Donovan Dent had 23 points and 12 assists and Trent Perry scored 22 points to boost UCLA to an 88-84 victory against No. 8 Michigan State in a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal Friday in Chicago.
The sixth-seeded Bruins (23-10) advanced to face No. 7 seed Purdue in a semifinal on Saturday.
UCLA held off a late challenge from third-seeded Michigan State while playing short-handed. Bruins starting forward Tyler Bilodeau scored five points in 10 minutes before leaving the game with an injured right leg late in the first half.
Jeremy Fears Jr. paced Michigan State (25-7) with 21 points and 13 assists. After trailing by 15 points with 15:11 remaining, the Spartans pulled within two when Kur Teng drilled a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left. But UCLA scored eight of the final 14 points to seal the victory, including four Perry free throws over the final 12 seconds.
No. 18 Purdue 74, No. 11 Nebraska 48
Fletcher Loyer had 19 points and seventh-seeded Purdue led for all but 27 seconds to top the second-seeded Cornhuskers and advance to its date with UCLA.
Loyer (four) and C.J. Cox combined for seven of Purdue’s 10 made 3-pointers. Oscar Cluff added 12 points and nine rebounds and Braden Smith dished out 10 assists for the Boilermakers (25-8). Smith trails Bobby Hurley by 21 for the NCAA career assists record.
Nebraska (26-6) got 15 points from Pryce Sandfort and 11 from Rienk Mast, but the 11th-ranked Cornhuskers were only 10 of 31 from 3-point range, contributing to 39.3% shooting, and took only nine free throws while getting outrebounded by eight (37-29).
No. 3 Michigan 71, Ohio State 67
Four Michigan players scored in double figures and the top-seeded Wolverines advanced to the semifinals by slipping past the eighth-seeded Buckeyes.
Aday Mara scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Wolverines (30-2), who will play fifth-seeded and 23rd-ranked Wisconsin in a Saturday semifinal. Elliot Cadeau added 15 points and seven assists while Trey McKenney came off the bench to tally 12 points.
Bruce Thornton scored a game-high 22 points for the Buckeyes (21-12), while Devin Royal added 13 points and 11 rebounds. John Mobley Jr. had 12 points as Ohio State shot just 37.9% (22 of 58) from the floor.
No. 23 Wisconsin 91, No. 9 Illinois 88 (OT)
Overtime was too much for Illinois for the fourth time this season, as the Fighting Illini fell to the Badgers in the quarterfinals.
Wisconsin guards Nick Boyd and John Blackwell combined for 69 points and made 21 of 22 foul shots to rally the fifth-seeded Badgers (24-9) for their second OT win over fourth-seeded Illinois (24-8) in a month. The Badgers beat top-seeded Michigan — their semifinal opponent — 91-88 on Jan. 10, the only loss Michigan suffered in conference play.
Illinois freshman Keaton Wagler had 19 points but missed a 3-pointer off the back iron at the buzzer. David Mirkovic added 19 for the Illini, who fell to 0-4 in overtime games this season.
–Field Level Media
