Big Ten Conference Tournament Recaps

Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) – Jordan Morgan’s layup with 7.9 seconds left helped eighth-ranked Michigan escape with a 64-63 win over Illinois in quarterfinal action of the Big Ten Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Nik Stauskas had 19 points and Glenn Robinson III added 15 with seven rebounds for top-seeded Michigan (24-7), which has won six in a row and will play 24th-ranked Ohio State in Saturday’s semifinals.

“Well, we’re thrilled to get that win because as you can see, as Illinois has shown in their last six games, how well the program has played after a tough January,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “So we had a lot of respect for them coming in. They proved how good they were, and, fortunately, we got some good bounces around the basket to finish the game.”

Tracy Abrams and Rayvonte Rice each had 11 points for ninth-seeded Illinois (19-14), which advanced to this game with a win over the No. 8 seed Indiana on Thursday. The Illini, who were vying for their first Big Ten title since 2005 and 13th semifinal appearance, fell for the just second time in their last seven games.

Both losses came against Michigan. The Wolverines cruised to an 84-53 win in Champaign on March 4, but this one wasn’t quite as easy.

“Obviously we’re disappointed,” Illinois coach John Groce said. “That one stings a little bit. When you pour your heart and soul into something, you play as hard as our guys did today, I thought our effort was great, I thought our attitude was off the charts, and thought our execution for the most part was good.”

After trailing by as many as 13, Illinois grabbed its first lead since the early stages when Rice’s jumper made it 59-58 with 4:36 to play. Kendrick Nunn’s reverse layup put the Illini up three, but Derrick Walton Jr tied it at 61-61 with a 3-pointer.

After Rice gave the Illini a two-point lead, Stauskas made 1-of-2 free throw attempts to trim the deficit to one with 55 seconds to play. Abrams missed a three at the other end, though, to give the ball back to Michigan with 19.1 ticks left.

Morgan made the most of the opportunity as he and Stauskas worked a perfect pick and roll to put the Wolverines ahead.

“Nik told me he was going to shoot it regardless, so I wasn’t necessarily ready for the pass,” Morgan said. “But I don’t know, just watching the shot, there’s been times in the past where they’ve passed that, and we weren’t ready because they thought they were going to shoot. So just kind of watching the play, and then as far as catching it, I just put it on the rim and got a nice roll.”

Abrams had a shot at the other end, but his floater in the lane was off the mark.

“I thought it was going to go in, and I thought we were going to win and I had the utmost confidence,” Abrams said. “I wasn’t shocked that we lost, but shocked the shot didn’t go in. But it is what it is.”

Michigan won the very first Big Ten Tournament title back in 1998, but later had it taken away due to NCAA sanctions. The Wolverines are just 10-14 all- time in the event, and that ’98 appearance was the only time they reached the championship game.

After a fairly competitive first half Michigan started to pull away late in the stanza. Jon Ekey’s triple drew the Illini even with 2:05 remaining in the half, but Caris LeVert netted five straight points to help the Wolverines carry a 38-33 edge into the locker room.

The Wolverines then stretched their lead to 13 with a 16-3 spurt that bridged the halves to give them a 49-36 advantage 4:37 into the second half.

Game Notes

Illinois owns an 85-78 lead in the all-time series with Michigan, but the Wolverines have won the last seven encounters overall … Levert finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists … Michigan was 10-of-30 on 3-point attempts … Nunn had 10 points for the Illini, while Nnanna Egwu pulled down a team-high nine boards.

Final Score: (24) Ohio State 71, Nebraska 67

Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) – The Buckeyes overcame an 18-point deficit, on the strength of a career-high 26 points from LaQuinton Ross as No. 24 Ohio State knocked off Nebraska, 71-67, in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

Ross added 13 rebounds and Amedeo Della Valle had 12 points, six boards, and three blocks for the Buckeyes (25-8), who will face eighth-ranked Michigan in the semifinals on Saturday.

Aaron Craft chipped in six points, six boards and six assists in the win.

Terran Petteway scored 20 and Walter Pitchford netted 15 points for the Cornhuskers (19-12). Shavon Shields contributed 12 points, six rebounds and four assists in defeat.

Craft, Della Valle and Ross combined to lead a 15-6 run in the final 3:17 of the game to secure the victory. In the final 3 1/2 minutes, Della Valle collected his three blocks and scored seven, Craft netted four of his six points and Ross added four points.

“I’m very proud of these guys and the effort that they put forth,” OSU head coach Thad Matta remarked. “They were thinking the game at a level down the stretch that we needed to be thinking the game all the way through.”

Nebraska scored 17 of the first 19 points in the second half to stake themselves an 18-point advantage, but the Buckeyes began to utilize the fullcourt press at that point.

The defensive pressure stifled Nebraska and the Buckeyes used a 14-4 run to pull within 52-44 with 10 minutes remaining.

