Coming into the Big Ten Tournament at 25-5 and 11-5 in the conference, Illinois coach Bruce Weber never imagined Friday’s tourney opponent would be Michigan State (21-10 overall, 8-8 in the Big Ten).
Many picked the Spartans to win the regular season title, but Michigan State finished sixth overall and needed to beat Purdue on Thursday to advance. The Illini beat the Spartans twice during the regular season.
The Spartans and the Illini are the only two-time winners of this tournament in its eight years, although Illinois won last year. Two years ago, in Weber’s first season, the Illini won the regular-season title but lost to Wisconsin in the title game.
This year, the Illini arrive with something to prove after finishing in a second-place tie with Iowa and one game behind Ohio State in the regular season race.
“The conference championship is much more rewarding,” Weber said. “It’s more of a marathon, a three-month grind. This weekend is more of a sprint.”
The race continues Friday with these four games.
Illinois vs. Michigan State
Records: Illinois 25-5; Michigan State 21-10.
Head to head: Illinois won 60-50 at home on Jan. 5 and 75-68 in East Lansing on March 4.
Story line: Dee Brown’s performances were the key to the two earlier games. What will the guard do for an encore?
Players to watch: Brown and forwards James Augustine and Brian Randle for Illinois; center Paul Davis and wings
Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown for Michigan State.
Illinois will win if: Augustine and Randle stay out of foul trouble and Brown and Augustine get help scoring.
Michigan State will win if: It can find a way to neutralize Brown and Augustine and exploit the scoring capabilities of Davis, Ager and Shannon Brown.
Iowa vs. Minnesota
Records: Iowa 22-8; Minnesota 15-13.
Head to head: Iowa won 76-72 in triple overtime at home Jan. 18 and lost 74-61 in Minneapolis on Feb. 18.
Story line: After finishing in a regular-season tie for second with Illinois, the Hawkeyes are a dark horse here. Minnesota is trying to make amends for a poor Big Ten season.
Players to watch: Forward Greg Brunner and guards Jeff Horner and Adam Haluska for Iowa; guards Vincent Grier, Maurice Hargrow and Adam Boone for Minnesota.
Iowa will win if: It continues to play defense the way it did during the regular season, when opponents were able to make only 38.3 percent of their shots.
Minnesota will win if: It can parlay steals and turnovers into fast-break baskets as it did in Thursday’s win over Michigan.
Ohio State vs. Penn State
Records: Ohio State 23-4; Penn State 15-13.
Head to head: Ohio State won 104-69 at Columbus on Jan. 5 and 75-64 at Penn State on Jan. 21.
Story line: Buckeyes probably need a strong run through the Big Ten Tournament to secure a No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament. Nittany Lions are in good shape for the NIT.
Players to watch: Ohio State senior center Terence Dials, the Big Ten’s player of the year, presents a matchup problem. So does Penn State’s Geary Claxton, coming off a 17-point game vs. Northwestern.
Ohio State will win if: Dials takes care of business inside and Ron Lewis plays like he did in the first two Penn State games, averaging 20.5.
Penn State will win if: Claxton and the Big Ten’s best freshman, Jamelle Cornley, have big, big games.
Wisconsin vs. Indiana
Records: Wisconsin 19-10; Indiana 17-10.
Head to head: Wisconsin won 72-54 at Madison on Feb. 8.
Story line: Teams have headed in opposite directions since they met.
Badgers have lost three of four, Hoosiers have won four straight.
Players to watch: Alando Tucker (18.9 ppg.) has had steady season for Badgers. Point guard Marshall Strickland averaging 14.5 ppg. in the Hoosiers’ winning streak.
Wisconsin will win if: Tucker exceeds his average while Brian Butch and the rest control the middle on defense.
Indiana will win if: Strickland continues to play with confidence and Marco Killingsworth has at least 15 points and eight rebounds.
BIG 10: FIRST ROUND
Michigan loss could keep them out of NCAA tourney
Minnesota tried to hand Michigan a win Thursday, but the Wolverines refused to take it. Now, Michigan might be refused an NCAA Tournament bid.
Minnesota (15-13) made just 5-of-12 free throws in the final minute of its first-round Big Ten Tournament game with the Wolverines, but the Golden Gophers held on for a 59-55 win. Michigan had defeated the Golden Gophers handily twice this season.
Michigan (18-10) is considered on the bubble for an NCAA Tournament slot. The Wolverines entered the game ranked 37th in the Ratings Percentage Index, making them a possible at-large entry. Michigan has lost seven of its last nine games, a problem since the tournament selection committee traditionally weighs recent history heavily.
Penn St. 60, Northwestern 42
Penn State’s Geary Claxton had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Nittany Lions beat the cold-shooting Wildcats 60-42, possibly knocking Northwestern out of the National Invitation Tournament.
Penn State improved to 15-13 and boosted its chances of making the NIT while Northwestern fell to 14-15 with the loss. In the past, teams were required to have a record of .500 or better to make the tournament. A recent rule change allows teams with losing records into the 40-team field, but having a winning record definitely helps.
Northwestern was held to 32 percent shooting and Big Ten scoring leader Vedran Vukusic scored just 10 points. Northwestern only hit seven of its 31 shots from behind the arc.
Michigan St. 70, Purdue 58
Maurice Ager scored 20 points and redshirt freshman Goran Suton had a career-high 12 points as Michigan State held off Purdue 70-58 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday night.
The victory sent sixth-seeded Michigan State (21-10) into the quarterfinals on Friday against No. 9-ranked Illinois, the third seed and the defending tournament champion.
Purdue (9-19), which has never won the conference tournament and was seeded 11th, was eliminated in its first tourney game for the fifth straight year and finished 0-14 away from home this season.
