March 9, 2008
IOWA CITY – –The University of Iowa has earned the eighth seed in the Big Ten Conference post-season men’s basketball tournament and will meet Michigan (9-21, 5-13) Thursday, March 13 in the first round. Iowa and Michigan will meet at 11:05 a.m. CT Thursday in the first game of the tournament. The contest will be televised by the Big Ten Network to a national cable audience.
The Hawkeyes closed the regular season March 4 with a 67-62 win at Northwestern, completing the regular season with a 13-18 record under Coach Todd Lickliter.
Iowa and Michigan split games during the regular season. The Hawkeyes won 68-60 Jan. 19 in Ann Arbor, while the Wolverines scored a 60-52 win Feb. 14 in Iowa City. The winner of Iowa vs. Michigan will face regular season champion Wisconsin at 11:05 a.m. CT Friday (ESPN).
Wisconsin, Purdue and Indiana earned the top three seeds, respectively, as the Badgers won the regular season title by one game over the Boilermakers. Those three teams will play Friday against Thursday’s winners, while Michigan State (fourth seed) and Ohio State (fifth) also meet Friday.
Additional games on Thursday’s schedule include Penn State vs. Illinois at 1:30 p.m. CT and Minnesota vs. Northwestern at 4 p.m. CT.
Iowa is the eighth seed in the tournament for the first time and will be meeting Michigan in the event for the third time. Michigan, as the fourth seed, scored a 77-66 over fifth-seeded Iowa in the 1998 tournament at the United Center in Chicago. The Wolverines won that initial Big Ten Tournament, but later vacated their records in the event. Fifth-seeded Michigan defeated fourth-seeded Iowa 79-70 in the 2004 event at Conseco Fieldhouse.
After losing in the quarter-finals in 2004, Iowa returned to Indianapolis for the 2006 tournament as the second seed and claimed the title with consecutive wins over Minnesota, Michigan State and Ohio State. Iowa holds an all-time record of 7-2 at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Iowa holds a 13-8 (.619) overall record in the Big Ten Tournament, second only to Illinois (18-8, .692) in wins and winning percentage. Iowa, Illinois and Michigan State lead all teams with two tournament titles.
Ohio State is the defending Big Ten Tournament champion, earning the title a year ago in Chicago.
Complete Release in PDF Format
Click HERE for the Big Ten Network home page.