Iowa picks up 5th seed in B1G tourney

IOWA CITY - Iowa's men's basketball team earned the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will play around 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Chicago's United Center against winner of Wednesday's 12-13 game.

The Hawkeyes (21-10, 12-6 Big Ten) have their highest seed since 2007, when they were a four seed. Iowa was seeded sixth in the last two Big Ten tournaments.

Nebraska (13-17, 5-13) is the 12th seed and faces 13th seed Penn State (16-15, 4-14) at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Iowa swept the Cornhuskers and beat the Nittany Lions in the teams' only meeting.

Iowa finished the season tied for third with Michigan State and Purdue. The Spartans claimed the first tiebreaker among the teams with a season sweep of the Boilermakers and Hawkeyes. Purdue beat Iowa in their only meeting.

The Hawkeyes would have earned the four seed had Ohio State beaten Wisconsin. That would have forced a four-way tie among the teams, along with Ohio State. Iowa would have won the tiebreaker with Purdue based on its win against Maryland. Wisconsin crushed the Buckeyes 72-48 this afternoon.

'We'll be ready to go,” Iowa Coach Fran McCaffery said.

SCHEDULE

Wednesday's games

13. Penn State vs. 12. Nebraska, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2

14. Rutgers vs. 11. Minnesota, 6 p.m., BTN

Thursday's games

9. Michigan vs. 8. Illinois, 11 a.m., BTN

5. Iowa vs. Penn State/Nebraska winner, 1:30 p.m., BTN

7. Indiana vs. 10. Northwestern, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2

6. Ohio State vs. Rutgers/Minnesota, 8 p.m., ESPN2

Friday's games

1. Wisconsin vs. Michigan/Illinois winner, 11 a.m., ESPN

4. Purdue vs. Iowa/Nebraska/Penn State winner, 1:30 p.m., ESPN

2. Maryland vs. Indiana/Northwestern winner, 5:30 p.m., BTN

3. Michigan State vs. Ohio State/Minnesota/Rutgers winner, 8 p.m., BTN

Saturday's games

Semifinal, noon, CBS

Semifinal, 2:30 p.m., CBS

Sunday's game

Championship, 2:30 p.m., CBS

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