BiG Ten Men’s Basketball News

 

 

 

FIRST TEAM

GAME 32: VS. RUTGERS

Date: Wed., March 13

Time: 5:36 p.m. (CT)

Arena: United Center

Tickets: Ticketmaster.com

 

NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS

2018-19 Record: 16-15, 6-14 Big Ten

Head coach: Tim Miles

Record at Nebraska: 113-112 (7th year)

Career Record: 396-332 (24th year)

 

RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS

2018-19 Record: 14-16, 7-13 Big Ten

Head coach: Steve Pikiell

Record at Rutgers:  44-53 (3rd year)

Career Record: 236-209 (14th year)

 

BROADCAST INFO

Television: BTN

Play-by-play: Brandon Gaudin

Analysis: Shon Morris

Sideline: Mike Hall

Internet: Fox Sports app and BTN2Go

Radio: Husker Sports Network, including 590 AM (Omaha), 1400 AM (Lincoln) and 880 AM (Lexington)

Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka Analysis: Jake Muhleisen

Online Radio: Available online at Huskers.com, on the Huskers App and on TuneIn Radio and the TuneIn Radio App.

Satellite Radio: SiriusXM: Ch. 84 and Ch. 372

 

Huskers Begin B1G Tournament vs. Rutgers

The Husker men’s basketball team begins the postseason Wednesday afternoon, as Nebraska takes on Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament in Chicago.  Tipoff from the United Center is set for 5:36 p.m. (central) and the game will be televised nationally on BTN with Brandon Gaudin, Shon Morris and Mike Hall on the call. The matchup will also be available on the Fox Sports App and BTN2Go with cable authentication.

 

Fans can follow all of the action across the state of Nebraska on the IMG Husker Sports Network with Kent Pavelka and Jake Muhleisen on the call. The game will also be available on Huskers.com, on the Huskers app, on TuneIn Radio and the TuneIn Radio app and on both Sirius and XM Radio. The pregame show begins one hour prior to tipoff on many of the Husker Sports Network affiliates.

 

The Huskers (16-15, 6-14 Big Ten) look to build momentum following an improbable 93-91 win over Iowa in the regular-season finale Sunday afternoon. The Huskers, who had just seven scholarship players available against Iowa, not only overcame a 16-point second-half deficit, but trailed 74-65 with 50 seconds left before outscoring Iowa, 16-7, to get to overtime. In the extra period, Amir Harris scored the go-ahead basket with 10.8 seconds left, while Thorir Thorbjarnarson blocked Jordan Bohannon’s 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds left to preserve the win.

 

Nebraska has relied on its two senior guards in James Palmer Jr. and Glynn Watson Jr., as both players look to extend their careers in Chicago. Palmer, a third-team All-Big Ten pick by both the coaches and media, averages a team-high 19.1 points and 3.1 assists per game. He averaged 28.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 3.0 steals last week, including a 30-point effort against No. 9 Michigan State. Watson is averaging 13.0 points and 2.9 assists per game and has scored 20+ points in three of his last four games.

 

Rutgers (14-16, 7-13 Big Ten) have been one of the surprises of the Big Ten this season. The Scarlet Knights own wins over Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio State and Iowa, knocking off the Hawkeyes in Iowa City on March 2. Rutgers has dropped its last two, including a one-point setback to Penn State on Wednesday. Rutgers won the only meeting with NU on Jan. 21, posting a 76-69 victory.

 

The winner of Wednesday’s game will play fifth-seeded Maryland Thursday at 1:30 p.m. or 25 minutes following the conclusion of the Indiana-Ohio State matchup.

 

Painter Named Coach of the Year; Edwards, Eastern Earn Recognition

 

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – After leading Purdue to its second Big Ten title in three seasons, head coach Matt Painter was selected as the league’s Coach of the Year in voting done by league coaches and media.

 

In addition, junior guard Carsen Edwards was voted unanimously to the All-Big Ten first team on both coaches and media ballots. Edwards and Michigan State’s Cassius Winston were the only unanimous selections on either ballot.

 

Nojel Eastern was named to the All-Defensive Team, while Ryan Cline was selected to the honorable mention squad. Grady Eifert was selected as Purdue’s recipient for the Sportsmanship Award.

 

Painter led Purdue to its second Big Ten title in three years and its third in the decade with a 23-8 overall record and a 16-4 mark in the Big Ten standings. It marks Painter’s fourth Big Ten Coach of the Year accolade, good for the third most in league history behind Purdue’s Gene Keady (7) and Indiana’s Bobby Knight (5). Earlier today, Painter was named a Naismith Trophy National Coach of the Year semifinalist for the second straight season.

 

The Boilermakers entered the year with just one returning starter and opened the season with a 6-5 record following a loss to Notre Dame in the Crossroads Classic. Since that loss, the Boilermakers have won 17 of their last 20 games, including victories over four ranked teams during that span. Purdue is second nationally in combined quadrant-1 and 2 victories with 16.

Painter owns a 318-157 record in 14 years at Purdue and has moved into the all-time Big Ten top 10 wins list. His 10 NCAA Tournament appearances at Purdue are the sixth most in league history entering this season.

Purdue has been the Big Ten’s best program over the last three years, posting a 45-11 league mark during that span. Purdue’s 45 wins over the last three years are the third most in Big Ten history in a three-year span.

 

Edwards became the first Purdue player since E’Twaun Moore (2010, 2011) to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors in consecutive seasons after leading the Big Ten in scoring (21.4 PPG) and 3-pointers (60) in league games only.

 

Edwards, who is named one of five finalists for the Jerry West Award which honors the nation’s top shooting guard, enters this week’s Big Ten Tournament with a 23.4 scoring average for all games, tops in the Big Ten and the most for a Big Ten player since Michigan State’s Shawn Respert in 1995 (25.6 PPG). He has set the Purdue single-season (106) and career (252) 3-point records already and is also averaging 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

The junior from Atascocita, Texas, is on pace to become just the fourth player since 1992-93 to score 800 points, make 125 3-pointers, dish out 100 assists and grab 50 steals, joining Davidson’s Stephen Curry (twice), Duke’s Jay Williams and Chicago State’s David Holston.

Edwards recently moved into 10^th place on the Purdue career scoring list (1,770) and his 1,770 points are the most for a Purdue player in school history through his junior season.

In 31 games this year, Edwards has scored 724 points, already making him one of five players in school history with multiple 650-point seasons. His 724 points rank seventh on the Purdue single-season list, and his total is the most for a Boilermaker player since Glenn Robinson scored a school-record 1,030 points in 1994.

 

Earlier today, Edwards was named a Sporting News third-team All-American, making him the first Purdue player since Glenn Robinson in 1993-94 to earn All-America honors in consecutive seasons.

 

Eastern, a physical 6-foot, 6-inch sophomore guard from Evanston, Illinois, earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team after dominating opponents on the perimeter. Often given the task of guarding the other team’s top perimeter player, Eastern has fueled an improving Purdue defense in the national ranks. Since Feb. 1, Purdue has boasted the nation’s 12^th-best defense in terms of efficiency, helping Purdue rise into the top 30 in adjusted defensive efficiency.

 

Eastern has limited such Big Ten standouts as Jordan Bohannon (Iowa), Romeo Langford (Indiana), Anthony Cowan (Maryland), Trent Frazier (Illinois) and C.J. Jackson (Ohio State) below their season averages.

 

Offensively, Eastern has produced at a high level the last two months, averaging 7.6 points, a team-best 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, while boasting an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.64 (77 / 47) for the season.

 

It marks the sixth straight season that Purdue has had a player on the All-Defensive Team and he is just the third player in school history to be named on the squad as either a freshman or sophomore (2008 – Chris Kramer; 2014 – A.J. Hammons).

 

Ryan Cline earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors after averaging 11.8 points per game, 3.2 assists and 2.8 rebounds. He finished second in the Big Ten (league games only in 3-pointers made (56) and third in 3-point percentage (.438).

 

Cline enters the Big Ten Tournament with 93 3-pointers, good for fifth on the Purdue single-season list. His 220 career 3-pointers are sixth in school history while his 40.7 career 3-point percentage ranks seventh.

 

Purdue earned the No. 2 seed in this week’s Big Ten Tournament and will face either 10^th-seeded Penn State or 7^th-seeded Minnesota in Friday’s quarterfinals, tipping at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT, in Chicago.

 

BTN Brings the 2019 Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament to Life Around Chicago

Massive Digital Content Effort Pairs With Activation in Downtown Chicago

 

CHICAGO, Ill. – In addition to BTN’s week-long television coverage of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament presented by SoFi, the network’s creative and digital team will also look to leave its mark on the Windy City ahead of Wednesday’s opening tip-off.

 

In partnership with creative and media agency Fallon, Chicago’s iconic Daley Plaza has been transformed into a basketball-themed playground. Open to the public from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and located at 50 W. Washington Street, a custom-built basketball court will feature 29 school-specific basketball hoops positioned inside a three-point arc adjacent to Chicago’s famous Picasso sculpture. The hoops range in height from four to 12 feet tall, with over two dozen BTN basketballs available for a mid-day shootaround. Every Team Has A Shot. Why shouldn’t you?

 

Across the river and a few blocks to the northeast, an “All Signs Point to BTN” art installation resides in front of the Conrad Hotel near the intersection of Erie and Michigan Ave. (101 E. Erie St.). Standing 20-feet high and displaying the distance to all 14 Big Ten Schools participating in the tournament on BTN, the structure will remain in place until Friday, March 15. Similarly, oversized #MarchOnBTN hashtag letters will be placed just outside of the United Center, on the north side of Madison street, for photographs.

 

For those who can’t make it around town or to the United Center for the tournament, BTN is preparing to deliver it directly to you. Seven videographers will be on-site to produce custom features, highlights and player and coach interviews for BTN’s 14 school-specific Twitter accounts throughout the entire tournament, presented by Yahoo! Sports.

 

Andy Katz will also deliver his five favorite things from each day of the tournament via the @BigTenNetwork Twitter account, while real-time highlights from the first 10 games of the tournament will be presented by State Farm and made available across all of BTN’s Twitter accounts. For the entirety of the tournament, BTN’s Instagram page will showcase the guest photography of Chicago resident Oscar Castillo. Additionally, BTN’s Emmy-nominated original series, The Journey, will be revisiting iconic Big Ten Tournament moments from the @BigTenNetwork Twitter account presented by Gatorade.

 

For fans looking to watch their teams in action, the first 10 games of the tournament on BTN can also be streamed via the FOX Sports App. The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament Presented by SoFi begins on Wednesday, March 13, from the United Center. The daily schedule is listed below (all times Eastern). Please note, times are approximate.

 

Monday

BTN Live: All-Conference Selection Show

5:00 PM

 

Tuesday

BTN Live: B1G Basketball Tournament Preview

5:00 PM

 

Wednesday

B1G Tip-Off Show	6:00 PM
Game No. 1	6:30 PM
B1G Basketball Game Break	8:30 PM
Game No. 2	9:00 PM
The B1G Show	11:30 PM

 

Thursday

B1G Tip-Off Show	Noon
Game No. 3	12:30 PM
B1G Basketball Game Break	2:30 PM
Game No. 4	3:00 PM
B1G Basketball Postgame	5:00 PM
B1G Basketball Game Break	6:00 PM
B1G Tip-Off Show	6:30 PM
Game No. 5	7:00 PM
B1G Basketball Game Break	9:00 PM
Game No. 6	9:30 PM
B1G Basketball Postgame	11:30 PM
The B1G Show	12:00 AM

 

Friday

B1G Tip-Off Show	Noon
Game No. 7	12:30 PM
B1G Basketball Game Break	2:30 PM
Game No. 8	3:00 PM
B1G Basketball Postgame	5:00 PM
B1G Basketball Game Break	6:00 PM
B1G Tip-Off Show	6:30 PM
Game No. 9	7:00 PM
B1G Basketball Game Break	9:00 PM
Game No. 10	9:30 PM
B1G Basketball Postgame	11:30 PM
The B1G Show	12:00 AM

 

Saturday

B1G Tip-Off Show	12:30 PM
B1G Basketball Postgame	5:30 PM
The B1G Show	Following Men’s Hockey  Tournament game

 

Sunday

B1G Tip-Off Show	3:00 PM
B1G Basketball & Beyond: Selection Sunday Special	7:00 PM

 

About BTN: A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN is the first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering one of the premier collegiate conferences in the country. With more than 1,500 events across all platforms, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. BTN2Go and the Fox Sports App are the digital extensions of the Big Ten Network, delivering live games and on-demand programming to Big Ten Network customers via the web, smartphones, and tablets. Network events include football, men’s and women’s basketball games, dozens of Big Ten Olympic sports and championship events, studio shows and classic games. Original programming highlights activities and accomplishments of some of the nation’s finest universities, including the Emmy-nominated The Journey. The network is in more than 60 million homes across the United States and Canada, including carriage by all the major video distributors, such as DIRECTV, DISH, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-Verse, Charter Communications, Comcast Xfinity, Altice USA, Cox Communications, Mediacom, RCN, WOW!, and approximately 300 additional video providers across North America. BTN is also available through the majority of OTT providers, including DirecTV Now, YouTube TV, Hulu, PlayStation Vue and fuboTV. For additional information, please visit www.btn.com.