BTT: OSU, Penn State, Maryland and Rutgers Advance To Quarterfinals

Day two of the Big Ten Tournament wrapped up and did not disappoint as the underdogs continued to win. Every lower seed won the first five games for the first time in BTT history. Since there were four games; I’m just going to provide a quick recap of each.

9 seed Rutgers vs. 8 seed Michigan

This was perhaps the most surprising game to me. Between the physicality of both teams, I really thought it would be a blood bath that came down to the wire with endless amounts of Hunter Dickinson doing his weird arm thing down the court.

Instead Rutgers completely shut down Michigan in the second half holding them to 1 from 17 from the field in 19 minutes of play. I watch a lot of college basketball and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that.

Rutgers defeated Michigan 62-50; the Scarlet Knights were led by Cam Spencer’s 18 points along with Derek Simpson’s 13 points and 5 rebounds. Hunter Dickinson from Michigan led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed 7 boards.

13 seed Ohio State vs. 5 seed Iowa

The biggest upset thus far was Ohio State knocking off Iowa. I’ll be honest when I thought the Buckeyes didn’t have the offensive components to hang with the Hawkeyes but it was a much more defensive game than anticipated. The game stayed neck and neck before OSU stunned the Hawkeyes with a 73-69 upset.

Brice Thorton led the Buckeyes with 17 points whike Sensabaugh had 16 and Sueing chipped in another 14. Filip Rebraca from Iowa led all scorers with 20 and brought down 7 boards. Keegan Murray finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

10 seed Penn State vs. 7 seed Illinois

Shrews has his team rolling winning the last 6/7 including the victory of the Illini yesterday. Penn State knocked off Illinois 79-76 in the second round of the B1G tournament.

Both teams shoot the 3 ball a lot but Penn State just does it better; not to mention Pickett being a match up nightmare for Illinois. The Nittany Lions were the lower seed, but this was a win I knew they could get.

Will this cement them to get a bid into the NCAA tournament? I hope so, rooting for the former Purdue coach… as long as he’s not playing the Boilers.

Andrew Funk from Penn State led all scorers with 20 points while Seth Lundy landed himself a double-double with 17 points and 19 rebounds. Camren Wynter added in another 18 points and 5 boards.

Shannon Jr. Led the Illini with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Coleman Hawkins had 17 points and pulled down 5 boards.

14 seed Minnesota vs. 6 seed Maryland

Minnesota’s upset tour was stopped short after facing Maryland in the final game of Thursday. The Gophers hung around with Maryland for a little while during the first half and trailed 7 at the break. But the Terps took off in the second in a game that just never felt very close.

It was a fun run for Minnesota as they were the first 14 seed to advance past the first round since 2017 but Maryland just had more talent and size for Minnesota to overcome. The Terps are the first higher ranked seed to advance so far in the BTT. Let’s hope that’s not the case tomorrow.

Donta Scott from Maryland led all scorers with 20 points and pulled in 8 boards. Jahmir Young chipped in 15 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Minnesota only had two players score in double figures; Pharrel Payne had 17 points and 9 rebounds while Braeden Carrington contributed 12 points.