The week-long series of games played between schools from the Big Ten and the Big East has seen the Big Ten flex some key non-conference muscle against their counterpart. And on Friday, the Big Ten has a chance to clinch an outright victory in this year’s Gavitt Tipoff Games with two chances to do so.
A win by either Indiana or Michigan State on Friday will give the Big Ten the crown for this year’s Gavitt Tipoff Games. Indiana visits Xavier in Cincinnati, Ohio in the first game on Friday evening. Michigan State will host Villanova in the final game of the week-long schedule. With a record of 4-2 this week in the head-to-head matchups, the Big Ten needs just one win to claim victory. It could very well come down to the Spartans, who have had a pretty big week already with a double-overtime victory over Kentucky in the Champions Classic.
The Big Ten is 2-1-3 against the Big East in the annual series of games, which started in 2015. The Big Ten and Big East tied the head-to-head matchups each of the first three years of the scheduling agreement from 2015 through 2017. The Big Ten claimed victory in 2018 and 2019 with back-to-back 5-3 records. The series was called off in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Big East had a decisive 6-2 victory in the Gavitt Tipoff Games in 2021.
Penn State did its part to get the Big Ten in the win column on the first day of the series earlier in the week. Penn State was led by a triple-double from [autotag]Jalen Pickett[/autotag] in a big home win against Butler on Monday night. After Minnesota dropped its Monday night game to DePaul, Penn State’s win was the first for the Big Ten this week.
Northwestern and Iowa each won games on the road against Georgetown and Seton Hall, respectively, and Purdue won a good one at home against Marquette. Nebraska couldn’t keep pace with St. John’s after halftime on the road on Thursday night.
This year’s Gavitt Tipoff Games results are as follows:
- DePaul 69, Minnesota 53 (Big East leads 1-0)
- Penn State 68, Butler 62 (Series tied 1-1)
- Northwestern 75, Georgetown 63 (Big Ten leads 2-1)
- Purdue 75, Marquette 70 (Big Ten leads 3-1)
- Iowa 83, Seton Hall 67 (Big Ten leads 4-1)
- St. John’s 70, Nebraska 50 (Big Ten leads 4-2)
Penn State will continue its run in the Charleston Classic on Friday afternoon with a matchup with Virginia Tech. A win against the Hokies will send the Nittany Lions to the Charleston Classic championship game on Sunday against either Colorado State or Charleston.
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