2023 Big Ten basketball tournament schedule: Here's who Michigan, MSU face in Chicago
After going down nearly to the wire — with Northwestern grabbing the No. 2 seed in its 65-53 win over Rutgers on Sunday night in the final regular-season game on the calendar — the 2023 Big Ten tournament field is set for this week at United Center in Chicago.
Michigan State basketball, which played only 19 conference games due to the cancellation of its game with Minnesota after the shootings in East Lansing that killed three students and wounded five others, will be the No. 4 seed and open its tournament run at 2:30 p.m. Friday against either 5-seed Iowa, 12-seed Wisconsin or 13-seed Ohio State. (The Buckeyes open the tourney against the Badgers on Wednesday; the winner of that game faces the Hawkeyes on Thursday afternoon.)
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Michigan basketball, meanwhile, will be the No. 8 seed and open its tourney run against 9-seed Rutgers at noon Thursday. U-M had a shot at the No. 2 seed, but collapsed in the second half against Indiana on Sunday afternoon. The Wolverines won their only game against the Scarlet Knights this season, 58-45 on Feb. 23 in Piscataway, N.J. Dug McDaniel led U-M with 16 points in that game. The Wolverines will likely need at least a couple wins to boost their NCAA tournament hopes after losing three straight games in overtime, including road losses to Illinois on Thursday and Indiana. The winner of the game between the Wolverines and the Scarlet Knights will have a tough task in trying to reach Saturday’s semifinals: top-seeded Purdue awaits on Friday afternoon looking to make its case for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Assuming Iowa prevails over OSU or Wisconsin, the Spartans will get a chance to work out their demons vs. the Hawkeyes; MSU suffered an epic collapse against the Hawkeyes last weekend, losing in OT after leading by 13 with 2:03 left to play.
The championship game is set for Sunday afternoon, per usual, with the 68-team NCAA tournament field reveal set for soon after. Here’s the full tournament schedule:
2023 Big Ten men’s basketball schedule
All games at United Center in Chicago and broadcast on Big Ten Network, except where noted:
Wednesday’s first round
Game 1: No. 12 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Ohio State, 6:30 p.m.
Game 2: No. 11 Nebraska vs. No. 14 Minnesota, approximately 9 p.m.
Thursday’s second round
Game 3: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 9 Rutgers, noon.
Game 4: No. 5 Iowa vs. Winner of Game 1, approx.. 2:30 p.m.
Game 5: No. 7 Illinois vs. No. 10 Penn State, 6:30 p.m.
Game 6: No. 6 Maryland vs. Winner of Game 2, approx.. 9 p.m.
Friday’s quarterfinals
Game 7: No. 1 Purdue vs. Winner of Game 3, noon.
Game 8: No. 4 Michigan State vs. Winner of Game 4, approx.. 2:30 p.m.
Game 9: No. 2 Northwestern vs. Winner of Game 5, 6:30 p.m.
Game 10: No. 3 Indiana vs. Winner of Game 6, approx.. 9 p.m.
Saturday’s semifinals
Game 11: Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 8, 1 p.m., CBS.
Game 12: Winner of Game 9 vs. Winner of Game 10, approximately 3:30 p.m., CBS.
Sunday’s final
Game 13: Winner of Game 11 vs. Winner of Game 12, 3:30 p.m., CBS.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 2023 Big Ten basketball tournament schedule: Who Michigan, MSU play
