The Michigan Wolverines beat the Northwestern Wildcats 72-51 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Michigan (11-17), which has lost in the tournament’s first round over the past two years, has earned the right to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals.
There the team will take on Ohio State (20-7), the No. 2 seed and one of four regular-season co-champions. Northwestern (16-13) is the No. 7 seed, its highest ranking in five years of tournament participation.
The Wildcats were hurt by weak starts in both halves. They missed their first six shots in the first half and were down eight points by the break.
The Iowa Hawkeyes (17-14) started behaving like the team everyone expected them to be and beat No. 8-seeded Purdue (13-18) 87-72 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament,. The Hawkeyes outdid the Boilermakers in rebounds and shooting,,with Purdue’s first half severely hurt by fouls. Those 17 fouls sent the Hawkeyes to the line 24 times.
The Hawkeyes will now advance to the quarterfinals, where they will take on the No. 1-seeded Badgers (18-11).
