The Wisconsin Badgers continued to build their case for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a 71-51 win over Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Saturday.
Big Ten Tournament results and bracket 2015: Wisconsin hammers Purdue, 71-51
The Badgers continue to make their case for earning one of the NCAA Tournament’s four No. 1 seeds.
After trailing by 5 at halftime, Wisconsin limited the Boilermakers to just 16 second half points as they rolled to their second conference championship game appearance in three years. The Badgers haven’t won the Big Ten Tournament since 2008.
As is typically the case with Bo Ryan’s team, Wisconsin won thanks to a balanced effort. Four Badgers scored at least 12 points in the game, led by Bronson Koenig’s 19-point effort. UW also assisted on 18 of its 26 made field goals, and turned the ball over just three times.
For Purdue, the loss was a disappointing end to an overwhelmingly positive week which likely solidified the Boilermakers’ place in the NCAA Tournament. As of Saturday morning, SB Nation’s Chris Dobbertean had the Boilers as a No. 9 seed facing Dayton in the East Region.
Here’s an updated look at the tournament bracket thanks to BigTen.org.
Schedule and Results (All Times Eastern)
Wednesday, March 11 (First Round)
No. 13 Penn State 68, No. 12 Nebraska 65 (Game reaction at our Penn State blog and Nebraska blog)
No. 11 Minnesota 80, No. 14 Rutgers 68 (Game reaction at our Minnesota blog and Rutgers blog)
Thursday, March 12 (Second Round)
No. 9 Michigan 73, No. 8 Illinois 55 (Game reaction from our Michigan blog and Illinois blog)
No. 13 Penn State 67, No. Iowa 58 (Game reaction from our Penn State blog and Iowa blog)
No. 7 Indiana 71, No. 10 Northwestern 56 (Game reaction from our Indiana blog and Northwestern blog)
No. 6 Ohio State 79, vs. No. 11 Minnesota 73 (Game reaction from our Ohio State blog and Minnesota blog)
Friday, March 13 (Quarterfinals)
No. 1 Wisconsin 71, No. 9 Michigan 60
No. 4 Purdue 64, No. 13 Penn State 59
No. 2 Maryland 75, No. 7 Indiana, 69
No. 3 Michigan State 76, No. 6 Ohio State 67
Saturday, March 14 (Semifinals)
No. 1 Wisconsin 71, No. 4 Purdue 51
No. 2 Maryland vs. No. 3 Michigan State about 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 15 (Championship)
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. TBD, 3:30 p.m., CBS
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