Sports Editor Adam Hoge spent four days at the United Center watching all 10 games of the Big Ten Tournament. Here are some of the highlights (and lowlights) of his weekend in Chicago.
Best Game: Illinois overcame a late four-point deficit to beat Indiana in overtime Friday night in the quarterfinals. While Wisconsin had the most fans at the tournament, it never got louder than Friday night as the Illini fans celebrated an exciting win. I still have no idea what IU head coach Kelvin Sampson called when his team had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation. After calling timeout, freshman guard Armon Bassett dribbled at halfcourt until the clock was down to four seconds and then he took a terrible shot.
Worst Game: I get to the United Center Thursday morning early enough to catch the worst game played in the Big Ten—ever. Michigan and Minnesota set a record for the lowest scoring game ever in Big Ten Tournament history and I swear that the Gopher offense only looked like a Division I offense for one 30 second stretch in the second half. Michigan won 49-40.
Favorite Team: Okay, so maybe ""favorite"" is not the right word, but the Northwestern Wildcats are the most entertaining team to watch when they aren't playing basketball. During warm-ups, senior guard Joe Kennedy (who has played 33 minutes the entire season) clapped his hands and yelled to his team to ""Make some baskets!"" That might sound obvious, but its actually not bad advice for a team as bad as Northwestern.
Favorite Player: Northwestern freshman guard Kevin Coble is going to lead that team to its first ever NCAA Tournament before he leaves. I guarantee it.
Funniest Moment: During Michigan's quarterfinal loss to Ohio State, junior guard Ron Coleman entered the game with his warm-up pants still on. It was then when head coach Tommy Amaker realized he wants to get fired.
Erin Andrews Moment: While I was waiting in line for the bathroom Friday, Erin Andrews walked by on her way to the ladies room and made fun of us guys because we had to wait in line.
""That's why I love being a girl in sports,"" she jeered.
I like her being a girl in sports too.
Saddest Moment (but not really): Thursday was a sad night knowing that I would never get to see Tim Doyle play basketball again. Since there was literally no chance of him going out with a victory, he went out in the best way he could. He broke the NU all-time assist record Thursday (I think the previous record was like 10 or something) and he had what was probably his first career coast-to-coast layup.
Oh and some fan called him Elvis.
Scariest Mascot: During halftime of the Purdue-Ohio State game Saturday, Pete the Boilermaker came into the media room to get some water. He took off his head and ... Yikes! The guy in the costume looked exactly like the mascot head.
Best Badger Fan: She will probably never know it, but UW-Madison senior Jaklyn Mashak put on one hell of a show Friday night when she was hypnotized in the halftime show of the Wisconsin-Michigan State game. The participants were told they were big pop stars like Justin Timberlake and Ricky Martin. They were all pretty into it, but she was the only who could dance so I give her props.
