Michigan was the first team to get knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday at the United Center in Chicago, but the Wolverines weren’t the last.
Following the 62-50 Rutgers victory, Ohio State, Penn State and Maryland all earned the right to advance into the third day. Rutgers was ultimately eliminated by Purdue in a hard-fought contest on Friday. Meanwhile the Buckeyes knocked Michigan State out. Penn State against Purdue was ongoing as this was written and Maryland-Indiana hadn’t started.
Round 2
Game 4: No. 13 Ohio State defeats No. 5 Iowa, 73-69: Bruce Thornton and Brice Sensabaugh powered the Buckeye offense to victory in their quarterfinal matchup on Thursday. Thornton finished with 17 points, shooting 8 of 13 while Sensabaugh tallied 16 points off a near-identical 8 of 14 shot rate. Justice Sueing scored 14 points and Sean McNeil added 13. Filip Rebraca had 20 points for the Hawkeyes with Tony Perkins adding 16 and Kris Murray with 17.
Sueing said, “At the start of the second half, I was a little hesitant shooting the three, but my teammates were telling me I need to let that go regardless of how I was feeling. The next opportunity I had, I hit a three in that corner and gave me a little bit of confidence.”
Game 5: No. 10 Penn State defeats No. 7 Illinois, 79-76: The Nittany Lions won by shooting over 51% against the Illini. Andrew Funk powered Penn State, shooting 6 of 9 from beyond the arc and sinking a pair of free throws for a 20-point stat line. Seth Lundy earned a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Camren Wynter added 18 points and Jalen Pickett with 12. On the other side, Illinois shot just 45% as Terrence Shannon, Jr. led with 19 points. Coleman Hawkins added 17 and Dain Dainja scored 13.
Funk said keeping the frustration at bay was the key to success: “We have a veteran group of guys that we’ve closed out a lot of games with, and kind of keeping that emotion at bay when we need to, but then using it to our advantage when we know we can has kind of been like a fine line for us that we’ve done really well with, I think.”
Game 6: No. 6 Maryland defeats No. 14 Minnesota, 70-54: Maryland proved it was the superior team by overwhelming and controlling the Gophers for much of the game. Donta Scott led all scorers with 20 points as Jahmir Young scored 15, Donald Carey scored 11 and Julian Reese added 10. Maryland forced 15 Minnesota turnovers and turned those into 19 points.The Terps also out rebounded the Gophers, 31-24.
Scott credited his teammates with his high-scoring performance: “My teammates really found me early on, and they all had faith in my shot, just like Coach had faith in my shot. Even though it wasn’t falling, they told me to keep shooting, and I felt like I got hot early on, and they just found a way to find me, and I kept giving them assists.”
Round 3 – Quarterfinals
Game 7: No. 1 Purdue defeats No. 9 Rutgers, 70-65: It was a hard-fought game that either team could have won, but the ball fell in favor of the top-seed Boilermakers. Star Zach Edey earned a double-double with 16 points and 11 total rebounds, but it was Mason Gillis that led all scorers with 20 points. Neither team shot well from beyond the arc, as Purdue finished 7 of 20 and Rutgers 6 of 19. Rutgers scored more points in the paint at 30, but Purdue had more bench support with 21 points.
Gillis on Rutgers being a touch matchup: “They’re experienced, and they just play harder than whoever they’re playing. The majority of times, whenever they win, their defense is winning the game for them. Maybe not their offense. Just like tonight. Whenever they get into their press, and teams like us, other teams struggle with it. We work on a press break here, but it’s still tough going at it in the real live game. So we’ve got a lot more to work on, and we’ll be all right.”
Game 8: No. 13 Ohio State defeats No. 4 Michigan State, 68-58: The lowly Buckeyes have made their presence felt in a big way in Chicago, as Ohio State wins three straight with a trip to the semifinals on Saturday. Thornton, again, powered Ohio State to lead all scorers with 21 points. Despite shooting just 44.6%, the Buckeyes were over 52% from the three compared to the Spartans’ 18.8% from three and 38% overall. Joey Hauser led Michigan State with 15 points while three players – Tyson Walker, Jaden Akins and AJ Haggard – scored 10 apiece.
Buckeyes head coach Chris Holtmann on his players overcoming struggles: “I think sometimes when you have six, seven guys that maybe have experienced and seen what the process looks like, going through the ups and downs in a power league and just trusting that, I think that helps because they spread it to other guys. We didn’t have as much of that with so many new faces, and I think we really struggled to accept the fact that, if we just will do these things – and I obviously didn’t do a good enough job communicating it, and I also think our youth and inexperience were all factors.”
Game 9: No. 10 Penn State defeats No. 2 Northwestern, 67-65 (OT): See our full recap here.
Game 10: No. 3 Indiana defeats No. 6 Maryland, 70-60: Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino powered the Hoosiers past the Terps in a dominate showing. Jackson-Davis tallied a game-high 24 points with nine rebounds and seven assists. Hood-Schifino finished with 19 points. Despite trailing the Terps 34-32 at the half, Indiana gained momentum and control. The Hoosiers shot 53% compared to the Terps’ 32%. Indiana will face Penn State in Saturday’s late semifinal game.
