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Check out the best photos from MSU’s Big Ten Tournament championship game win over Michigan
Michigan State hockey took down Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament championship on Saturday night, 5-4, in an overtime thriller.
Check out the best photos from the Spartans win:
Trey Augustine is the Big Ten Tournament’s MVP:
Michigan State hockey capped their Big Ten Tournament run with an overtime thrilling victory over archrival Michigan on Saturday night.
The Spartans, as they have been all season long, were led by freshman goaltender Trey Augustine. Augustine has a long list of accolades, ranging from USA world juniors gold medal winner, to all conference player and he now gets to add another one to the list.
Augustine was named the MVP of the Big Ten Tournament following the Spartans Big Ten Tournament championship game win.
Trey Augustine is named the Big Ten Tournament MVP.
— Nathaniel Bott (@Nathaniel_Bott) March 24, 2024
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Michigan State is Big Ten Tournament champs after winning an OT thriller over Michigan
Three periods weren’t enough to settle a rivalry matchup between Michigan State and Michigan inside of East Lansing’s Munn Ice Arena for the Big Ten Tournament championship. After a 4-4 regulation score, it was MSU’s freshman defenseman Patrick Geary netting a point shot for the overtime winner with 6:13 remaining in the overtime period.
The Big Ten Tournament win marks the first in the Spartans program history.
Goal scorers for the Spartans, aside from Geary, included Tanner Kelly, Daniel Russell, Jeremy Davidson and Matt Basgall.
Michigan State will now wait to learn their NCAA Tournament fate tomorrow evening during the NCAA’s selection show.
Connor Essegian had a crystal ball:
Wisconsin basketball’s 75-74 overtime win over Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal was one of the program’s best wins in years.
For me, it’s the Badgers’ best victory since Chucky Hepburn’s banked-in buzzer-beater to beat Purdue and clinch the Big Ten title at the end of the 2021-22 regular season.
IT’S BRACKET MADNESS: Enter USA TODAY’s NCAA tournament bracket contest for a chance at $1 million prize.
The performance had everything. It had questionable foul calls on and against Purdue star big man Zach Edey, a dramatic overtime-forcing buzzer beater from Hepburn and a classic back-and-forth finish with Max Klesmit’s basket with five seconds remaining proving to be the difference.
The Big Ten Network cameras were predictably right there for all of the action. As released on X Wednesday afternoon, the cameras actually caught Wisconsin guard Connor Essegian saying “this is gonna be iconic” right before Hepburn’s basket and the ensuing heroics.
"This is gonna be iconic." 🗣
Connor Essegian (@CEssegian) said it into our camera, and he was right.@BTNJourney goes behind the scenes of @BadgerMBB's memorable @bigten tourney semifinal OT win over No. 1 Purdue. pic.twitter.com/0qRTSDXhxR
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 20, 2024
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Deion Sanders praised Wisconsin HC Greg Gard Sunday night:
Wisconsin basketball was all over the headlines this week.
The team quickly went from one of the nation’s coldest, with only three wins in its last 11 games, to one of its hottest after a Big Ten Tournament run of a blowout win over Maryland, a comfortable win over Northwestern, an electrifying upset win over top-ranked Purdue and then a narrow loss to Illinois.
Saturday’s upset of Purdue was the talk of the nation. Many discussed the whistle given to Boilermakers star big man Zach Edey, while others celebrated the Badgers returning to the pantheon of the nation’s elite.
One focus of praise and celebration has been head coach Greg Gard. Not only is his team back to playing terrific basketball while he pushes the correct coaching buttons, but he also went viral with his postgame speech after the win over Purdue.
“Raise your hand if you fouled out,” Gard asked the team as he applauded their fight and effort — which saw the team’s top big men all raise their hands.
The speech and that comment went mainstream enough that Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders weighed in on X on Sunday night:
I absolutely Love it. God bless you Coach & your Team!!!! https://t.co/5UCFQq0VZg
— COACH PRIME (@DeionSanders) March 17, 2024
Wisconsin now prepares to face James Madison in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The Badgers got a tough first-round draw, but do have a manageable path to make a deep run if the stars can align.
Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.
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Illinois basketball won the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday
For the fourth time in program history, the Illinois Fighting Illini are Big Ten Tournament champions. On Sunday, they defeated Wisconsin 93-87 in a hard-fought championship game battle that went down to the wire. They were led by the talented duo of Terrence Shannon Jr. and Marcus Domask.
