Spartans fall to Maryland, 68-57
Eric Ayala scored 21 points, Aaron Wiggins added 19 and Maryland dominated Michigan State in the second half to take a 68-57 win in a firstround Big Ten tournament game on Thursday.
The eighth-seeded Terrapins (16-12) gave their NCAA Tournament hopes a big boost but now face top-seeded and No. 4 ranked Michigan in the quarterfinals on Friday.
The Wolverines won both regular-season matchups by a combined 35 points.
Maryland erased a 12-point first-half deficit to lead 34-30 at halftime and scored the first eight points of the second half before the Spartans ended a fieldgoal drought of nearly 12 minutes spanning both halves.
Maryland led by as many as 19 with seven minutes remaining in the game.
Ayala made 10 of 11 free throws and grabbed nine rebounds. Wiggins scored 12 of his points in the second half. When Maryland beat Michigan State 73-55 in their only regular-season meeting, Ayala had 22 points and made all 13 of his free throws with the Terrapins sinking 23 of 24.
Maryland finished 20 of 28 at the line on Thursday to the Spartans’ 9-of-18 and outscored Michigan State 27-2 off 18 turnovers.
Malik Hall scored a career-high 19 points and Aaron Henry added 12 and nine rebounds for ninthseeded Michigan State (15-12), which is still expected to make its 23rd NCAA appearance, but will know for on Sunday.
Ayala scored 10 points, eight from the free-throw line, to lead a 16-4 run and grab the lead in the first half.
His 3-pointer as time ran out made it a four-point edge. Maryland made 15 of 16 free throws in
the first half. Ohio State 79, Minnesota 75
Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann didn’t care about style points. He was just happy to celebrate again. So were his players. After scoring the first 13 points of the game and nearly blowing a 14-point lead in the final 3 1/2 minutes, the ninth-ranked Buckeyes finally found a way to close out a 79-75 victory over Minnesota on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State will face No. 21 Purdue in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Rutgers 61, Indiana 50
Ron Harper Jr. and Jacob Young scored 13 points each as Rutgers knocked tenthseeded Indiana out of the second round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday, 61-50.
Rutgers (15-10) was seeded seventh into the tournament, its highest seed ever, and will square off against second-seeded, and No. 3-ranked, Illinois (20-6) in a Friday quarterfinal. Rutgers beat the Illini 91-88 in their only meeting this season. The Hoosiers (12-15) led by as many as 10 in the first half, and Rutgers needed to close on a 14-4 pace in order to lead at the break, 33-32, on Geo Baker’s dunk. Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 19 points to lead Indiana.