Rick Heller
The Iowa Hawkeyes will take on Michigan Wednesday morning in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. Iowa had the Big Ten’s toughest schedule and played four of the top five teams in the standings, but at 33-18 most models have the Hawkeyes on the outside looking in for an at large bid and they may need to win the tournament for a second straight year to earn a third trip to the NCAA Regionals in four years.
“If we can play well and find a way to win some games it is definitely going to enhance our chances”, said Iowa coach Rick Heller. “That is obviously important and we are the defending champions so we want to make a good showing and try to win the tournament, again.”
Winners of 20 straight at one point the Wolverines closed the regular season by dropping five of six games to fall out of the top spot. they open the tournament as the third seed.
Wednesday’s opening round of the Big Ten Tournament:
Game 1: No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 6 Iowa 9:00 a.m.
Game 2: No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 7 Ohio State1:00 p.m.
Game 3: No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 8 Michigan State 5:00 p.m.
Game 4: No. 4 Illinois vs. No. 5 Indiana 9:00 p.m.