As Illinois pulled away in the second half, Shannon Jr. set the tone offensively. The Chicago native scored a team-high 34 points while draining three-pointers. He got some help from Domask, who scored 26 points and only missed one shot.
While Wisconsin’s Big Ten Tournament ended in disappointing fashion, there were a few bright spots. That includes Chucky Hepburn and AJ Storr. Just like he has done all season, Storr was a scoring machine. He added 24 points and three steals to his resume. Hepburn had one of his best games of the season, scoring 20 points.
THE STOMP #Illini | #HTTO | #EveryDayGuys pic.twitter.com/txRbENrTtn
— Illinois Men’s Basketball (@IlliniMBB) March 17, 2024
Part of Illinois’s ability to take control late was due to its success close to the basket. They scored 40 points in the paint, while Wisconsin only scored 36. The Fighting Illini also shot over 50 percent from the field and made seven three-pointers.
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Once the confetti was released, Illinois had a reason to celebrate beyond winning a title. Their star, Terrence Shannon Jr., was named the 2024 Jim and Kitty Delany Most Outstanding Player of the Big Ten Tournament
Injury report released for Wisconsin vs Illinois in Big Ten Tournament final
Wisconsin released its injury report ahead of Sunday’s clash with the Illinois Fighting Illini in the Big Ten Tournament final.
All of the Badgers starters and primary players are good to go, according to the report. That includes star point guard Chucky Hepburn, veteran forward Tyler Wahl and young guard John Blackwell, who are all currently battling minor ailments.
Hepburn missed Wisconsin’s win against Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal, while both Wahl and Blackwell have played through their respective minor injuries.
Illinois, meanwhile, is fully healthy for the contest.
#Badgers availability report: All starters/players in the rotation are good to go today.
— Jeff Potrykus (@jaypo1961) March 17, 2024
Greg Gard’s team is set to battle a Fighting Illini team and program that the Badgers haven’t defeated since 2019. A Big Ten Tournament title is on the line, but so is Wisconsin’s momentum after three straight stellar performances.
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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.
On Saturday afternoon, the Nebraska men’s basketball team played in the first Big Ten Tournament semifinal in school history.
On Saturday afternoon, the Nebraska men’s basketball team played in the first Big Ten Tournament semifinal in school history. The Huskers battled with the Illinois Fighting Illini, falling 98-87.
Following the loss, Head Coach Fred Hoiberg said that he’s excited about the fact that Nebraska’s season isn’t over.
I like where we are heading into this week, heading into tomorrow, where we will find out our fate. As I told the guys in the locker room after, one thing that still — it was such a pit in my stomach last year at this time, a couple days earlier when we lost, because I just had a feeling we wouldn’t be able to play again and I wouldn’t be able to coach that group, and I loved that group that we had a year ago. It was such a fun group to coach.
The Huskers’ semi-final appearance is their deepest run in a conference tournament since 2006. Nebraska lost for only the third time this season when leading at the half; they were 18-2 heading into Saturday’s game. The Husker head coach is looking forward to seeing who the Huskers will play come the start of the NCAA Tournament.
The blessing we have is we’re going to be playing next week. Whether that’s Thursday or Friday, we’re going to have the opportunity to continue to compete and hopefully make a little run right here and continue to do things that have never been done with this program.
Illinois will now advance to play the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Title game on Sunday afternoon. Nebraska will learn their opponent in the upcoming NCAA Tournament later Sunday night.
You can find a photo gallery from Nebraska’s semi-final loss below.
Check out the best photos from MSU’s Big Ten Tournament semifinal win over Ohio State:
Michigan State hosted Ohio State in front of a sellout Munn Ice Arena on Saturday in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals. The Spartans knocked off the Buckeyes, 2-1, punching their ticket to the Big Ten Tournament championship.
Check out the best photos from MSU’s huge win:
MSU downs OSU and is headed to the Big Ten Tournament championship game!
Michigan State is moving on to the championship game in the the Big Ten Tournament. In front of a sold out Munn Ice Arena, the Spartans knocked off the Ohio State Buckeyes, 2-1, in a semifinal matchup.
The scoring opened with a Daniel Russell goal just 1:23 into the second period, giving MSU a 1-0 lead. Ohio State countered, tying the game up early in the third period, just 2:06 into the period.
It was the captain, Nash Nienhuis, who countered just 13 seconds later, scoring what would be the game winning goal.
Michigan State now awaits the winner of Minnesota v Michigan to see who they will play in the Big Ten Championship game, next Saturday.
