Thursday at noon the tournament will kick off in Indianapolis with the No. 8 seed Indiana playing No. 9 Illinois. The matchup will determine who number one seed Michigan will play in their first tournament game on Friday at noon.
After winning their first outright Big Ten Title since 1986, the Wolverines look to continue their success in the tournament. Michigan is coming off recent wins against both Indiana and Illinois. They beat Illinois 84-53 on the road to clinch the title. Saturday, they were able to finish their regular season with an 84-80 victory over Indiana in Crisler.
Michigan State finished conference play on Sunday with a loss to Ohio State in Columbus. Turnovers seemed to be the main difference in the game. Michigan State had the ball tied at 67 when Adreian Payne got the ball stolen by Aaron Craft. Craft is now the Big Ten’s career leader in steals with 328.
Michigan State has now lost three out of their last four games. They will need to find their game in the Big Ten Tournament out they may be going home early in the Big Dance. After battling injuries for most of the season, the Spartans now have all their players back.
In the game against the Buckeyes, Brandon Dawson Scored 6 points in nineteen minutes of play. He also chipped in 5 rebounds. Keith Appling had another disappointing performance as he continues to try and find his game. Appling played 35 minutes and only scored two points. Michigan State needs him to be better if they hope to win anything.
Bubble teams that could use a win or two in the tournament are Minnesota and Nebraska. Minnesota finished the season poorly with a 4-7 record but had big wins against Wisconsin, Ohio State and Iowa. Nebraska has beaten Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota. One win should be enough for them while Minnesota may need two.
The bracket seems to be Michigan’s to lose as they are 7-1 against the teams on their side. The bottom half of the bracket looks to be the tougher road as Michigan State will likely play Iowa and Wisconsin should play Minnesota if the first round goes as expected.
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