Indiana, Penn State, Ohio State Advance in Big 10 Tourney, College Scores

Whether Indiana did enough to secure a spot in the NCAA tournament, coach Tom Crean was not sure. His team made a loud case when it appeared to be fading from the conversation.

James Blackmon Jr. scored 25 points, Yogi Ferrell added 17 and Indiana boosted its NCAA hopes with a 71-56 victory over Northwestern in the second round of the Big Ten tournament on Thursday.

The Hoosiers rolled to an easy win after dropping three in a row and eight of 12. With fans calling for Crean's job in recent weeks, Indiana (20-12) jumped out to a big lead in the early going and withstood a push by Northwestern (15-17) in the second half to advance to the quarterfinals. The Hoosiers will meet No. 8 Maryland on Friday. Was this enough to push Indiana into the NCAA?

"I really don't know," Crean said. "No one knows, and that's the beauty of it all."

He pointed to the strength of schedule and the 20 wins, including 10 against the Big Ten after this victory, and he said he "would hope" that's enough.

Ohio State 79, Minnesota 73

When Ohio State got into trouble in the second half, D'Angelo Russell stepped up. It looks as if the freshman's smooth all-court game is a perfect match for March. Russell scored 23 points, Shannon Scott had a career-high 21 and Ohio State beat Minnesota 79-73 in the Big Ten tournament on Thursday night.

Marc Loving added 12 points as the sixth-seeded Buckeyes (23-9) bounced back from Sunday's 72-48 loss to No. 6 Wisconsin in the season finale. Next up is a quarterfinal matchup with third-seeded Michigan State, which beat Ohio State 59-56 on Feb. 14.

"We want to start playing our best basketball right now," Russell said.

Russell, who broke a nail on his left hand in the first half, also had five rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and a steal. The Big Ten Freshman of the Year was 7 for 16 from the field and 6 for 6 at the line.

Penn State 67, Iowa 58

D.J. Newbill and Penn State are used to playing tight Big Ten games, and all that experience is paying off right now. Newbill scored 18 points, and the Nittany Lions shut down Iowa in the second half of a 67-58 victory on Thursday in the conference tournament.

"We've been in too many games coming down to one possession, one stop, one rebound," Newbill said. "We've learned from that. I think we're a different team than we are now. We're looking for a dogfight."

Ten of Penn State's 14 Big Ten losses this season were by nine points or less, including an 84-77 overtime thriller against Purdue on Jan. 17. Next up for the Nittany Lions (18-15) is a rematch with the Boilermakers in the quarterfinals. Ross Travis scored a season-high 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting for the 13th-seeded Nittany Lions, who advanced with a 68-65 victory over Nebraska on the first day of the tourney. Geno Thorpe scored seven of his 11 points in the second half. It's the best Big Ten run for Penn State since it lost to Ohio State in the 2011 final.

Thursday, March 12 Scoreboard

(2) Duke 77, NC State 53

(3) Virginia 58, Florida St 44

(4) Villanova 84, Marquette 49

(5) Arizona 73, California 51

(9) Kansas 64, TCU 59

(11) Notre Dame 70, Miami (FL) 63

(13) Iowa State 69, Texas 67

(19) North Carolina 70, (14) Louisville 60

(15) Oklahoma 64, Oklahoma St 49

(16) Baylor 80, (18) West Virginia 70

(17) Utah 80, Stanford 56

Xavier 67, (22) Butler 61

(23) Georgetown 60, Creighton 55

(25) Boise State 80, Air Force 68

Friday, March 13 Schedule (All Times Central)

Big Ten Tournament

Game 7 -- Michigan vs. Wisconsin, 11 a.m.

Game 8 -- Penn State vs. Purdue, 1:30 p.m.

Game 9 -- Indiana vs.>Maryland, 5:30 p.m.

Game 10 -- Ohio State vs. Michigan State, 8 p.m.

Top 25 Games

Florida vs (1) Kentucky*, noon

(11) Notre Dame vs (2) Duke*, 8 p.m.

(19) North Carolina vs (3) Virginia*, 7 p.m.

Providence vs (4) Villanova*, 6 p.m.

UCLA vs (5) Arizona*, 8 p.m.

Michigan vs (6) Wisconsin*, 11 a.m.

Indiana vs (8) Maryland*, 5:30 p.m.

(16) Baylor vs (9) Kansas*, 6 p.m.

(15) Oklahoma vs (13) Iowa State*, 8 p.m.

(17) Utah vs Oregon*, 10:30 a.m.

East Carolina vs (20) SMU*, 11 a.m.

Tennessee vs (21) Arkansas*, 6 p.m.

Xavier vs (23) Georgetown*, 8:30 p.m.

La Salle vs (24) Davidson*, 11 a.m.

Wyoming vs (25) Boise State*, 8 p.m.