Big Ten Tournament 2015: Round 1 Scores, Updated Bracket and Round 2 Schedule

Eventually the Big Ten tournament will feature the dominant Wisconsin Badgers, the surging Maryland Terrapins, the always dangerous Michigan State Spartans and potential top-three draft pick D’Angelo Russell and his Ohio State Buckeyes.

First, the four lowest seeds had to take care of business Wednesday in the opening round.

The two games pitted No. 12 Nebraska against No. 13 Penn State and No. 11 Minnesota against No. 14 Rutgers. Read on for the opening-round scores, critical information, a bracket and more.

2015 Big Ten Tournament 

Dates: Wednesday, March 11 – Sunday, March 15

Location: United Center, Chicago

TV: ESPN, ESPN 2, Big Ten Network and CBS Sports

Round 1 Scores

Matchup	Score
No. 12 Nebraska vs. No. 13 Penn State	68-65, Penn State
No. 11 Minnesota vs. No. 14 Rutgers	80-68, Minnesota

No. 13 Penn State 68, No. 12 Nebraska 65

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

D.J. Newbill may not be a household name among college basketball fans because he plays at Penn State, but Big Ten fans certainly know him because of performances like Wednesday's during his team’s 68-65 victory over Nebraska.

Newbill finished with 26 points, four blocks, three steals and two assists and carried the Nittany Lions to a season-prevailing win in the Big Ten tournament.

Newbill was actually left off the All-Big Ten first team despite leading all players in Power Five conferences with 20.7 points per game. He discussed what that meant moving forward into the postseason, via Ryne Gery of the Centre Daily Times: “It’s definitely a motivator but I can’t get caught up in the accolades. Right now I’m still trying to focus on my team, how we’re going to get each other better.”

He was clearly motivated Wednesday.

Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press

Penn State controlled most of the first half and went into intermission with a 34-29 lead. It looked like Newbill and the Nittany Lions were going to run away with the game when they came out on fire in the second half and built a 51-35 advantage with a 13-1 run.

However, that’s when Nebraska’s Terran Petteway and Shavon Shields went to work and gradually chipped away at the lead.

Petteway finished with 29 points, and Shields tallied 20. But no other Cornhuskers player scored more than four points during the contest. Nick Bahe of 1620 The Zone in Omaha and Fox Sports 1 commented on the scoring disparity on the Nebraska roster:

Despite the lack of balanced scoring, Nebraska cut the lead all the way to 66-65 in the final seconds and had one final three-point shot at the buzzer to tie the game after a couple of Penn State free throws. Alas, Shields’ look fell just short, and Penn State emerged victorious, 68-65.

Now the Nittany Lions have to play Iowa on Thursday.

The Hawkeyes will be fresh, while Penn State just played a tight game Wednesday that came down to the final moments. Interestingly, Iowa needed overtime in its only game against Penn State this season to eventually win 81-77.

The Nittany Lions will have to find a way to deal with superstar Aaron White, who averaged 15.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game on the season, if they hope to prevail this time around. Of course, the Hawkeyes could say the same thing about Newbill.

No. 11 Minnesota 80, No. 14 Rutgers 68

Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press

Who needs a leading scorer?

Andre Hollins led Minnesota in scoring this season with 14.3 points per game, but he did not score a single point in the Golden Gophers 80-68 victory over Rutgers. Instead, it was Joey King who fueled the Minnesota attack with 20 points, but four players finished in double figures. Carlos Morris added 16 points, and Nate Mason finished with 15.

It was a back-and-forth game for most of the evening, as Rutgers overcame a narrow three-point deficit at intermission to take the lead in the opening minutes of the second half.

However, the turning point of the game was a three-pointer barrage from Minnesota from the 13:05 to 11:47 mark. The Golden Gophers made four consecutive threes on four straight possessions, three of which came from King, to push the lead from 43-38 to 52-42.

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Rutgers battled back in the closing minutes to trim the lead to 69-63, but the Golden Gophers gradually pulled away and were never really challenged in crunch time. 

The Scarlet Knights got 18 points from Kadeem Jack, but their highlight came in the second half when Bishop Daniels nearly tore the rim down, via Rutgers on BTN:

Ohio State awaits the Golden Gophers for Thursday’s late game in Chicago. The two teams only played once all season, and it took overtime for the Buckeyes to finally put Minnesota away, 74-72. 

Russell spearheaded the attack for Ohio State in that one and finished with 27 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals, but it was Marc Loving who won the game with a mid-range jumper in the final seconds. Minnesota will have to find a way to keep Russell in check if it hopes to extend its season.

Bracket

Here is a look at the updated Big Ten tournament bracket, via Big Ten Network:

Round 2 Schedule

Matchup	Time	TV
No. 8 Illinois vs. No. 9 Michigan	12 p.m. ET	BTN
No. 5 Iowa vs. No. 13 Penn State	25 min. after end of first game	BTN
No. 7 Indiana vs. No. 10 Northwestern	6:30 p.m. ET	ESPN 2
No. 6 Ohio State vs. No. 11 Minnesota	25 min. after previous game	ESPN 2