Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor, March 15, 2015
What a Big Ten tournament! Wisconsin, the Big Ten regular-season champ, topped Michigan State, 80-69, in overtime Sunday afternoon to make it a season sweep of the hardware.
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Get my best of the Big Ten tourney below.
Biggest surprise: No. 13 Penn State. Beating No. 12 Nebraska in the first round was no big surprise, but upsetting previously surging and No. 5 Iowa, winners of six straight entering the tournament, was a stunner. Then, in the quarterfinals, the Nittany Lions led No. 4 Purdue for most of the first 34 minutes, before the Boilermakers seized control.
Biggest disappointment: No. 5 Iowa. The Hawkeyes, who tied for third place in the regular season standings, were a popular sleeper pick in the tournament. Few players entered the event hotter than Aaron White, and one could make the argument no team was hotter than Iowa, which had won its previous six games. No. 13 Penn State crushed all of that momentum, erupting for 48 second-half points to erase an eight-point halftime deficit.
Best player: Bronson Koenig, Wisconsin. Somehow, Koenig didn't even make the all-tourney team. It probably had something to do with the votes being turned in too early, because the sophomore scored all 18 of his points in the second half and overtime to help Wisconsin rally and win the event. Koenig also dished out a career-high nine assists, for crying out loud. In three games, the point guard shot 50 percent, hit nine 3-pointers and averaged 16.3 points, including a career-high 19 in the semifinals, and four assists. He only had three turnovers, to boot.
Best dunk: Marvin Clark Jr. vs. Maryland. There were a ton of really nice dunks, but this powerful left-handed flush is tough to top.
Put it on a poster! Marvin Clark Jr. goes strong to the rim on this @MSU_Basketball dunk. #IntelGoesB1G #MarchOnBTN http://t.co/ShlmTv0bve
— Michigan State on BTN (@MichiganStOnBTN) March 14, 2015
Best shot: D.J. Newbill late 3-pointer vs. Purdue. It came in a loss, yes, but this shot was something else. I'm still not sure how he got the shot over A.J. Hammons, or how he made it without being able to fully extend on his release.
ICYMI: The degree of difficulty on this D.J. Newbill 3-pointer is crazy. Over A.J. Hammons! #MarchOnBTN http://t.co/oijpNnn263
— Penn State On BTN (@PennStateOnBTN) March 15, 2015
Best block: Dez Wells on Yogi Ferrell. With authority!
Offense or defense, Dez Wells is a @TerrapinHoops highlight machine around the basket. #IntelGoesB1G #MarchOnBTN http://t.co/FGlNtncFFv
— Maryland On BTN (@MarylandOnBTN) March 13, 2015
Best pass: Spike Albrecht vs. Illinois. Behind-the-back passes? Those are great and all, but Albrecht prefers going behind-the-head.
"Showtime at the Big Ten tournament!" courtesy of @umichbball's Spike Albrecht. #IntelGoesB1G #MarchOnBTN http://t.co/fHSLi8B7rl
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 12, 2015
Best hustle play: Rapheal Davis crashes into press row vs. Penn State. Davis saved the ball to a teammate, in case you're wondering. Josh Gasser did his best Davis impersonation in the title game vs. Michigan State. He kept the ball alive, but Davis gets the nod because reviews showed Gasser was out of bounds. Very impressive nonetheless. Check out these photos!
Look out, @B1GMBBall writers! @BoilerBall's Rapheal Davis crashes into press row. #IntelGoesB1G #MarchOnBTN http://t.co/Hp8PPiOevR
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 13, 2015
Best breakout player: Emmitt Holt, Indiana. You probably didn't know much about the Indiana freshman leading up to the tournament; he was averaging just 3.5 points and 2.7 rebounds, after all. Big Ten fans should know all about his game and hustle after Indiana's two tourney games. Holt, a late addition to Tom Crean's last recruiting class, averaged 7.5 points and eight rebounds, including a career-high 12 boards in the loss to Maryland. Most impressive, the 6-7 forward grabbed nine (!) offensive rebounds, six of which came against the Terps.
Best picture: The class and sportsmanship several Purdue players exhibited with an emotional D.J. Newbill following Friday's quarterfinal game is one of the many things that makes sports so great. Here's a great shot of Rapheal Davis consoling Newbill. Watch Newbill's emotional exit.
So much to love about this @jconline photo #class #sportsmanship. #MarchOnBTN pic.twitter.com/m6L1fCoCtL
— Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina) March 13, 2015
Best quote: Maryland coach Mark Turgeon. Clearly, the Terrapins coach doesn't care for this KenPom stat.
Love, love, love this @CoachTurgeon quote in response to @kenpomeroy's numbers on @TerrapinHoops. #MarchOnBTN pic.twitter.com/3BvHojXo5r
— Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina) March 14, 2015
Best sign: Simple, topical and troll-ish. Hope you enjoyed your first Big Ten tourney, Maryland!
Cannot disagree with the Turgeonites on this one pic.twitter.com/aiemGY0J5h
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) March 13, 2015
Best halftime entertainment: Big Ten baby race. Enough said. The predictable chaos was both hilarious and adorable.
Babies from Big Ten schools raced at halftime of Minnesota/Rutgers and the winner is...a young Husker! #B1GTourney pic.twitter.com/ravr1TDdzf
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 12, 2015
Best jersey: It wasn't any of the new adidas postseason alternates Indiana, Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin wore in Chicago — although the Hoosiers' ones were the best of the bunch. Nope, it was a special Ohio State jersey, one with No. 298 on it, to commemorate Thad Matta becoming Ohio State's all-time winningest coach on Thursday night.
Thad Matta becomes Ohio State's all-time winningest coach with 298 wins. OSU players got him this jersey as a gift. pic.twitter.com/zmTieIlUat
— Sean Merriman (@MerrimanTweets) March 13, 2015
Best message: The "Why Not Us?" mantra really caught on at Penn State, so much so that Patrick Chambers wrote it on the whiteboard during a timeout late in the win over Iowa.
Our @BTNMikeHall wasn't lying, @Coach_Chambers wrote "Why Not Us" on whiteboard during timeout. #whynotus #MarchOnBTN pic.twitter.com/9R5wi6xGKW
— Brent Yarina (@BTNBrentYarina) March 12, 2015
Did you see this? Of course, Nigel Hayes, one of the Big Ten's top personalities, would do something like this.
Nigel Hayes hiding from reporters in Wisconsin locker room pic.twitter.com/wwqXYILLft
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) March 14, 2015