Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinals: No. 1 Ohio State had answers for every rally No. 8 Michigan had en route to a 72-62 win over the Wolverines. Michigan (21-12) got within three at 52-49, but the Buckeyes responded with a 10-2 run, led by Greg Oden (game-high 22 points and eight rebounds), to put the Wolverines away. Ron Lewis supported Oden with 16 points for the Buckeyes (28-3). Michigan was led by Lester Abram’s 13 points. The Wolverines out-rebounded the Buckeyes 47-25, but also turned the ball over 16 times and that led to 21 Ohio State points.
The Buckeyes will take on No. 4 Purdue, which helped its NCAA Tournament chances with a 74-55 win over No. 5 Iowa, subsequently sending the Hawkeyes likely to the NIT. Purdue (21-10) shot 50 percent from the floor, had a 38-29 edge on the glass and a 25-8 advantage in bench scoring. Carl Landry had 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Boilermakers. Iowa (17-14) was led by Tyler Smith’s 17 points and seven rebounds.
The evening session began with No. 2 Wisconsin topping No. 7 Michigan State 70-57 thanks to a strong showing at the offensive end and shutting down Spartan star guard Drew Neitzel. Neitzel didn’t score until well into the second half before finishing with 10 points and eight assists, and the Badgers (28-4) answered every rally the Spartans had. Alando Tucker led the way with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists, hitting several clutch shots to answer the Spartans’ last rally. Michigan State (22-11) was led by Goran Suton’s 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Badgers will take on No. 6 Illinois, 58-54 overtime winners of a great back-and-forth battle over No. 3 Indiana. The game went back and forth, with Indiana leading 24-21 at halftime, and neither team shot better than 36 percent but also had just 10 turnovers each. Illinois (23-10) was led by 17 points and seven rebounds from Warren Carter and 16 points and 12 rebounds from Shaun Pruitt. Armon Bassett scored 18 points to lead Indiana (20-10). [3/09/07]
