Big Ten Conference Tournament Recaps

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – Aubrey Dawkins scored 18 points and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman added 15 with eight rebounds, leading Michigan to a 73-55 rout of Illinois in the second round of the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center.

Zak Irvin chipped in 14 points and six assists for the Wolverines (16-15), who struggled to an 8-10 conference record this season with losses in seven of their final nine Big Ten games. Michigan, hoping to earn an NIT bid without a stunning run to the tournament championship, will play top-seeded Wisconsin in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Illinois (19-13) was trying to strengthen its NCAA Tournament resume, but has now lost five of its last seven since a 64-52 overtime win over Michigan on Feb. 12.

Malcolm Hill led the Fighting Illini with 13 points and Rayvonte Rice contributed 10 with nine rebounds in defeat. The duo, however, combined to make just 7-of-25 shots.

Michigan raced out to a 14-2 lead only to see Illinois fight back with 13 straight points. The Illini held a 19-17 edge after a bucket by Hill, but the Wolverines followed with a 21-2 run.

Dawkins hit a pair from beyond the arc and scored eight during the burst. Mark Donnal capped it with two free throws for a 38-21 cushion with just over a minute to play in the half.

Michigan carried a 40-23 advantage to the break and cruised in the second half. The Illini got only as close as 16 in the final minutes.

Final Score: Penn State 67. Iowa 58

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – D.J. Newbill led the way as Penn State came alive in the second half to top Iowa 67-58 in a second-round matchup of the Big Ten Tournament.

Newbill, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, provided 18 points and six rebounds for the 13th-seeded Nittany Lions (18-15), who will face fourth-seeded Purdue in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Ross Travis scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the win, while Geno Thorpe finished with 11 points, five boards and six steals.

The fifth-seeded Hawkeyes (21-11) failed to advance despite Aaron White’s monster game. The senior had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Jarrod Uthoff contributed 17 points and seven boards in the loss.

Trailing 27-19 at halftime and 32-21 early in the second half, Penn State used an 8-0 run to get within three points. Consecutive Thorpe baskets later on put the Nittany Lions ahead 36-34 with 11 minutes remaining.

Newbill netted seven straight Penn State points to give the Nittany Lions a 49-42 advantage with 7:02 to play.

After a Newbill jumper later staked Penn State to a nine-point spread, a pair of White free throws and an Uthoff trey brought Iowa within 54-50 with under five minutes to play.

Gabriel Olaseni and White each made two from the line to cut the lead to 58-56 with 1:42 left.

Uthoff’s jumper bounced off the rim with under a minute to go, however. Travis then came up with a big reverse off the glass and made the ensuing free throw to seal the win.

After shooting a paltry 25 percent from the field during the first half, the Nittany Lions improved to 53.6 percent over the final 20 minutes and limited the Hawkeyes to 21.9 percent.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball