Buckeye Blogger NetworkIt’s that time of the year again! While Gonzaga and the gods of golden locks present their sacrifice to college basketball, the B1G prepares for it’s annual gauntlet to basketball glory. Each team steps into the arena with a light shining on them. Every player looking to slay the giant with one massive swing of the sword. 
For Ohio State, success in the Big Ten tournament has become a mainstay. They have more championships than any other team in the conference. They have been to the championship round the last four years and five of the last six seasons. Former Buckeye William Buford is second all time on the tourney scoring leaders list. He is also the only player to start in four consecutive championship games.
Thursday starts the greatest stretch in sports every single year. For all the great story lines in the NCAA tournament, some of the best stories can be found in the conference battle to the big dance. I joined Andy Coppens of The B1G Time yesterday to talk about some of those potential memories this upcoming tournament. We also broke down day one’s games and picked the teams we believe can shock the conference and make a run to the NCAA tournament.
Thanks for listening and make sure you head on over to view the work by our friends at The B1G Time this tournament season.
One of four days of the tournament are finished. One third of the combatants have been sent home. Now it’s time for the big dogs to get a chance to see the court.
Today’s games mostly went as expected, with Iowa, Indiana, and Purdue staying alive. The lone surprise was Minnesota’s overtime win over tournament dark horse favorite Northwestern. With the Wildcats eliminated early, it’s very likely that their NCAA tournament dreams have died with their Big Ten Tournament run. We’ll have to wait and see before we can be certain, however.
As for tomorrow’s games, there are some intriguing matchups. All four of the games involve teams that played each other only once during the regular season. Even more surprisingly, all of those games were played at the home court of the higher seed in each matchup. That means that each game has a good chance of being much more exciting than the original meetings. This is particularly true for Purdue and Indiana who get to treat there games very nearly like home games.
Just like today, WVaBuckeye and Gary Russell will cover all of the action during the course of the day tomorrow! Make sure you stop by and continue to follow all of the Big Ten Tournament coverage here at the Buckeye Battle Cry!
10:15 PM – Make sure to stop back tomorrow for more live coverage from Indianapolis from WVaBuckeye and Gary Russell! A preview of tomorrow’s games will be up shortly to get you ready for all four excellent matchups.
10:00 PM – Gary Russell here from Indy finishing out today’s action. The second half started off with a flurry but Purdue really flexed its muscles in pulling away and beating Nebraska in the Husker’s first trip to the tourney by a score of 79-61. Today’s action reminded me of what the Big Ten is all about. While Minnesota’s overtime thriller was the best game of the day, the other games still showed us that the Big Ten has tremendous heart, determination, and class. Here’s to a great first day and an awesome second day.
9:00 PM – Gary Russell from Indy and Purdue is leading Nebraska 39-31 at halftime. Upset minded Nebraska kept it close early but they didn’t seem to have an answer for Purdue on the boards. The Boilermakers cashed in on their second chance points going up by 15 at one point. Bo Spencer hits a three and a lay up at the 2:03 mark shrinking the lead to 8. The teams trade baskets to close out the half putting us where we are at halftime.
7:40 PM – Northwestern’s dreams came to an end here in OT. A hot shooting Gopher squad made their free throws and some timely threes to post a 75-68 win. Shurna and Cobb combined for 45 of Northwestern’s points, while Andre Hollins lead Minnesota and all scorers with 25. Minnesota moves on to face TTUN tomorrow in game three of day 2.
The Men’s Big Ten Tournament begins today in Indianapolis at 11:30 AM EST with a matchup between the Iowa Hawkeyes and Illinois Fighting Illini. Unlike previous years where the blog covered the games from afar, this year see’s our own WVaBuckeye in the stands covering the weekend’s matchups!
He and a friend will be offering thoughts and updates to this article as the day wears 0n, so make certain to check back regularly during the day for new insights into the day’s action. Also, feel free to share your thoughts on the games with us as the day wears on in the comments!
For the Buckeyes specifically, we will be doing our usual coverage – including pregames, recaps, and LiveBlogs – for tomorrow’s game that is scheduled to start at approximately 9 PM EST. Something to look forward to later today and tomorrow as the tournament continues.
So keep checking back with us here at the BBC for all of your B1G Tournament coverage!
