Purdue Wins Big 10 Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship, Illinois Falls To Wisconsin 

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BY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

Purdue won the championship of the Big 10 Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Purdue defeated No. 1 Michigan, 80-72 Sunday.

In Friday action, Michigan won over Ohio State 71-67, Wisconsin downed Illinois 91-88, Purdue defeated Nebraska 74-58 and UCL edged Michigan State 88-84.

Ninth-ranked and No. 4 seed Illinois fell to No. 5-seeded Wisconsin, 91-88, in overtime in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals Friday afternoon at United Center.

The freshman duo of Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic each scored 19 points to lead the Illini. Wagler also led the Illini with eight assists in the game, while Mirkovic added five rebounds (three offensive) and five assists. Junior G Andrej Stojakovic added 17 points and tied Zvonimir Ivisic for the team lead with seven rebounds.

Zvonimir, his brother Tomislav Ivisic, and Kylan Boswell all chipped in with nine points.

The Illini fell behind early as the Badgers built a 10-5 edge to open the game. The Orange and Blue answered with a 23-3 run to take control of the game, 28-13, with nine minutes left to play in the first half.

A 12-0 Badgers run cut the Illini lead to 32-29 before the teams headed into the locker room with Illinois leading, 36-30.

Out of the break, Illinois pulled away steadily to rebuild a 15-point lead, 60-54, with 11:30 left in regulation. But Wisconsin responded, tying the game at 67-67 with just under five minutes on the clock. Neither team lead by more than three points the rest of the way, and the game headed to overtime.

Mirkovic scored all 10 points for the Illini in the extra period. Wisconsin’s lead reached as high as seven points with 14 seconds to play before a Mirkovic 3-pointer and a quick layup just two seconds later kept the Illini within striking distance, 90-88, After a free-throw miss by Wisconsin, Wagler’s game-tying 3-point attempt rimmed away.

Illinois now looks ahead to Sunday’s NCAA Tournament selection. The Fighting Illini will make their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

Players

• Keaton Wagler poured in 19 points and dished out a team-high eight assists.
  • Led Illinois in scoring for a team-leading 13th time this season.
    • Team-leading 29^th game with 10+ points.
    • 10+ points in 24 consecutive outings, averaging 19.4 ppg during that span.
  • Dished out a game-high eight assists, his 13^th game this season with at least 5.
• David Mirkovic put up 19 points, five rebounds and five assists.
  • 25^th game of the season with 10+ points, fourth straight.
    • Moved past Kofi Cockburn (413 points) and Giorgi Bezhanishvili (414) into eight on Illinois’ freshman scoring list with 428 points.
  • Fifth game of the season with at least five assists.
• Andrej Stojakovic turned in 17 points, seven rebounds, a block and a steal.
  • Scored in double figures for the 16^th time this season.
  • 12^th game this season with five or more rebounds.

Teams

• Illinois is now 24-8 overall heading into NCAA Selection Sunday.
• Illinois falls to 0-4 in overtime games this season.
• Five of Illinois’ six losses to Big Ten teams were by a combined 12 points, with four coming in overtime:
  • 3 at the buzzer to Nebraska (Dec. 13)
  • 3 in OT at Michigan State (Feb. 8)
  • 2 in OT at home to Wisconsin (Feb. 10)
  • 1 at the buzzer in OT at UCLA (Feb. 21)
  • 3 in OT vs. Wisconsin (March 13)
• Illinois lost the rebounding battle for only the fifth time this season, grabbing 36 boards compared to Wisconsin’s 37.
  • The Illini move to 1-4 being outrebounded.