SALT LAKE CITY — The Northwestern Wildcats are justly demanding a great deal of attention after reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history and then for winning their first NCAA tournament game in exciting fashion on Thursday.
But six other Big Ten teams were invited to this year's Big Dance, and two of those teams played first-round games Friday.
Here's a recap of those games.
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Michigan splashes home 16 3-pointers to edge Oklahoma State
The Wolverines continued their red-hot run through March, winning their opening game of the NCAA tournament with a program-record 16 triples. Michigan edged Oklahoma State by just a point, 92-91, after holding off the Cowboys in a mighty entertaining second half. The Wolverines used a 14-4 run midway through the final 20 minutes to turn a mere two-point deficit into an eight-point lead. Oklahoma State got as close as two several times down the stretch, but D.J. Wilson hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left to extend the lead to four, making the Cowboys' buzzer-beating 3 meaningless. But the incredible amount of 3-pointers demanded the headlines. Michigan was 11-for-15 from behind the arc in the second half alone, going 16-for-29 on the game. Derrick Walton Jr. continued to look like one of the best players in the country, finishing with 26 points, 11 assists and five rebounds and becoming the first player since Dwayne Wade back in 2003 to score at least 25 points, log at least 10 assists and five rebounds in an NCAA tournament game. The Wolverines advanced to take on second-seeded Louisville on Sunday.
Freshmen star as Michigan State uses huge run to blow out Miami
Tom Izzo blasted his young players for their lack of a March mindset after Michigan State was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament last week. Well, they must've gotten the memo in the meantime because the freshmen were fabulous for the Spartans on Friday night, leading the way as Michigan State scorched Miami 78-58. The Spartans started off sloppy with a bunch of turnovers and got themselves in a 12-point hole. But they exploded on a 26-6 run to take a double-digit lead, and the gap was 11 at the half. It climbed all the way up to 23 in the second half before finishing at 20 when the clock ran out. The freshmen really did lead the way, with Nick Ward scoring a team-high 19 points, Miles Bridges scoring 18 points and Joshua Langford scoring 13 points. Cassius Winston added seven points with five assists. The win came a season after the Spartans were eliminated in the first round in a shocking upset loss to 15th-seeded Middle Tennessee. Michigan State advanced to take on top-seeded Kansas in the second round on Sunday.