The Big Ten delivered throughout the season while cementing its place as the best conference in college basketball, and the final of the Sunday conference tournament served as an appropriate limit. Runner-up, Illinois, survived Ohio State’s fifth place 91-88 in a heavyweight battle destined for big seeds at the NCAA Tournament.
Ohio State struggled with an initial deficit of 27-10 to take the lead in the game with 5:35 to go. But Illini found his footing from there to secure his first conference tournament title since 2005. This 2005 team started to appear in the national title game, and this team has similar aspirations when heading to Big Dance with a 23 -6 record.
Despite the final defeat, the Big Ten Tournament represented a return to form for Ohio State (21-9), who had fallen four straight to close the regular season. The Buckeyes won three games played – including an overtime victory against Purdue in the quarterfinals and a dramatic victory over rival Michigan in Saturday’s semifinals – to reach the final. Duane Washington Jr. led the Buckeyes with 32 points on Sunday.
But in the end, an Illinois team led by point guard Ayo Dosunmu and center Kofi Cockburn proved to be too much to handle the Illini by taking a 2-1 lead in the season’s series with Ohio State. The pair also had a lot of help on Sunday, when Illinois saw six players hit double digits.
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Below is the complete schedule and tournament results. To see the updated Big Ten Tournament key, click here.
2021 Big Ten Tournament schedule, scores
Localization: Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis
Live broadcast: fuboTV (try for free) | Follow live: CBS Sports App
All hours in the East; some start times approach
First round – Wednesday, March 10
Game 1: No. 13 Minnesota 51, No. 12 Northwestern 46 | Recap
Game 2: No. 11 Penn State 72, No. 14 Nebraska 66 | Recap
Second round – Thursday, March 11
Match 3: No. 8 Maryland 68, No. 9 Michigan State 57 | Recap
Game 4: No. 5 Ohio State 79, No. 13 Minnesota 75 | Recap
Game 5: No. 7 Rutgers 61, No. 10 Indiana 50 | Recap
Game 6: No. 6 Wisconsin 75, No. 11 Penn State 74 | Recap
Quarterfinals – Friday, March 12
Game 7: No. 1 Michigan 79, No. 8 Maryland 66 | Recap
Game 8: No. 5 Ohio State 87, No. 4 Purdue 78 (OT) | Recap
Game 9: No. 2 Illinois 90, No. 7 Rutgers 68 | Recap
Game 10: No. 3 Iowa 62, No. 6 Wisconsin 57 | Recap
Semifinals – Saturday, March 13
Game 11: No. 5 Ohio State 68, No. 1 Michigan 67 | Recap
Game 12: No. 2 Illinois 82, No. 3 Iowa 71 | Recap
Big Ten Tournament Championship Game – Sunday, March 14
Game 13: No. 2 Illinois 91, No. 5 Ohio State 88 | Recap
Follow below for updates, analysis and highlights throughout the event.