HoopsHD continues its series leading up to Selection Sunday and March Madness, as we simulate what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t). Up next is the Big Ten Tournament, a tournament with more depth than what we often see in NCAA Regionals. At least ten teams entered this event with legitimate claims on being worthy of making the Big Dance. Michigan State was red hot, Wisconsin had surged late to capture the top seed, and teams playing as early as the Second Round, like Michigan and Ohio State, had legitimate Final Four aspirations. So who would win this tournament? It is time to find out!
BIG TEN SECOND ROUND
The Second Round of the Big Ten Tournament opened with the 8/9 games between Rutgers and Michigan. The Scarlet Knights were looking to take any doubt away from their potential inclusion in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991, while Michigan was looking to remain undefeated all-time against RU. Although the prior meetings between the teams had been close ones, today’s game was not. Michigan jumped out to a big lead early and never looked back, cruising to an 84-75 win. Franz Wagner led the way for the Wolverines with 22 points, and Rutgers was left to wait for the Selection Committee’s decision on Sunday.
In the second game, the Iowa Hawkeyes were looking to improve their seed in the Big Dance while Richard Pitino’s Golden Gophers of Minnesota were looking to keep their season alive. The later proved to be the stronger motivating factor, as Minnesota held a narrow lead at halftime and extended it in the second half to win by a dozen, 68-56. Daniel Oturu was named Player of the Game, scoring 14 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.
The third games featured 7-seed Ohio State against 10-seed Purdue. The Boilermakers knew that a couple of wins in this event would make them an intriguing decision for the Selection Committee, despite potentially having more losses than any team ever to get an at-large bid. Purdue did what they needed to do today to pick up another very strong win, as the Boilermakers led by 11 at the half and held off the Buckeyes in the second half. Ohio State actually took a 79-77 lead with 1:07 left thanks to a Kyle Young 3, but Sasha Stefanovic answered with one from beyond the arc of his own. When the final horn sounded, Purdue has an 81-79 win, and a date in the quarterfinals with Michigan State.
The final game of the second round featured 6-seed Penn State taking on 11-seed Indiana. A few Bracketologists still claimed that Indiana was on the bubble, so the Hoosiers entered this game knowing that a win might to necessary to lock up a tournament bid. The game was back and forth throughout, with Indiana taking the lead with 6:30 left to play, and doing just enough to hold off Penn State the rest of the way. Late free throws made the final score 76-67, and pretty much turned Indiana into a lock to make the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers win also completed a day where all four lower-seeded teams had advanced to the next round.
BIG TEN QUARTERFINALS
Top-seed Wisconsin started its Big Ten tournament run in the quarterfinals against 9-seed Michigan, and the game looked like it would be a battle the entire way when the Wolverines took a 4-point lead into the halftime break. Michigan held that lead until 6:40 left to play inn the game when Wisconsin’s Kobe King was fouled while making a shot for a 3 point play. That play seemed to take the heart out of the Wolverines, and Wisconsin dominated the final 6 minutes, winning by a final score of 79-66. Brad Davison’s 17 points led the way for the Badgers.
12-seed Minnesota had improved to 16-16 overall following their upset of Iowa, and now had a tough Illinois team ahead in the quarterfinals. The Gophers were set to try to become one of the stories of Championship Week when they built a 40-27 halftime lead on the Illini. Illinois fought back hard in the second half and tied the game at 68 with just under 2 minutes to play. However, Brad Underwood’s team was unable to score again, and a jumper by Alihan Demir with 1:06 left proved to be the final margin of victory. The Gophers dreams stayed alive, winning 70-68 and advancing to take on Wisconsin in the semifinals. Daniel Oturu was dominant again in this game, scoring 18 points and pulling down 13 boards for the double-double.
The third quarterfinal was pretty much a must-win game for a Purdue Boilermakers team that was looking to sneak into the field despite a high volume of losses. Their opponent, however, was Michigan State – the preseason #1 team in the nation that had finally started playing like that over the past few weeks. Purdue gave Sparty all they could ask for and more, but at the end of the day, Michigan State was simply too much. The Spartans, with four different players scoring in double-figures, got a key 3 late from Kyle Ahrens and hit their free throws to turn a 63-63 tie into a 74-66 win and likely ended up sending Purdue to the NIT.
In the final game of the quarterfinal round, a double-double from Jalen Smith and 19 points from Anthony Cowan helped lead the 3-seed Maryland to an 87-79 win over Indiana. The Hoosiers kept the game close for a half, and in fact it was tied at the break, but the Terps proved to be too much for the Hoosiers. With the win, Maryland advanced to Saturday’s semifinal against Michigan State in a battle of what was arguably the two best teams in the Big Ten this season.
BIG TEN SEMIFINALS
In order for the Minnesota Golden Gophers to make the NCAA Tournament, they would need to win 5 games in 5 days. With three of those wins down already, the Gophers matched up against top-seed Wisconsin in the first semifinal. At halftime, Minnesota held a 32-22 lead and it looked like the feat may just be possible. By the under-12 timeout in the second half, Wisconsin had the lead. Although the game was close the rest of the way, key free throw shooting down the stretch was enough to end the Cinderella run and give Wisconsin a berth in Sunday’s title game. Nate Reuvers led the Badgers with 17 points in the 70-65 win.
The 2 vs 3 semifinal of Michigan State and Maryland had all the looks for a great game before it tipped. The first half even played out that way, with only 2 points separating the teams when they went to the locker rooms. However, the Spartans took control midway through the second half, eventually opening up a 74-59 lead before cruising in for an 87-78 win and a spot against Wisconsin for the championship on Sunday. Cassius Winston scored 20 points for the victorious Spartans and Xavier Tillman had a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds.
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Michigan State was playing like the team picked by many to win the national championship preseason, but in one of the last games to tip before the Field of 68 was announced, it was the Wisconsin Badgers that got to cut down the nets. Although the game was tied at halftime, Wisconsin clearly had the most gas left in their tanks , as the Badgers pulled away about midway through the second and won the Big Ten championship by a final score of 70-57. Brad Davison scored 18 points and Nate Reuvers added 17 for the conference champions. For both teams, however, the work had just begun, as they headed back to their hotels to watch the Selection Show and find out just what their path to a potential Final Four was going to be.
