Walton carries Michigan past Minnesota
Derrick Walton Jr. had 29 points, nine assists and five rebounds to carry eighthseeded Michigan into the Big Ten title game with an 84-77 victory over fourth-seeded Minnesota on Saturday.
Walton had a hand in 18 consecutive Michigan points down the stretch, grabbing the rebound of a Minnesota miss that helped seal it. The Wolverines (23-11) have defeated Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota since their plane skidded off the runway earlier in the week and delayed their arrival in D.C. and will face No. 24 Wisconsin today in the final.
As soon as coach John Beilein entered the locker room, sneaking around the door in dramatic fashion, players rose from seated silence and started jumping around him spraying drinks and screaming, “Hey, hey, hey.”
Outdueling all-Big Ten first-team point guard Nate Mason, who led the Golden Gophers (24-9) with 23 points, Walton took over the game when big German forward Moe Wagner got into foul trouble and D.J. Wilson didn’t have his best. Walton was 8 of 15 from the floor and 10 of 10 from the free throw and also had two steals to go along with just one turnover.
Walton, the conference’s second-team point guard, starred after going 3 of 10 in the quarterfinals against Purdue. He had as many assists in the first seven minutes as Michigan had in the entire game Friday and went from facilitating to scoring as the game required him to do so.
Wagner finished with 17 points.
WISCONSIN 76, NORTHWESTERN 48: Wisconsin revved up the defense against weary Northwestern (23-11) and got the desired result that earned the No. 24 Badgers a berth in the Big Ten Tournament championship game for the third time in five years. Nigel Hayes scored 18 points and Ethan Happ added 16 for the second-seeded Badgers. They never trailed in their third straight victory second in the tournament following a run of five losses in six games. Wisconsin (25-8) will vie for its fourth Big Ten title Sunday against No. 8 seed Michigan, which will be playing its fourth game in four days. It will be the seventh championship game appearance for the Badgers, trailing only the eight by Ohio State. Northwestern (23-11) was playing for the second time in less than 24 hours and third game in three days, and it showed. Coming off wins over Rutgers and No. 3 seed Maryland, the Wildcats missed 20 of 27 shots in the first half, had only one assist and trailed 38-21. Their poor shooting could be attributed in part to the Wisconsin defense, which allowed a Big Ten-low 61.5 points per game. It was the 18th time in 33 games the Badgers allowed 60 points or fewer. Scottie Lindsey scored 16 points for Northwestern, which went 18 for 52 (35 percent) from the floor, was outrebounded 37-27 and didn’t get their second assist until the 8-minute mark of the second half.