Big Ten tournament notes

By Greg Taylor

[March 13, 2009]  Illinois begins play Friday evening in the 12th Big Ten tournament, hosted for the fifth time by the city of Indianapolis and played at Conseco Fieldhouse. Illinois has really enjoyed the tournament during its initial 11-year run, posting a league-best 21 wins. As we prepare for Illinois' quarterfinal game against Michigan at 5:40 p.m. on Friday, let's look back on the 11-year history of the tournament and specifically how Illinois has fared.  

Over the past 11 years, two cities have hosted the event. The city of Chicago hosted the first four tournaments, from 1998 until 2001, and then, from 2002 through 2007, the cities of Chicago and Indianapolis shared the tournament, each hosting three times during that span. Two years ago, Indy was granted a five-year contract, and 2009 marks the second year of this commitment. 

Let's look at some factoids about the conference tournament and specifically Illinois' performance over the past 11 years: 

• Illinois has advanced to the semifinal round of the tourney in 10 of 11 years.

• Illinois has won at least two games at the tournament in seven of 11 years.

• Illinois has played in the title game in six of 11 years.

• Illinois has won a conference-best 21 games during the 11 years.

• Illinois has won two conference tournament titles (2003 and 2005). Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin each own two conference tournament titles. Michigan is the other team to win a tournament title.

• Illinois has played every team in the conference at least three times in tournament action with the exception of Iowa and Michigan. The Illini have never played Iowa at the conference tourney and have played Michigan just once.

• Six of Illinois' nine losses over the years have come to Michigan State and Wisconsin.

• Illinois has placed nine different players on the all-tournament team over the years:

  • Cory Bradford ('99)

  • Brian Cook ('00 and '03)

  • Roger Powell ('03)

  • Dee Brown ('04)

  • Deron Williams ('04)

  • Luther Head ('05)

  • James Augustine ('05)

  • Demetri McCamey ('08)

  • Shaun Pruitt ('08)

  • Cook ('03) and Augustine ('05) were named most outstanding player of the tournament.

• Illinois has placed three freshmen on the all-tournament team: Cory Bradford, Brian Cook and Demetri McCamey.

• Illinois went 15-5 in the seven conference tournaments played in Chicago and has a 6-4 record in the four tourneys in Indianapolis.

Illinois' history at the conference tournament

• 1998 -- The No. 2 seed, Illinois defeated Wisconsin and lost to Purdue. 

• 1999 -- The No. 11 seed, Illinois defeated three ranked teams -- Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio State -- before losing in the championship game to Michigan State. Both Ohio State and Michigan State would make the Final Four in '99. 

• 2000 -- The No. 4 seed, Illinois beat Indiana and Penn State before losing to eventual national champion Michigan State in the title match. 

• 2001 -- The No. 1 seed, Illinois beat Purdue before losing to Indiana in the semifinals. 

• 2002 -- The No. 3 seed, Illinois beat Minnesota before losing to Ohio State in the semifinals. 

• 2003 -- The No. 2 seed, Illinois beat Northwestern, Indiana and Ohio State and captured their first conference tournament title. 

• 2004 -- The No. 1 seed, Illinois beat Indiana and Michigan before losing to Wisconsin in the title game. 

• 2005 -- The No. 1 seed, Illinois beat Northwestern, Minnesota and Wisconsin and won their second tourney title in three years. 

• 2006 -- The No. 3 seed, Illinois lost on Friday night to No. 6 seed Michigan State (whom Illinois had beaten in East Lansing just six days earlier). 

• 2007 -- The No. 6 seed, Illinois beat Penn State and Indiana before losing to Wisconsin on Saturday during the semis. 

• 2008 -- The No. 10 seed, Illinois beat Penn State, Purdue and Minnesota before losing to Wisconsin in the title game. 

Illinois' record against other Big Ten schools during the conference tournament

• Indiana: 5-1

• Iowa: 0-0

• Michigan: 1-0

• Michigan State: 0-3

• Minnesota: 4-0

• Northwestern: 2-0

• Ohio State: 2-1

• Penn State: 3-0

• Purdue: 2-1

• Wisconsin: 2-3 

Past Big Ten tournament champions

• '98 -- Michigan beats Purdue 76-67

• '99 -- Michigan State beats Illinois 67-50

• '00 -- Michigan State beats Illinois 76-61

• '01 -- Iowa beats Indiana 63-61

• '02 -- Ohio State beats Iowa 81-64

• '03 -- Illinois beats Ohio State 72-59

• '04 -- Wisconsin beats Illinois 70-53

• '05 -- Illinois beats Wisconsin 54-43

• '06 -- Iowa beats Ohio State 67-60

• '07 -- Ohio State beats Wisconsin 66-49

• '08 -- Wisconsin beats Illinois 61-48 

First-round action on Thursday in the Big Ten tournament

• No. 8 Minnesota 66, No. 9 Northwestern 53

• No. 7 Michigan 73, No. 10 Iowa 45

• No. 6 Penn State 66, No. 11 Indiana 51 

Friday quarterfinal action from Conseco Fieldhouse

(Morning and afternoon games televised on ESPN)

• 11 a.m. -- No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 8 Minnesota

• 1:30 p.m. -- No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No.5 Ohio State

(Evening games televised on the Big Ten Network) 

• 5:40 p.m. -- No. 2 Illinois vs. No. 7 Michigan

• 8:10 p.m. -- No. 3 Purdue vs. No. 6 Penn State

___

And finally, happy 40th birthday today to the love of my life -- Marla! Have a great day -- you deserve it.

[By GREG TAYLOR]