Big Ten Tournament 2024: Men's Quarterfinals Scores, Semifinals Bracket and Schedule
March 16, 2024Big Ten Tournament 2024: Men's Quarterfinals Scores, Semifinals Bracket and Schedule
Four of the top five teams in the Big Ten advanced to the Big Ten tournament semifinals.
The top two seeds, the Purdue Boilermakers and Illinois Fighting Illini, faced the toughest tests to get out of Friday's quarterfinals.
Purdue escaped an upset bid from the Michigan State Spartans, while Illinois survived a matchup with the bubble-minded Ohio State Buckeyes.
Purdue and Illinois will be expected to get past the Wisconsin Badgers and Nebraska Cornhuskers in Saturday's semifinals in Minneapolis.
However, Big Ten tournament history suggests one semifinal upset will happen. The top two seeds have not played in the championship game since 2007.
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Big Ten Tournament Quarterfinal Scores
No. 1 Purdue 67, No. 8 Michigan State 62
No. 5 Wisconsin 70, No. 4 Northwestern 61
No. 2 Illinois 77, No. 10 Ohio State 74
No. 3 Nebraska 93, No. 6 Indiana 66
Purdue vs. Wisconsin
Saturday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS
Purdue beat Wisconsin twice in the regular season, including in Sunday's Big Ten finale.
The Boilermakers come into their third meeting with the Badgers with one loss on their resume since January 13.
Although Purdue has not lost lately, it has been involved in a handful of close games. Each of its last five contests were decided by five points or less.
Wisconsin stayed within eight and six points of the Boilermakers this season, so there should at least be some hope that the No. 5 seed can contend on Saturday.
The Badgers appear to be in the process of turning around their season at the perfect time. They went from 8-1 to 11-9 in Big Ten play, but rebounded with two strong wins in Minneapolis.
If anything, the Badgers have some confidence back for the NCAA tournament, and even if they compete with Purdue for 40 minutes, it could be viewed as a victory for the program.
Purdue already has a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance locked up. Its primary goal is to become the first back-to-back Big Ten tournament champion since the Michigan Wolverines in 2017 and 2018.
Illinois vs. Nebraska
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS
The first Illinois-Nebraska meeting produced plenty of offensive fireworks.
The Fighting Illini outlasted the Cornhuskers 87-84 in overtime on February 4 in Champaign.
Illinois' Terrance Shannon Jr. and Nebraska's Keisei Tominaga are capable of putting up dueling 30-point displays in Saturday's second semifinal.
Illinois can score with the best teams in men's college basketball, but its defense still needs some work to contend over the next few weeks.
The Fighting Illini allowed over 70 points in six of their last seven games and conceded over 80 points seven times since February 1.
Nebraska's defense has been much better during that stretch, as it held seven of its last eight foes to 70 points or fewer.
An Illinois win likely means the game finishes in the 80s, while a Nebraska victory could come in a much more low-scoring affair.
