Matt Painter press conference: Purdue basketball wins vs Nebraska
The coach of the Boilermakers now has to prepare for his team for the Big Ten Tournament semifinals against an opponent not known at the time he spoke.
We’re onto the semifinals of this year’s Big Ten tournament.
And Friday’s nightcap gave us the first real big surprise of this year’s event as UCLA knocked off Michigan State, 88-84. The Bruins get Purdue next.
Purdue may be the No. 7 seed, but the Boilers were ranked preseason No. 1 and seem to have found something in the Big Ten tournament with back-to-back impressive performances against Northwestern and Nebraska.
No. 1 Michigan gets No. 5 seed Wisconsin in the other semifinal. The Wolverines have all but locked up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
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Relatively quiet during the Big Ten tournament, conference player of the year Yaxel Lendeborg showed up when it counted.
Lendeborg made a 3-pointer with less than a second left to give Michigan a 68-65 win over Wisconsin on Saturday, March 14. The Wolverines will play either Purdue or UCLA on Sunday, March 15, for the Big Ten tournament title.
Michigan led by 15 with just under 10 minutes to play, but Ethan Rapp went on an epic heater. He made a career-high six 3-pointers, including five in a row, to erase Michigan’s lead and put Wisconsin up 62-58 with 3:50 left.
Aday Mara, who carried Michigan a day earlier, made two big buckets to tie the game. Elliot Cadeau missed a 3, but Lendeborg came up with the monster rebound and kicked it back out to Cadeau, who was good from deep this time to put Michigan up 65-62.
Nick Boyd tied it again with 29 seconds left. Cadeau dribbled around for almost the entire shot clock, and it looked as if Michigan might pay for it. But he found Lendeborg on the perimeter and Lendeborg delivered.
Yaxel Lendeborg’s 3 with 10 seconds left capped a 12-5 run that allowed Michigan to go into halftime tied with Wisconsin at 28.
It was Lendeborg’s first basket of the game, and the Wolverines are going to need more from him if they’re going to avenge their one conference loss during their regular season. More accuracy from everyone, too, with Michigan shooting less than 27% in the first half.
Wisconsin isn’t much better, but it’s been able to hit from deep. The Badgers are 7-of-17 from 3-point range, and 3 of 14 from inside the arc. That includes three 3s by Aleksas Bieliauskas, who killed Michigan with a career-high 17 points, all but two from long range, in Wisconsin’s win in January.
UCLA’s leading scorer Tyler Bilodeau is listed as questionable for the Bruins’ semifinal game against Purdue at the Big Ten conference tournament.
That’s good news, after Bilodeau left the game with a non-contact injury to his right knee in the first half of Friday night’s win over Michigan State. Still, don’t expect Bilodeau to play against the Boilermakers. UCLA coach Mick Cronin said it would take “literally a miracle” for the senior to play against Purdue with the start of the NCAA tournament just days away.
“Right now I’m just … trying to stay positive that he’s got some sort of sprain,” Cronin said. “But it would take a modern miracle for him to play tomorrow.”
All times Eastern
Play-in round
Tuesday, March 10
- Game 1: No. 17 Maryland 70, No. 16 Oregon 60
- Game 2: No. 15 Northwestern 76, No. 18 Penn State 66
First round
Wednesday, March 11
- Game 3: No. 9 Iowa 75, No. 17 Maryland 64
- Game 4: No. 12 Washington 83, No. 13 USC 79
- Game 5: No. 15 Northwestern 74, No. 10 Indiana 61
- Game 6: No. 14 Rutgers 72, No. 11 Minnesota 67
Second round
Thursday, March 12
- Game 7: No. 8 Ohio State 72, No. 9 Iowa 69
- Game 8: No. 5 Wisconsin 85, No. 12 Washington 82
- Game 9: No. 7 Purdue 81, No. 15 Northwestern 68
- Game 10: No. 6 UCLA 72, No. 14 Rutgers 59
Quarterfinals
Friday, March 13
- Game 11: No. 1 Michigan 71, No. 8 Ohio State 67
- Game 12: No. 5 Wisconsin 91, No. 4 Illinois 88, OT
- Game 13: No. 7 Purdue 74, No. 2 Nebraska 58
- Game 14: No. 6 UCLA 88, No. 3 Michigan State 84
Semifinals
Saturday, March 14
- Game 15: No. 1 Michigan 68, No. 5 Wisconsin 65
- Game 16: No. 7 Purdue vs. No. 6 UCLA, 3:30 p.m., CBS
Championship game
Sunday, March 15
- Game 17: No. 1 Michigan vs Game 16 winner, 3:30 p.m., CBS
How to watch Big Ten tournament
- TV: BTN/CBS
- Streaming: Peacock
The first round and the first two games of the second round will be streaming on Peacock.
The second half of the second round, the third round and the quarterfinals will air on the Big Ten Network. CBS will carry the two semifinals and Sunday’s championship game.
Big Ten basketball tournament favorite
Michigan is the favorite after dropping just one Big Ten game and winning the regular-season title by four games over Nebraska, Michigan State and Illinois.
The Wolverines head into the quarterfinals having taken 14 of their past 15 games, with the loss coming in non-conference play against Duke on Feb. 21.
UM also went 4-0 against the Cornhuskers, Spartans and Illini, winning all but one matchup by a double-digit margin. It leads the Big Ten in scoring (88.4 ppg), field-goal percentage (51%) and field-goal defense (38%), ranking second nationally in the final category.
Big Ten basketball tournament top players
Lamar Wilkerson, G, Indiana — IU will need Wilkerson to get hot to make a run in Chicago. He’s topped 20 points 16 times, 12 times in Big Ten play.
Jaxon Kohler, F, Michigan State — The second-year starter has evolved into a 3-point threat (39.5% from deep) and become a more capable scorer (12.8 points per game). Kohler posted 12 double-doubles during the regular season.
Braden Smith, G, Purdue — One of this week’s subplots involves Smith’s push to set the NCAA career assist record. He’s currently averaging 8.7 per game, tying his career high, and is 48 away from breaking former Duke guard Bobby Hurley’s record.
Sam Hoiberg, G, Nebraska — Hoiberg is the glue behind the Cornhuskers’ record-setting regular season after setting new career bests in scoring (9.4 points per game), rebounding (5.2), assists (4.4) and steals (2.1).
Yaxel Lendenborg, F, Michigan — The Alabama-Birmingham transfer has met lofty expectations by stuffing the box score: Lendenborg leads Michigan in scoring (14.7 points) while adding 7.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.2 steals per game.
March Madness bubble storylines for Big Ten
The Big Ten has six locked-in tournament teams in Michigan, Nebraska, Michigan State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Purdue. Another three teams are in very good shape in UCLA, Iowa and Ohio State, though the Buckeyes could stand to add a win against the Hawkeyes in the second round to officially secure their place in the field.
For nearly every team outside the top nine of the standings, the only possible ticket to March Madness will come via a conference title. The one exception is Indiana, which has spent most of the season on the tournament bubble.
What’s holding the Hoosiers back is a 3-11 mark in Quad 1 games. They’ll have chances to improve that record by advancing to the third round to face UCLA. With a win there, the Hoosiers will take on Michigan State in the quarterfinals. IU needs at least three wins this week to get back into at-large consideration.
