Illinois Falls to Top-Seeded Indiana; Other Big 10 Tourney Scores

Top-seeded Indiana ended any hopes of Illinois going farther in the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Friday by handing the Illini an 80-64 loss in the quarterfinals.

Cody Zeller banged home 24 points on nine of 11 shooting and also pulled down nine boards. It was revenge for Zeller who had an average game against Illinois when the Illini won 74-72 in Champaign in February. Zeller also lost Tyler Griffey who went in for a layup as time expired to give Illinois the win.

Indiana took control of the game easily using a stifling defense for a 35-21 halftime lead. Illinois was slow on the offensive end but got their offense on a roll in the second half but it was too little, too late. Indiana shot 54 percent from the field and outrebounded Illinois 33-20.

Also in double figures for the Hoosiers were Christian Watford with 15 points, Victor Oladipo with 12 and Will Sheehey with 11. Oladipo pulled down 11 rebounds.

Brandon Paul and Tracy Abrams led Illinois with 16 points each but they were seven of 28 from the field. Illinois finished with 34.5 percent shooting overall.

Indiana all but locked up the No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with the win. They will now face Wisconsin in the semifinals Saturday at 12:40 p.m.  That will be followed by Ohio State vs. Michigan State.

In other scores Friday at the Big 10 Tournament:

Wisconsin 68, Michigan 59

Ohio State 71, Nebraska 50

Michigan State 59, Iowa 56

In other scores Saturday:

Wisconsin 68, Indiana 56

Ohio State 65, Michigan State 58

In Sunday's Championship Game:

Ohio State 50, Wisconsin 43