LIVE BIG TEN TOURNAMENT COVERAGE: Day 1
By Adam Hoge --
INDIANAPOLIS -- The 2011 Big Ten Tournament gets underway this afternoon at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. I will be here all weekend with updates throughout the tournament on 670TheScore.com. I'll also be tweeting the latest news and notes @AdamHoge670.
Game 3: No. 6 Penn State vs. No. 11 Indiana
8:36 pm: Indiana's season ends with a 61-55 loss at the hands of Penn State. Jeff Brooks led the Nittany Lions 15 points. PSU will face Wisconsin in Friday's last quarterfinal game.
8:00 pm: Getting down to crunch time. Penn State leads 45-42 with 11:46 left in the game. Indiana has done a great job on Taylor Battle who only has 11 points. I think next year is the judgement year for Tom Crean, but I see why people still support him. He has a 12-win team playing its ass off here in Indianapolis.
7:35 pm: We got a good one here in Game 3. Penn State leads 28-27 at the half on Jeff Brooks' tip-in as time expired.
6:43 pm: No upsets yet today so Penn State should be worried. There won't be any home court advantage factor though. The Hoosiers fans have obviously given up on this team and didn't bother showing up.
Game 2: No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 Iowa
5:54 pm: Michigan State comes back and surives 66-61. Draymond Green led all scorers with 21 points. The Spartans will face Purdue in Friday's quarterfinals. I think they can give the Boilermakers a scare.
5:22 pm: I just saw Iowa's Andrew Brommer getting x-rays. The word is a sprained neck. Not sure if he will return.
The Hawkeyes lead 52-45 with 11:40 to go.
4:06 pm: This is a huge game for Michigan State and the headliner of the first day of the tournament. A win won't neccessarily get the Spartans into the dance, but a loss could certainly knock them out.
They're off to a good start early as MSU has an early 10-4 lead.
Iowa is a team that has gotten better throughout the year and they have enough firepower to pull off the upset. The Hawkeyes are coming off a huge upset win over Purdue last Saturday.
Game 1: No. 8 Northwestern vs. No. 9 Minnesota
4:36 pm: Just to update Juice's performance today, his 35 points were a single-game Big Ten Tournament record.
3:26 pm: There won't be a Cinderella run for the Gophers in this year's Big Ten Tournament. A year after winning three straight games to reach the championship game, Northwestern beat Minnesota 75-65 in the first game of the tournament. Wildcats point guard Michael Thompson scored a career-high 35 points, making 7-of-9 second half shots to lead all scorers.
Northwestern will face No. 1 Ohio State at 11 a.m. Friday. It will be the first ever meeting between the Wildcats and Buckeyes in the Big Ten Tournament.
2:52 pm: As I predicted, Thompson is stepping up here in the second half. He's made 5-of-7 shots in the second frame and has 24 points. Northwestern leads 50-44 with 11:16 left in the game.
2:20 pm: Northwestern is holding onto a slim 32-30 lead at halftime. Michael Thompson leads all scorers with 13 points, but he hasn't been shooting all that well. He's 4-of-13 from the field and 3-of-8 from behind the arc. That might seem like a lot of shots, but he's this team's heart and soul right now and he's playing in his last Big Ten Tournament. I don't expect anything less of him in the second half.
1:28 pm: Mike Cappoci, Jeff Ryan and JerShon Cobb will all miss today's game with injuries. None of them are dressed.
Here are your starting lineups:
Northwestern: Luke Mirkovic, John Shurna, Alex Marcotullio, Drew Crawford and Michael Thompson
Minnesota: Ralph Sampson III, Rodney Williams, Trevord Mbakwe, Blake Hoffarber, Maverick Ahanmisi
