March 16, 2008

Welcome to the Big Ten Tournament Championship! Our title game features the No. 1 seed and Big Ten Champion Wisconsin Badgers (28-4, 16-12) and the No. 10 seed Illinois Fighting Illini (16-18, 5-13). Tip-off time is set for 3:30 p.m. EDT. 3:28 p.m. EDT: The lineups are in and we are ready to go!!!

1st, 15:43, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 4, Wisconsin 2
Illinois is 2-of-8 from the field to start and Wisconsin is 1-of-5. The highlight so far just occurred when Illinois' Brian Randle forced a turnover and went down the court for a slam, only to get blocked by Wisconsin's Marcus Landry. Wow!

1st, 11:40, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Illinois 10, Wisconsin 10
Although we have a tie game, Illinois really has the momentum in its corner right now. the Illini have forced four Badger turnovers and have scored on multiple breakaways. A solid contingent of Illini fans are in attendance today trying to help their 10th-seeded squad to the BTT title.

1st, 7:51, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Wisconsin 18, Illinois 12
Wisconsin has found success from the perimeter early on, having scored 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Illinois is 0-of-2. Currently we have co-scoring leaders. Illinois' Calvin Brock and Wisconsin's Michael Flowers have six points each. Flowers has scored on two deep 3-pointers from the wing.

1st, 6:03, TIMEOUT (WIS): Wisconsin 20, Illinois 18
Illinois' 6-2 run prompts Bo Ryan to call a 30-second timeout.

1st, 3:13, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Wisconsin 25, Illinois 20
Illinois' Brock leads all scorers with eight points and Wisconsin's Marcus Landy follows with seven. Illinois is 8-of-23 (.348) from the field and Wisconsin is 10-of-22 (.455).

1st, 2:05, TIMEOUT (ILL): Wisconsin 27, Illinois 20

HALFTIME: Wisconsin 29, Illinois 22
We are at halftime and the Badgers are looking solid so far in the first half. Wisconsin is shooting 44 percent from the field, while Illinois is at 35 percent. Wisconsin is 5-of-9 from the perimeter and Illinois is 1-of-6.

2nd, 16:26, TIMEOUT (ILL): Wisconsin 39, Illinois 26
The Badgers have extended the lead to 13 and it appears that Illinois is tired from four gsmes in four days. Many of the shots are taken with minimal lift of the floor and several have been flat and short. Illinois is going to have to reach down and find another gear to get back in this game.

2nd, 15:33, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Wisconsin 39, Illinois 28
Illinois is 3-of-5 and Wisconsin is 4-of-7 from the field this half.

2nd, 15:05, TIMEOUT (WIS): Wisconsin 39, Illinois 28

2nd, 11:29, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Wisconsin 43, Illinois 30
Marcus Landry has 10 points for the Badgers and Shaun Pruitt has a game-high 13 for the Illini. Illinois is 1-of-10 from 3-point land.

2nd, 7:46, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Wisconsin 53, Illinois 35
Wisconsin is not letting up, shooting 9-of-15 (60 percent). Illinois' tank might be on E right now. The players look like they have played four games in four days. They now trail by 18 and it looks like their NCAA Tournament hopes are fading away.

2nd, 3:53, TIMEOUT (MEDIA): Wisconsin 53, Illinois 39
The only thing in question now is the margin of victory. Remarkably the record of 17 points has been set four times and first in 1999 when No. 11 seed Illinois fell 67-50 to No. 1 Michigan State. The other instances were: 2002 (#2 OSU def. #9 IOWA, 81-64), 2004 (#2 WIS def. #1 ILL, 70-53) and 2007 (#1 OSU def. #2 WIS, 66-49). It is interesting that in three of the four times this has happened, Illinois and Wisconsin have been a part of the championship game, including 2004 when both teams matched up in the title game here in Indianapolis.

2nd, 2:!5, TIMEOUT (ILL): Wisconsin 59, Illinois 43

FINAL: Wisconsin 61, Illinois 48
The winning margin record is safe. Congratulations to the Wisconsin Badgers, the 2008 Big Ten regular season and tournament champions.