Michigan State (8-8 Big Ten, 20-10 overall) enters the 2006 Big Ten Tournament as the No. 6 seed and will face No. 11 Purdue (3-13, 9-18). The winner will advance to play No. 3 Illinois on Friday night. Forward Matt Kiefer, averaging 12 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and the Boilermakers will have to solve the problem of taming the Spartan Big Three of Maurice Ager, Shannon Brown and Paul Davis, who all average more than 18 points per game. Davis and Kiefer will especially be a great matchup to watch down low, with Davis averaging more than nine boards a game in his senior season.
—Sam Pepper
Minnesota vs. Michigan
In what could be one of the more compelling matchups in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, Minnesota (5-11 Big Ten, 14-13 overall) takes on Michigan (8-8, 18-9) in Ann Arbor. In their two previous meetings, the Wolverines have destroyed the Gophers by a combined 38 points. Minnesota also has extreme trouble away from home, winning only two road games all season. They will need seniors Vincent Grier and Adam Boone to have huge games to win anything in this tournament. For Michigan to make some noise, they will need to ride the hot hand of senior guard Daniel Horton, who averages almost 18 points a game.
—Zach Kukkonen
Penn State vs. Northwestern
The first game of the Big Ten Tournament features the No. 8 seed, Penn State, and the No. 9 seed, Northwestern. The teams will vie for the right to face the No. 1 seed, Ohio State, tomorrow. The Nittany Lions (6-10, Big Ten, 14-13 overall) have their highest seed in five years, but they will be facing a Wildcat team (6-10, 14-14) that has advanced past the first round for the past three seasons. Penn State took both games against Northwestern this year and will try to defeat one opponent three times in a season for just the fourth time in the program's history. Northwestern is paced by conference scoring champion senior Vedran Vukusic (19.4 ppg), who shoots at a 50 percent clip. Penn State sophomore Gary Claxton averaged 15.5 points and 7.4 rebounds.
—Jon Bortin
