2020 Big Ten men's basketball tournament

The 2020 Big Ten men's basketball tournament was the postseason men's basketball tournament for the Big Ten Conference of the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The tournament remained in its more traditional Midwest roots as it was held at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.[1]

2020 Big Ten men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2019–20
Teams14
SiteBankers Life Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, Indiana
TelevisionBTN, CBS
← 2019
2021 →
2019–20 Big Ten Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 17 Wisconsin 14 6   .700 21 10   .677
No. 9 Michigan State 14 6   .700 22 9   .710
No. 12 Maryland 14 6   .700 24 7   .774
No. 21 Illinois 13 7   .650 21 10   .677
No. 25 Iowa 11 9   .550 20 11   .645
Penn State 11 9   .550 21 10   .677
No. 19 Ohio State 11 9   .550 21 10   .677
Rutgers 11 9   .550 20 11   .645
Michigan 10 10   .500 19 12   .613
Purdue 9 11   .450 16 15   .516
Indiana 9 11   .450 20 12   .625
Minnesota 8 12   .400 15 16   .484
Northwestern 3 17   .150 8 23   .258
Nebraska 2 18   .100 7 25   .219
Note: The 2020 Big Ten tournament was canceled prior to the second round due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rankings from AP poll

The first round games on March 11 were played with spectators in attendance. Later on March 11, the Big Ten conference announced that the remainder of the Big Ten tournament would proceed as scheduled but with no spectators in attendance due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3]

Also on March 11, the NCAA announced that no fans would be able to attend the men's and women's 2020 NCAA tournament games due to concerns about the outbreak of COVID-19.[4] A number of college conferences followed suit by either cancelling their basketball tournaments entirely or limiting spectator attendance.[5]

On March 12, the Big Ten announced the cancellation of the remainder of the tournament.[6]

The NCAA further announced that all remaining winter and spring championships for both men's and women's sports were canceled due to the pandemic.[7]

Seeds

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All 14 Big Ten schools were scheduled to participate in the tournament. Teams were seeded by conference record, with a tiebreaker system used to seed teams with identical conference records. The top 10 teams received a first round bye and the top four teams received a double bye. Tiebreaking procedures remained unchanged from the 2019 tournament.[8]

Seed School Conf. Tiebreak 1 Tiebreak 2
1 Wisconsin 14–6 2–1 vs. Michigan State/Maryland
2 Michigan State 14–6 2–2 vs. Wisconsin/Maryland
3 Maryland 14–6 1–2 vs. Wisconsin/Michigan State
4 Illinois 13–7
5 Iowa 11–9 3–1 vs. Ohio State/Penn State/Rutgers
6 Penn State 11–9 3–3 vs. Iowa/Ohio State/Rutgers 2–2 vs. Wisconsin/Michigan State/Maryland
7 Ohio State 11–9 2–2 vs. Iowa/Penn State/Rutgers 1–4 vs. Wisconsin/Michigan State/Maryland
8 Rutgers 11–9 1–3 vs. Iowa/Penn State/Ohio State
9 Michigan 10–10
10 Purdue 9–11 2–0 vs. Indiana
11 Indiana 9–11 0–2 vs. Purdue
12 Minnesota 8–12
13 Northwestern 3–17
14 Nebraska 2–18

Schedule

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Session Game Time* Matchup# Television Attendance Score
First round – Wednesday, March 11
1 1 6:00 pm No. 13 Northwestern vs. No. 12 Minnesota BTN 57–74
2 8:30 pm No. 14 Nebraska vs. No. 11 Indiana 64–89
Second round – Thursday, March 12
2 3 12:00 pm No. 9 Michigan vs. No. 8 Rutgers BTN Cancelled
4 2:30 pm No. 12 Minnesota vs. No. 5 Iowa
3 5 6:30 pm No. 10 Purdue vs. No. 7 Ohio State
6 9:00 pm No. 11 Indiana vs. No. 6 Penn State
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 13
4 7 12:00 pm Game 3 winner vs. No. 1 Wisconsin BTN Cancelled
8 2:30 pm Game 4 winner vs. No. 4 Illinois
5 9 6:30 pm Game 5 winner vs. No. 2 Michigan State
10 9:00 pm Game 6 winner vs. No. 3 Maryland
Semifinals – Saturday, March 14
6 11 1:00 pm Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner CBS Cancelled
12 3:30 pm Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner
Championship – Sunday, March 15
7 13 3:30 pm Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner CBS Cancelled

*Game times in Eastern Time. #Rankings denote tournament seeding.

Bracket

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First round
Wednesday, March 11
BTN
Second round
Thursday, March 12
BTN
Quarterfinals
Friday, March 13
BTN
Semifinals
Saturday, March 14
CBS
Championship
Sunday, March 15
CBS
1Wisconsin
8Rutgers
9Michigan
4Illinois
5Iowa
12Minnesota7212Minnesota
13Northwestern57
2Michigan State
7Ohio State
10Purdue
3Maryland
6Penn State
11Indiana8911Indiana
14Nebraska64

Game summaries

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First round

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BTN
March 11
6:00 pm
No. 12 Minnesota 74, No. 13 Northwestern 57
Scoring by half: 29-31, 45-26
Pts: D. Oturu 24
Rebs: A. Demir 8, D. Oturu 8
Asts: M. Carr 5
Pts: P. Nance 15
Rebs: R. Young 8
Asts: P. Nance 3, R. Spencer 3
Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, IN
BTN
March 11
8:30 pm
No. 11 Indiana 89, No. 14 Nebraska 64
Scoring by half: 43-34, 46-30
Pts: A. Franklin 13
Rebs: T. Jackson-Davis 17
Asts: R. Phinisee 7
Pts: K. Cross 23
Rebs: K. Cross 9
Asts: J. Green 4
Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, IN

See also

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2020 Big Ten Conference women's basketball tournament

References

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  1. ^ "2020 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament Central". Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  2. ^ Horner, Scott - Ten bans most fans for men's basketball tournament, starting Thursday. Indianapolis Star. March 11, 2020
  3. ^ Big Ten reverses course, bans fans from hoops tournament, as well as all spring sporting events. Detroit News, March 11, 2020
  4. ^ Tom Schad (March 11, 2020). "NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments will not include fans due to coronavirus concerns". USA Today. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
  5. ^ Blinder, Alan and Witz, Billy - Citing Coronavirus, Ivy League Cancels Basketball Tournaments. New York Times, March 10, 2020
  6. ^ "Big Ten Conference Statement". Big Ten Conference. Archived from the original on March 13, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  7. ^ "NCAA cancels remaining winter and spring championships" (Press release). NCAA. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  8. ^ "Big Ten Basketball Tournament Tiebreakers". Big Ten Conference. October 26, 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2016.