TIAA Men's Basketball Tournament Set to Tip Today in Indianapolis

WEEKLY RELEASE - MARCH 12

Big Ten. Big News.

The 2025 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament will kick off on Wednesday, the first of five days of basketball action at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, home of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers. Wednesday’s three opening round games will be broadcast live on Peacock, with games on Thursday and Friday scheduled for BTN. For the 28th consecutive, Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s championship game will air on CBS. For more information on the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament, please visit bigten.org/MBBT.
Tickets for the 2025 TIAA Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament are now on sale at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse and Ticketmaster.com. Fans can purchase all-session seating in the 200-levels, ranging from $400-$460 or single-session tickets ranging from $40-$175 based on location. All ticket packages are subject to Ticketmaster and facility fees.
Michigan State claimed the 2024-25 Big Ten Men’s Basketball championship with its 91-84 win at Iowa on Thursday night. The win improved the Spartans to 16-3 in the Big Ten and established a two-game lead with one game to play. This marks Michigan State’s 17th Big Ten championship and its first since claiming a share of the 2020 title. This is also the 11th Big Ten crown for Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, tied for the most in conference history.
On Tuesday, the Big Ten announced its 2025 All-Big Ten Teams and Awards. Purdue’s Braden Smith was named Big Ten Player of the Year by both the coaches and media panel, marking the third consecutive year a Boilermaker has been named Player of the Year. Penn State’s Ace Baldwin Jr. claimed his second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year honor, while Maryland’s Derik Queen was named Freshman of the Year. Illinois’ Will Riley claimed Sixth Man of the Year accolades. Michigan State’s head coach Tom Izzo and associate head coach Doug Wojcik collected the league’s coaching awards, as Izzo was named Coach of the Year for the fourth time, with Wojcik earning the Howard Moore Assistant Coach of the Year honor.
Milestone Watch... Congratulations to Indiana’s Trey Galloway and Purdue’s Trey Kaufman-Renn, who recorded their 1,000th career points over the weekend... Minnesota’s Dawson Garcia recorded 14 points against Wisconsin to become the 20th active player in Division I to surpass 2,000 career points... Iowa’s Fran McCaffery and Nebraska’s Fred Hoiberg are approaching coaching milestones, as McCaffery has 296 wins at Iowa, while Hoiberg owns 195 career wins.
On Monday, the Big Ten announced its weekly men’s basketball awards. Penn State’s D’Marco Dunn was named Player of the Week, while Michigan State’s Jase Richardson was named Freshman of the Week for the third consecutive week. Dunn scored a career-best and game-high 25 points in Penn State’s 86-75 win at No. 12 Wisconsin, the Nittany Lions’ first win at Wisconsin in over 30 years. The senior shot 10-for-12 (83.3%) from the field and 4-for-5 (80%) from three-point range. Dunn recorded 15 of his 25 points in the second half as Penn State erased an early double-digit deficit.
Richardson averaged 20 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and one steal per game, as the No 7-ranked Spartans scored a pair of wins. The freshman scored a game-high 22 points in a 91-84 win at Iowa the tallied 18 points in Michigan State’s 79-62 win over No. 17 Michigan
Eight B1G teams were ranked or received votes in the Associated Press and/or USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls released on March 10. Michigan State leads the way at No. 7 in the AP poll, followed by No. 11 Maryland, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 20 Purdue, No. 22 Michigan, No. 23 Oregon, and No. 24 Illinois. The coaches listed Michigan State at No. 6, followed by the Terps at No. 11, the Badgers at No. 14, the Boilermakers at 20, Wolverines at 21, and Illini at 25. UCLA also received votes in both polls.
The Big Ten has collected103 wins against Quad 1 opponents, second most of any conference, and 190 victories against Quad 1 and 2 teams combined. Michigan State leads the league with 12 Quad 1 wins, tied for second most in the country, three more than Michigan and UCLA. The Spartans’ combined 17 Quad 1 and 2 wins rank fourth in the nation. Oregon, Purdue and Wisconsin own 15 such victories, one more than Illinois and UCLA.
Nine Big Ten teams were ranked in the top 40 and 14 in the top 70 in the NET Rankings through games on March 10. Michigan State leads the way at No. 10, followed by No. 11 Maryland, No. 14 Purdue, No. 15 Illinois, No. 19 Wisconsin, No. 24 UCLA, No. 28 Michigan, No. 29 Oregon, and No. 36 Ohio State. Indiana, Northwestern, Nebraska, Penn State, and Iowa also hold spots in the top 70. Only the SEC has more teams in the top 40, with 12.
The Big Ten finished its nonconference schedule with a 160-38 record, besting last season’ 144 nonconference victories. Among those wins, the Big Ten was 122-7 (.946) at home. The Big Ten’s 160 wins and .812 nonconference win percentage sit behind only the SEC’s 185 wins and .889 (185-23) win percentage.
The Big Ten claimed 52 wins over ranked teams. Sixteen of the Big Ten’s 18 teams had at least one win over a ranked team, while 14 teams had multiple such wins.
Of the 180 conference games played, 76 of them were decided by 6 points or fewer or in overtime (42.2%). That win percentage was the 3rd-highest in any Big Ten season in the last 20 seasons.
Fourteen of the 18 schools in the conference have averaged at least 75 points per game, compared to just seven teams last season.

TIAA Men's Basketball Tournament Set to Tip Today in Indianapolis

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