Big Ten Conference Tournament Recaps

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – Frank Kaminsky scored just 16 points, but he sparked a key second half run that gave sixth-ranked Wisconsin a 71-60 win over Michigan in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Sam Dekker added 17 points, six rebounds and six assists for the top-seeded Badgers (29-3), who will face fourth-seeded Purdue in the semifinal round on Saturday. The Boilermakers beat 13th-seeded Penn State, 64-59, on Friday.

Kaminsky hit 6-of-12 shots from the floor and added 12 rebounds for Wisconsin, which has won four straight and 14 of 15 games overall.

Zak Irvin scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead ninth- seeded Michigan (16-16), which gave the Badgers a run before falling apart late.

After Irvin drained a three-pointer to tie the game 54-54 at the 6:09 mark, the Badgers grabbed control. Kaminsky hit consecutive layups to give Wisconsin the lead for good and Dekker later drained a three and a pair of free throws for a 63-56 cushion with 2:26 left.

Michigan never threatened after that and the Badgers cruised to the final buzzer.

“We were lacking energy a little bit in the first half,” said Dekker. “They were playing harder than us, so some guys made some plays for us, stepped up, brought the energy level of us up, and saw some opportunities to attack and got some buckets going. Just tried to make it hard on them defensively. It’s something I’ve been working on, and I thought I did a better job tonight.”

Michigan started out strong, getting off to a 22-13 lead when Spike Albrecht drained a three-pointer with 8:11 left. Albrecht and Irvin combined for 17 points for the Wolverines during the run.

However, Wisconsin ended the half with an 18-4 surge to go into the locker room with a 31-26 cushion. Dekker scored the first six points of the run and Bronson Koenig hit a pair of threes to end it for the five-point edge.

Still trailing by five in the second half, Michigan ran off eight straight points to retake the lead. Aubrey Dawkins’ dunk at the 12:52 mark gave the Wolverines lead and Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman’s layup 24 seconds later ended the run for a 44-41 edge.

Albrecht had 10 points for Michigan, which went 0-of-2 from the free throw line for the game.

Wisconsin hit 14-of-16 free throws.

“If anybody watched this game you see how talented Wisconsin is,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “They’ve got a great game plan, but their size, their age, their strength, it was a huge part in the game. They got so many second- chance points that it’s really a 50/50 ball many times around the rim, and they’re just longer and stronger and more experienced than us in some of those situations, and that was really a key to their victory today was getting extra opportunities.”

Game Notes

Michigan opened its tournament on Thursday with a 73-55 win over eight seed Illinois … Michigan and Wisconsin met only once during the regular season, with Wisconsin slipping by in overtime, 69-64, in Ann Arbor on Jan. 24 … Badgers have won 15 of the last 17 meetings against Michigan.

Final Score: Purdue 64, Penn State 59

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – A.J. Hammons scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots to lead the Purdue Boilermakers over the Penn State Nittany Lions, 64-59, in quarterfinal action of the Big Ten Tournament.

Rapheal Davis added 13 points for the fourth-seeded Boilermakers (21-11), who move on to face top-seeded Wisconsin in the semifinal round on Saturday. The Badgers beat Michigan 71-60 earlier on Friday.

D.J. Newbill scored 19 points for 13th-seeded Penn State (18-16), which saw its Cinderella run in the tournament come to an end. The Nittany Lions took out No. 12 seed Nebraska in the first round on Wednesday, 68-65, and No. 5 seed Iowa in Thursday’s second round, 67-58.

Trailing 50-44 after Penn State’s Brandon Taylor hit a 3-pointer with 9:11 left, Purdue turned up the defensive intensity and scored the next 13 points to take the lead and pull away.

Vince Edwards’ three-pointer started the run and his layup with 6:55 left tied the contest at 50-50. Dakota Mathias’ jumper then put the Boilermakers ahead for good with 6:01 on the clock, 52-50. Later, two Jon Octeus free throws ended the run for a 57-50 cushion with 53 seconds left.

Penn State had trouble scoring down the stretch. After Taylor’s bucket, the Nittany Lions didn’t score again until Newbill’s three-pointer with 39 seconds left.

Final Score: (8) Maryland 75, Indiana 69

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – Dez Wells had 22 points and six rebounds to lead No. 8 Maryland to a 75-69 victory over Indiana in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Melo Trimble scored 17 points, Jake Layman added 10 points and nine rebounds and Jared Nickens scored 10 for the Terrapins (27-5), who will play Michigan State in the semifinals on Saturday.

“That was a really good win for us,” said Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon. “I think Indiana is a really good basketball team. They’re really hard to guard. They’re really hard to box out because of their speed. I thought our guys were good from the very start tonight.”

Kevin Yogi Ferrell had 18 points, Troy Williams gave 17 with nine boards and Robert Johnson scored 10 for the Hoosiers (20-13), who had defeated Northwestern on Thursday to advance to the quarters.

“Well, we just went toe to toe with the eighth-ranked team in the country and came down to the very end with them in the last eight minutes of the game,” said Indiana head coach Tom Crean.

Maryland held a 68-62 lead after Wells put in a pair of free throws with 1:18 to play, but Ferrell countered with a pair at the other end with 52 seconds left.

Layman then missed and Johnson made two free throws with 39 seconds left to make it a two-point game.

Evan Smotrycz countered with two at the other end with 38.2 showing, and Johnson missed on a clean look at a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Wells then split a pair with 29.5 showing, and Ferrell missed another 3- pointer before Wells put the game out of reach with two more free throws and just 21.2 seconds left.

A 9-0 run early in the first half saw Maryland go up 19-13 after Trimble finished off a three-point play, but Indiana was able to keep the game close as Maryland took a 42-40 lead into the break.

Maryland took its largest lead of the game with 7 1/2 minutes to play after Nickens put in a 3-pointer to give the Terrapins a 62-55 lead, but Indiana scored the next five points to keep it in reach.

Game Notes

Maryland shot 44.9 percent while Indiana made just 35.5 percent of its attempts, including 7-of-24 from deep … Indiana still holds a 6-4 lead in the all-time series … Indiana had a slight edge on the boards, 37-36.

Final Score: Michigan State 76, Ohio State 67

Chicago, IL (SportsNetwork.com) – Denzel Valentine had 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to guide Michigan State to a 76-67 victory over Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament on Friday.

Travis Trice had 18 points and Branden Dawson gave 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Spartans (22-10), who will take on Maryland in the semifinal round on Saturday.

D’Angelo Russell had 19 points and six rebounds, Shannon Scott tallied 13 points, nine assists and five boards and Sam Thompson added 13 points for the Buckeyes (23-10), who had defeated Minnesota in the second round on Thursday.

Michigan State led by 17 with just under seven minutes to play, but Ohio State scored the next 10 points to cut the deficit to 60-53 with 3 1/2 minutes to play.

A 3-pointer from Marc Loving cut it down to five at 61-56, but Trice followed with two free throws. Dawson’s dunk after a Russell missed 3 made it a nine- point game.

Michigan State led for most of the first half, holding a lead of as many as 16 points before taking a 36-28 advantage into the break.

Categorized in: NCAA Basketball