The No. 10 ranked Michigan Wolverines (28-5), led by forward Ignas Brazdeikis, meet the No. 6 ranked Michigan State Spartans (27-6), led by guard Cassius Winston, in the championship game of the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament on Sunday, March 17, 2019 (3/17/19) at United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Buy Michigan and Michigan State gear via Fanatics and Champs. Buy tickets to Big Ten or NCAA Tournaments via PrimeSport and StubHub. Book travel to tournaments via AirBnB, LastMinuteTravel and TripAdvisor. Here’s what you need to know: Who: Michigan vs. Michigan State What: Big Ten championship When: Sunday, March 17, 2019 Where: United Center, Chicago Time: 3:30 p.m. EDT TV: CBS Live stream: fuboTV (free trial), CBS All Access (free trial) Once Cassius Winston and Kenny Goins powered Michigan State to a fast start, Wisconsin was in deep trouble. Tough to chase down the Spartans in March. Winston scored 21 points and Goins had 13 points and 12 rebounds, helping No. 6 Michigan State beat No. 19 Wisconsin 67-55 in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals on Saturday. Goins, Aaron Henry and Xavier Tillman led a dominant rebounding effort as the Spartans earned their seventh consecutive win in their series against the Badgers. Tillman finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, and Henry grabbed a career-high 11 boards to power Michigan State to a 44-30 advantage on the glass. "All in all, a gritty performance by us," coach Tom Izzo said. Winston shook out his left ankle a bit after he accidentally kicked Wisconsin guard Brad Davison with about 4 minutes left in the first half. But the Big Ten Player of the Year stayed in the game and showed no sign of trouble while going 9 for 17 from the field and passing for six assists. Winston said he was fine, but Izzo made it sound as if it was tenuous for a bit. "Cassius was on adrenaline, he's been on adrenaline for a while," Izzo said. "At halftime, I really didn't know what was going to happen. So adrenaline kicked in and it got him through parts of another half." The top-seeded Spartans (27-6) earned their ninth win in 10 games and will go for their sixth Big Ten tourney title on Sunday against Michigan. The 10th-ranked Wolverines advanced with a 76-49 victory over Minnesota. "Just another chance at a championship. That's what we play for here," Winston said. "That's what it's all about at Michigan State." Wisconsin star Ethan Happ bounced back nicely from a shaky performance in the quarterfinals against Nebraska, finishing with 20 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. Kobe King had 13 points, but the Badgers (23-10) shot just 35 percent from the field. Nate Reuvers, who had 14 points in the victory over the Cornhuskers, was 0 for 7 from the field and failed to score. D'Mitrik Trice had seven points on 3-for-10 shooting before fouling out with about a minute left. “For the most part, I think we got a lot of open looks,” Trice said. “I thought we passed it around really well. It just didn’t fall.” (The AP contributed to this report.)<doc-sep>Summary: The Spartans scored the game’s first eight points and never looked back. They did cool off after a sizzling 7-for-9 start from the field, but their lead was never smaller than six points. The Badgers (23-10) shot just 2-for-19 from downtown. Ethan Happ had 20 points, six rebounds and only one turnover but still missed a host of shots in close. He finished 10-for-20.<doc-sep>CHICAGO - The 2019 Big Ten men’s basketball tournament tips off today and runs through Sunday at the United Center in Chicago. Michigan State is the No. 1 seed after knocking off rival Michigan last Saturday night. Ohio State, which will have big man Kaleb Wesson back in the lineup after a suspension,is the No. 8 seed and defeated Indiana on Thursday afternoon, 79-75. The tournament games up through the quarterfinals will be shown on the Big Ten Network, with Saturday’s semifinals and Sunday’s championship game on CBS (WOIO Channel 19 in Northeast Ohio). For tournament tickets, visit: Stubhub.com; TicketLiquidator.com; or GoldCoastTickets.com. For hats or gear for the Buckeyes or another team, visit: Lids.com; or Champs Sports. Streaming: Games are available through Fubo. Here are the tournament pairings, times and TV. Schedule (All times EDT) Wednesday Game 1: #13 Nebraska 68, #12 seed Rutgers 61. Game 2: #11 Illinois 74, #14 Northwestern 69. Thursday Game 3: #8 Ohio State 79, #9 seed Indiana 75. Game 4: #5 seed Maryland vs. #13 Nebraska (3:15 p.m., BTN) Game 5: #7 seed Minnesota vs. #10 seed Penn State (7 p.m., BTN) Game 6: #6 seed Iowa vs. #11 Illinois (9:30 p.m., BTN) Friday Game 7: #1 seed Michigan State vs. #8 Ohio State (12:30 p.m., BTN) Game 8: #4 seed Wisconsin vs. Game 4 winner (3 p.m., BTN) Game 9: #2 seed Purdue vs. Game 5 winner (7 p.m., BTN) Game 10: #3 seed Michigan vs. Game 6 winner (9:30 p.m., BTN) Saturday Game 11: Semifinal #1: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner (1 p.m., CBS) Game 12: Semifinal #2: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner (3:30 p.m., CBS) Sunday Game 13: Championship Game (3:30 p.m., CBS)<doc-sep>
It all comes down to this. The No. 1 seed Michigan State Spartans take on the No. 3 seed Michigan Wolverines with a Big Ten Tournament title on the line. Tune into CBS at 3:30 p.m. EST (2:30 p.m. CST) to watch the Big Ten heavyweights and fierce rivals battle for the championship. This is the second time in the last eight days that the two schools from the Great Lakes State are playing for a title — with MSU winning a share of the regular season Big Ten title after defeating U of M last weekend. The Spartans won both matchups over the Wolverines this season: a 75-63 victory in East Lansing last weekend, and a 77-70 win in Ann Arbor on Feb. 24. Beating a team of Michigan’s caliber three times in the season is going to be challenging to say the least. Not only is U of M the defending back-to-back Big Ten Tournament champs, the Wolverines have thoroughly dominated their opponents so far in the tourney. Michigan won its first game over Iowa 74-53 on Friday, and then went gate to wire over a hot Minnesota team on Saturday, winning that contest 76-49. Michigan is looking for revenge over Michigan State. MSU has been impressive so far as well. Michigan State beat an Ohio State team with its best player — Kaleb Wesson — back from suspension by a score of 77-70. That was the third time this season that the Spartans defeated the Buckeyes. Yesterday, MSU easily took down Wisconsin with a 67-55 victory. The Spartans never trailed against the Badgers. It’s clear that the cream of the crop in the Big Ten resides in the state of Michigan. Not only is a Big Ten title on the line today. If the Spartans win, they could very well be looking at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Michigan vs. Michigan State has become one of the greatest rivalries in college basketball. Use this space to talk about the game. Following the game is the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on CBS, which will reveal MSU’s seeding and opponent, as well as the full field of 68. Go Green!