning coach for Rutgers was ejected as well. In total, there were six technical fouls. Thankfully, there were no fisticuffs after the game.
Rutgers entered the game as one of the “Last Four In” the projected NCAA Tournament field, according to Jerry Palm. This loss will make the next two days uneasy for the Scarlet Knights.
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Quarterfinals: Illinois 65, Indiana 63
No. 9 seed Indiana upset No. 1 seed Illinois in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday, picking up its second straight win in two days amid life on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Illinois guard Andre Curbelo drove with a chance to put the Illini ahead in the final seconds, but his layup attempt bounced off the rim. Indiana will play the winner of the next game between No. 5 seed Iowa and No. 4 seed Rutgers in Friday’s semifinals.
Indiana entered as one of the “First Four Out” of the projected NCAA Tournament field, according to Jerry Palm’s Bracketology, after beating No. 8 seed Michigan in Thursday’s second round. For a team that lost seven of its last nine regular-season games, this marks an unexpected — and much-needed — surge with Selection Sunday just two days away. Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers with 21 points.
Illinois entered as a projected No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Kofi Cockburn led the Illini with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
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Second round: Penn State 71, Ohio State 68
Penn State overcame a 13-point deficit to win 71-68 over No. 6 seed Ohio State in a stunner that was easily the most surprising result of the tourney to date. The Nittany Lions trailed for more than 33 of the game’s 40 minutes before stealing the lead down the stretch and keeping the Buckeyes at arm’s length. It marked the second time in as many games Penn State had to dig out of an early hole after trailing by as many as seven in the first round on Thursday to Minnesota.
Ohio State got 25 points from star E.J. Liddell and another 16 from Malaki Branham, but it was not enough to overcome Penn State’s dominance in the paint and contributions off the bench. Combined, the Buckeyes were outscored 32-14 in the paint and by 23 in bench points thanks to double-digit showings from Myles Dread and Sam Sessoms.
Penn State will play No. 3 seed Purdue on Friday where a win would move it one step closer to a first-ever conference tournament title since joining the Big Ten.
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Second round: Michigan State 76, Maryland 72
The Spartans led 57-37 with 13:04 remaining, but the Terrapins cut it to 74-72 on an Eric Ayala bucket with 16 seconds left. Max Christie helped close it out at the free-throw from there for Michigan State, which advances to play No. 2 seed Wisconsin in the quarterfinals tomorrow. Christie led the Spartans with 16 points while Gabe Brown contributed 13. Tom Izzo used 10 players tonight; if the Spartans are going to win four games in four days, that depth will come in handy.
The loss ends Maryland’s season with a 15-17 record. It was a promising offseason for the program with the additions of Fatts Russell and Qudus Wahab from the transfer portal, but Mark Turgeon’s early-season resignation was a sign that things weren’t in great shape behind the scenes. Interim coach Danny Manning got this team playing at a respectable level in late February, but now attention turns to who the program will hire as its next coach.
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Second Round: Iowa, 112, Northwestern 76
No. 5 seed Iowa cruised on to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday with a 112-76 drubbing of No. 12 seed Northwestern. The Hawkeyes left no doubt in this one, jumping out to the 33-point lead at halftime and never really letting their foot off the gas. The 112 points are the most scored by a team in Big Ten Tournament history.
Keegan Murray led the way in the win with 26 points and eight rebounds as five Hawkeyes finished with double-figures. Jordan Bohannon was the second-leading scorer with 17.
With the win, Iowa advances to the quarterfinals on Friday where it will meet No. 4 seed Rutgers at 2 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.
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Second round: Indiana 74, Michigan 69
The first game of the second round of Thursday’s Big Ten Tournament set quite the bar for the rest of the day in Indianapolis. What looked at one point like an imminent blowout win for Michigan over Indiana quickly spiraled out of the Wolverines’ control late and into the Hoosiers’ hands, as IU overcame a 17-point second half to advance to the quarterfinals with a 74-69 win.
“They just won’t quit,” IU coach Mike Woodson said of his team in an interview with the Big Ten Network after the game. “It was heated in the locker room at halftime. I didn’t think we were competing at all. I thought the second half we came out, Geronimo came in and gave us a huge lift.”
Jordan Geronimo finished with only five points and a pair of rebounds, but came up big time and again in the second half on the defensive end of the floor. Meanwhile, teammate Trayce Jackson-Davis stepped up on the other end, as he finished with 24 points — 19 in the second half — to stun the Wolverines in the comeback.
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First round: Penn State 60, Minnesota 51
The final game of the first round of this week’s Big Ten Tournament came to a merciful end Wednesday night with Penn State edging Minnesota in a low-scoring affair, 60-51. The Nittany Lions trailed early by as many as seven points and had a four-point halftime deficit before rallying to outscore the Golden Gophers 36-23 in the second half.
Penn State senior guard Jalen Pickett led the charge to victory with a game-high 22 points while playing all 40 minutes. Thirteen of his 22 came in the second half. He finished an efficient 9 of 14 shooting from the floor with seven rebounds.
Minnesota had four players finish in double figures despite the low points total led by Jamison Battle’s 19 points. But despite taking more shots than Penn State, it shot just 37% from the floor and 26% from distance in the loss.
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First round: Northwestern 71, Nebraska 69
The No. 12 seed Wildcats got a stop in the final seconds as Alonzo Verge’s drive while down two came up empty. Northwestern had great defense down the stretch, and it will advance to face No. 5 seed Iowa tomorrow. The No. 13 seed Cornhuskers led by 15 early in the second half, but Northwestern shot 53.3% in the second half to keep its season alive for at least one more day. Boo Buie led the way with 16 for Northwestern and Pete Nance added 14.
The Cornhuskers had won three straight entering the league tournament and looked great in the first half, but ultimately their season comes to an end with a 10-22 record. The administration has signaled that coach Fred Hoiberg will be back for a fourth season, despite the fact that he’s just 15-64 in league play thus far.