Trailing 61-56 with 3 1/2 minutes to go, Della Valle blocked back-to-back shots. It remained a five-point contest after Craft and Shields each made a pair of foul shots.

A 3-pointer from Della Valle with 2:50 left cut the gap to 63-61, and Ross connected on a pair from the charity stripe to tie the game.

“Well, unfortunately, I thought that we beat ourselves,” Nebraska head coach Tim Miles said. “I know you have to credit Ohio State with their pressure late. The last 13 minutes they really did an excellent job of getting us rattled.”

After missing a jumper, Petteway fouled out with 58 seconds remaining. Ross made two more free throws to give Ohio State the lead, which they carried to the finish.

Nebraska led at the half, 31-28, on the strength of shooting 5-for-13 from beyond the arc.

Game Notes

Nebraska shot 36.7 percent (22-for-60) from the floor and the Buckeyes made 45.5 percent (25-for-55) of their field goals … Ohio State outrebounded the Cornhuskers 43-34 … The teams split a pair of meetings during the regular season … David Rivers added eight points and nine rebounds for the Cornhuskers … OSU outscored Nebraska by a 36-14 margin inside the paint.

Final Score: (12) Wisconsin 83, Minnesota 57

Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) – Bo Ryan won his 700th career Division-I game as Ben Brust scored 29 points to lead No. 12 Wisconsin to an 83-57 win over Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.

Nigel Hayes scored 15 and had six rebounds and Bronson Koenig added 14 points for Wisconsin (26-6), which will face Michigan State in the semifinals. Sam Dekker contributed 10 points and Frank Kaminsky added 12 rebounds.

“We’ve gained the right to play another 40 minutes in Indianapolis in the Big Ten Tournament,” Ryan said when asked the significance of the win. “That’s all this game meant right now.”

Deandre Mathieu netted 18 and had five helpers for the Golden Gophers (20-13), who have lost six of their last eight to Wisconsin. Joey King tallied 14 points in defeat.

“Well, obviously, offensively we didn’t have it tonight, and you’ve got to give them credit,” Minnesota head coach Richard Pitino said. “They made us pay. They’re a very good offensive team.”

The Golden Gophers could have been golden with a win, but will now have to sweat out Selection Sunday.

The Badgers scored seven of the first nine points of the game, but Minnesota tied the game with just over 15 minutes left in the half. Wisconsin fired back with a 14-2 rally to take a 21-9 lead with nine minutes left in the stanza.

The Gophers scored nine straight to cut their deficit to three before Brust scored the next five points, which began a 13-4 burst to close out the half for the Badgers.

Wisconsin led 34-22 to begin the second half but Minnesota came within single digits twice before the Badgers used a 10-2 run to stretch its lead to 50-33.

The Gophers’ leading scorer Andre Hollins netted his first points with a pair from the line with 11:21 left in the game. The Gophers got back to within 10 with just over nine minutes to play before Brust responded with a trey and then a pair from the line around a Mathieu jumper.

Wisconsin led by double digits the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Minnesota lead the series 102-94 all-time … Ryan is 18-6 against the Gophers overall … The Badgers beat Minnesota in both Big Ten Tournament meetings, the other came in 2003 quarterfinals … Hollins finished with eight points.

Final Score: (22) Michigan State 67, Northwestern 51

Indianapolis, IN (SportsNetwork.com) – Branden Dawson had 16 points and nine rebounds and No. 22 Michigan State routed Northwestern, 67-51, in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday night.

Gary Harris filled the stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals for the third-seeded Spartans (24-8), who will face second-seeded Wisconsin in the semifinals on Saturday.

“I’m just proud of the way we played defensively,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “Our overall defense until the last seven minutes was exceptional.”

Drew Crawford netted 21 points to lead 11th-seeded Northwestern (14-19), which upset Iowa in the first round Thursday.

“I thought their speed and their intensity, them knowing that we played such a hard-fought game last night, I thought they did exactly what they needed to do by coming out with amazing energy and defensive intensity, and it got us on our heels a little bit early,” Northwestern head coach Chris Collins said.

The game was tied 10-10 before the Spartans began to pull away following a 12-2 run. Dawson supplied the first two baskets of the burst, which was capped on a Kenny Kaminski triple for a 22-12 MSU margin with 6:40 to go in the opening half.

Matt Costello poured in the first five points of a 7-0 spurt that staked MSU to a 40-20 margin. The Spartans took a 40-22 cushion into the break.

MSU led by as many as 24 in the second half before cruising to the easy win.

Game Notes

Michigan State shot 45 percent (27-of-60) from the floor and 42.1 percent (8- of-19) from beyond the arc … The Spartans outrebounded the Wildcats, 40-24 … Alex Olah had 10 points for Northwestern.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball