CHICAGO (AP) — Braden Smith had 16 assists to climb into second on the NCAA career list, and No. 18 Purdue outmuscled Northwestern for an 81-68 victory that moved the Boilermakers into the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Trey Kaufman-Renn and Oscar Cluff each scored 19 points for 24-8 Purdue. Smith is up to 1,045 assists in 142 career games, passing Ed Cota and Chris Corchiani with another smooth performance for the Boilermakers. Bobby Hurley is No. 1 with 1,076 assists in 140 games for Duke from 1989-93. Next up for Purdue is No. 11 Nebraska on Friday.
CHICAGO (AP) — John Blackwell scored a career-high 34 points with six 3-pointers and No. 23 Wisconsin hung on to beat Washington 85-82 in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament. Nick Boyd added 23 points with five 3-pointers while Andrew Rohde hit two free throws in the closing seconds to stretch it to a three-point game after the Badgers (23-9) let an 18-point lead in the second half shrink to one. The Huskies’ Zoom Diallo missed a pull-up 3 just before the buzzer. Wisconsin will face No. 9 Illinois, which had a bye through the first three rounds, in the quarterfinals on Friday.
CHICAGO (AP) — Donovan Dent had 12 points, 12 assists and a career-high 10 rebounds — the first triple-double in the history of the Big Ten Conference Tournament — to help sixth-seeded UCLA beat No. 14 seed Rutgers 72-59 in the third round. Dent became the fifth player in program history to record a triple-double, joining Bill Walton, Toby Bailey, Jelani McCoy and Kyle Anderson. UCLA (22-10) plays No. 11 and second-seeded Nebraska in the quarterfinals Friday. Tyler Bilodeau led the Bruins with 21 points. Lino Mark led Rutgers (14-19) with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists.
CHICAGO (AP) — Bruce Thornton had 24 points, John Mobley Jr. scored all 12 of his points in the second half, and No. 8 seed Ohio State held off a late rally by No. 9 seed Iowa for a 72-69 victory in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State advances to play third-ranked Michigan in the quarterfinals. Thornton had a personal 10-0 run to give Ohio State its largest lead of the game at 51-35. But Iowa rallied down the stretch to get within 70-69 with 38.7 seconds left. Ohio State worked the clock down before Thornton drove into the lane for a shot that rolled off the rim. Amare Bynum’s putback attempt did not go, but Mobley was fouled before making two free throws for a three-point lead.
CHICAGO (AP) — The Big Ten wants the NCAA to stop its investigations related to tampering because the Power Four conference believes the rules “cannot be credibly or equitably enforced.” ESPN is reporting that the Big Ten sent a letter to the NCAA this week that called for a pause in tampering investigations and infractions proceedings. In the letter, the conference pledges its support for “a modern framework for contact rules that addresses the varied challenges and opportunities of the current collegiate landscape.”
UNDATED (AP) — Miami (Ohio) went 31-0 in the regular season, then lost in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The RedHawks are at the mercy of the selection committee now after they fell in the quarterfinals to a UMass team that was outside the top 200 in the NET rankings. Miami’s weak schedule and lack of major wins are problems, but going 31-1 against even the RedHawks’ schedule is not easy. For now, the RedHawks’ loss should probably concern other bubble teams more than it worries Miami. Including Auburn, which blew a double-digit lead against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament on Thursday.
