Big Ten Finals Recap

(2) Wisconsin 70, (1) Illinois 53
Devin Harris’s dominance over the Big Ten continued into the Big Ten tournament. Harris, the league player of the year earned the rare double of the regular season and postseason MVP awards. Harris averaged 23.7 PPG in the tournament and set the championship game record with 29 points. Wisconsin’s 70-53 victory was their first Big Tournament championship.

Harris was the story of the tournament. His two late threes in the semifinal victory over Michigan State put the Badgers in the championship game. Against Illinois, he took over the second half. Twenty of his 29 points came after intermission, punctuated by an emphatic alley-oop from Boo Wade. After the dunk Wisconsin fans let Harris know that they wanted one more year. Mike Wilkinson joined Harris on all tournament team with Dee Brown and Deron Williams of Illinois and Jitim Young of Northwestern. That Young made it is a testament to his importance to the Wildcats. NU lost to Michigan State in the quarterfinals.

Wisconsin opened the game on a 6-0 run, extended the lead to 24-11 and settled in at the half 35-23. If not for Dee Brown in the early going and throughout the first half, the Illini might have been blown out by halftime. Brown scored seven of the Illini’s first nine points and had 11 by break.

Although Wisconsin went into the break with a 12 point lead, they had opportunities to put Illinois away in the opening 20 minutes. Wisconsin began the second half with greater energy than the Illini. Devin Harris scored the first 11 points for Wisconsin in the second half, the Badgers would extend the lead to 18 seven minutes in and were never seriously threatened in the final 20 minutes. The Badgers were in control of this one from tip-off to the net cutting. Brown was the only one who could get anything going for the Illini offensively. Although Brown was solid with 11 points on four-of-six shooting in the first half, his teammates managed to connect on only three for 18, burying the Illini in the 12 point halftime deficit from which they could not recover.

The Badger defense that has been a catalyst for their success all season was especially first-rate in the championship game. Illinois shot only 32.7 percent, their lowest output of the season and hit on just 29 percent of their shots in the first half when the game was still in doubt.

The Badger defense wasn’t the only aspect of Wisconsin’s game to shine. They dominated Illinois in virtually every major category. The Badgers out rebounded the Illini 34-27, had a 14-4 edge in second chance points and a 12-2 edge in fast break points. It was definitely the Badgers day to win. The fact that the Badgers led by 12 at the half despite an 0-7 performance from beyond the arc in the opening half illustrates that.

With the late finish of the Big Ten tournament championship it appeared that the game had little meaning beyond the Badgers being able to hoist the trophy. Illinois was assigned to the Atlanta region and will open the NCAA tournament as a five seed in Columbus against Murray State. The Badgers received a questionably low six seed. They will be in front of the home fans in Milwaukee as part of the East Rutherford region when they take on Richmond. The Spiders will not be an easy out for the Badgers. They know all about winning in hostile territory, winning earlier this season against Kansas at Phog Allen Fieldhouse.

Michigan State is the Big Ten’s only other representative and will match up with Nevada in Seattle as a seven seed in the St. Louis region. If they get past the Wolfpack, the Spartans would have a virtual road game, likely facing Gonzaga in their home state. The will be able to draw on their run through last year’s tournament. Included in their run to the elite eight was a second round upset over Florida in St. Petersburg.