Indianapolis, IN – Illinois continued its Big Ten Tournament success in the Windy City.  Brandon Paul's jumper at the buzzer lifted the Illini to a 51-49 win over Minnesota in the first round of a battle between sub .500 teams in the Big Ten with NCAA Tournament aspirations.  On the possession prior to the Paul jumper, Illinois (22-11) collected four offensive rebounds before D.J. Richardson knocked down a right wing 3-pointer to tie the game at 49-49 with 48 seconds remaining.  Austin Hollins stepped out of bounds on the Gophers' ensuing touch and Paul let the clock run down before pulling up for the game-winning left elbow jumper for his 25th point.  No other Illinois player finished in double figures.  The Illini have advanced to at least the semifinals of the seven previous Big Ten Tournaments held in Chicago and will have an opportunity to make it eight if they can knock off top-seeded Indiana Friday in the quarterfinals. They improved to 16-5 in conference tourney games at the United Center.  Austin Hollins netted 16 points, while Andre Hollins finished with 13 points for the Gophers (20-12), who have dropped three in a row and seven of their last 10 contests.  A 19-2 first-half run propelled the Illini to a 25-16 lead at the break, but Andre Hollins hit a pair of triples and scored eight points, while Austin Hollins tallied the final six during an 18-2 Gophers surge to give them a 40-34 edge with 8:35 to play.  Paul's three-point play and trey sandwiched around a Rodney Williams layup pulled the Illini within 45-44 with 6:39 left and it remained a one-posession contest the rest of the way.  Both teams went 8-10 in Big Ten play during the regular season.  Final Score: (6) Michigan 83, Penn State 66  Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Trey Burke totaled a game-high 21 points as No. 6 Michigan pulled away in the second half to down Penn State, 83-66, in first- round action in the Big Ten Tournament from United Center.  Tim Hardaway and Nik Stauskas each added 15 points for the Wolverines (26-6), who advance to take on four seed Wisconsin on Friday. Jon Horford totaled 11 points, while Mitch McGary had 10 with a game-best 11 rebounds.  D.J. Newbill posted 20 points, six boards and three assists for the Nittany Lions (10-21), who received 15 points in defeat from Sasa Borovnjak.  "I love this team and I'm really proud of these players and the way they competed to finish the season," said Penn State coach Patrick Chambers.  A Ross Travis dunk pulled PSU to 46-45 as five minutes elapsed in the second half, but Hardaway's jumper on the next possession created a three-point spread for Michigan and kicked off a monster 25-7 run which left the conference stalwarts up 71-52.  Horford totaled seven points during the clip, while Stauskas totaled five in a row and ended the run on a three-point play coming with 7:10 remaining.  Michigan never led by fewer than 16 points for the remainder.  Penn State led 12-3 inside of five minutes played thanks to eight points from Borovnjak, but Michigan scored nine in a row to draw even at 14-14 on a McGary layup.  A Stauskas triple gave the Wolverines a 19-16 lead just after the midway point of the first half, then Burke capped the 15-6 surge on a trey to make it 29-22. Michigan went to the break ahead by only 35-33 thanks to a 13-4 surge by Penn State capped by a Newbill jumper.  "Really proud of the way they showed great composure to come back and then win the game going away," said Michigan coach John Beilein.  Michigan avenged an 84-78 loss to Penn State in late February at State College ... The Wolverines shot just 6-of-18 from beyond the arc in the victory en route to 46 percent from the floor, while the Nits connected on 48 percent of their shots in defeat.  Final Score: Nebraska 57, Purdue 55  Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Shavon Shields scored 19 points and pulled down six rebounds as the Nebraska Cornhuskers registered a 57-55 win over the Purdue Boilermakers in the opening round of the Big Ten Conference Tournament at the United Center.  Also scoring in double figures for the 10th-seeded Cornhuskers (15-17) was Brandon Ubel who dropped in 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. With the win, Nebraska will now take on second-seeded Ohio State in the quarterfinals on Friday.  The seventh-seeded Boilermakers (15-17) were paced by D.J. Byrd who accounted for 15 points and eight rebounds, but shot just 2-of-8 behind the 3-point line. A.J. Hammons delivered 11 points and Ronnie Johnson 10 in the setback.  Purdue led by four points early in the first half, but the team ended up missing all five chances from beyond the arc in the period and fell behind by two points at the break, 30-28. The Huskers converted a solid 52.0 percent from the field through the first 20 minutes of action, but only 1-of-8 behind the 3-point line.  In the second half Nebraska was able to push the lead to 11 points, but a mere 36.4 percent shooting from the floor in the frame meant the team had to hold on for the win in the closing moments.  The Boilermakers converted a mere 2-of-12 from long range and were outscored at the charity stripe, 12-7.  Final Score: Iowa 73, Northwestern 59  Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - In the first round of the Big Ten Conference Tournament, the Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Northwestern Wildcats, 73-59, at the United Center.  The Hawkeyes (21-11) have won three in a row and will face third-seeded Michigan State in the quarterfinals on Friday night. Roy Devyn Marble contributed 19 points and six rebounds, while Mike Gesell had 13 points. Melsahn Basabe recorded a double-double with 12 rebounds and 10 points to go with five blocks.  The Wildcats (13-19) dropped their ninth consecutive game to end the season. Reggie Hearn had a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Alex Olah added 12 points and seven rebounds. Tre Demps managed 11 points of his own.  Iowa led 36-22 at intermission after holding the Wildcats to just 32.0 percent shooting from the field in the first half.  Although the Hawkeyes shot poorly from the floor in the second half (.281), they gained 15 points at the free-throw line and their lead was never in doubt.  Iowa earned its win on the boards, taking a huge 48-31 rebounding advantage.
Matt Gatens  scored 20 points and Aaron  61, in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.Iowa  (17-15) nearly  squandered a six-point advantage in the final 37 seconds    of the contest