INDIANAPOLIS -- Reggie Evans and Iowa are looking for a second chance to make up for an underachieving regular season.\nLuke Recker scored 25 points and Evans added 19 and a career-tying 18 rebounds as Iowa opened defense of its Big Ten Tournament championship with an 87-72 victory over Purdue Thursday.\nThe Hawkeyes (17-14), the tournament's ninth seed, advance to Friday's quarterfinals against No. 1 seed Wisconsin (18-11).\nRecker and Evans combined for 24 points in the second half, as Iowa led by as many as 20. Recker, the former Indiana high school star who played two seasons with the Hoosiers, hit a fadeaway three pointer that saw him tumble into Alford for a 69-54 lead with 8:37 to go.\nA year ago, Iowa, as the sixth seed, became the first Big Ten team to win four games to win the title.\nBig Ten scoring champion Willie Deane led Purdue with 16 points, Maynard Lewis had 15 and Rodney Smith 13 for Purdue.\nThe Boilermakers (13-18), who narrowly avoided their first last-place finish since 1965-66, tied the school's single-season record for losses. The 1952-53 team went 4-18.\nIowa's Brody Boyd hit consecutive three pointers for a 41-29 lead, and the Hawkeyes led 46-34 at the half.
Michigan 72, Northwestern 51\nNorthwestern's vaunted defense had little effect on Michigan's LaVell Blanchard.\nBlanchard hit a career-high five three pointers and scored a season-high 26 points Thursday as the Wolverines beat Northwestern 72-51 in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.\nBlanchard, whose previous high this season was 20 points against both Eastern Michigan and Northwestern, had 17 points in the opening period, when the 10th-seeded Wolverines led by as many as 13 and never trailed.\nThe Wolverines (11-17), who lost in the tourney's first round each of the past two years, advanced to Friday's quarterfinals against Ohio State (20-7), the No. 2 seed.\nThe Buckeyes beat Michigan 84-75 last week in the final game of the regular season to clinch a four-way tie for first place with Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.\nThe Wildcats (16-13), whose No. 7 seed was their highest in the five-year history of the conference tournament, led the conference and were third in the nation in scoring defense, allowing opponents less than 59 points a game.\nBut poor starts in both halves made the difference.\nNorthwestern missed its first six shots of the game and fell behind 18-6 in the first six minutes. Blanchard had nine of those points, including his first two three pointers.\nLed by Winston Blake and Tavarus Hardy, Northwestern pulled within four late in the first half before two more three pointers by Blanchard put the Wolverines up 36-28 at the break.\nThen Northwestern hit just one of its first seven shots at the start of the second half as Michigan again began pulling away. Two baskets by Blanchard, including his fifth three pointer, gave the Wolverines their biggest lead up to that point at 47-30 before the final Northwestern comeback.\nHardy, who led Northwestern with 17 points, hit two three pointers and Jason Burke hit another three to help pull Northwestern to 49-44, but the Wildcats couldn't come any closer. Michigan outscored Northwestern 18-2 over a five-minute span and took its biggest lead at 70-48 with under two minutes to go.\nChris Young added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan, while Blake finished with 12 points for the Wildcats.
Minnesota 85, Penn State 60\nDusty Rychart scored a season-high 23 points, and Rick Rickert added 21 as Minnesota beat Penn State 85-60 Thursday night in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.\nThe Golden Gophers (17-11) advanced to Friday's quarterfinals against Illinois (23-7), the No. 3 seed and one of four regular-season co-champions.\nRickert, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, scored 12 points in the first half as the sixth-seeded Gophers led 38-23 at the half.\nPenn State (7-21) shot only 26 percent in the first half, missing 16 of its first 20 shots. A three pointer by Sharif Chambliss pulled the Nittany Lions to 19-14 before the Gophers closed on a 19-9 run.\nRickert scored 10 points during the run and finished 9 for 12 overall.\nChambliss scored 16, Brandon Watkins had 12 and Tyler Smith 10 for the Nittany Lions, who had advanced to the semifinals each of the past two years.\nMinnesota opened a 20-point lead 6:30 into the second half.\nRychart went 11 for 12 from the floor, scoring 17 of his points in the second half.
