Big Ten Tournament Day 4 preview: Full schedule, best bets

The Big Ten Tournament has reached the semifinal round with 3 of its top 4 seeds still left standing.

Purdue survived an upset-minded Michigan State team on Friday to set up a third matchup with Wisconsin. After making 16 triples in a blowout win over Maryland on Thursday, Wisconsin stayed hot from beyond the arc in its win over Northwestern and drilled another 10 shots from beyond the arc. Illinois outlasted Ohio State and Nebraska blasted Indiana to set up the other semifinal.

Here’s a look at the slate for Day 4 at the tournament, followed by 3 picks:

(All times Eastern; spread and totals via FanDuel)

Game 11: No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 5 Wisconsin — 1 p.m. (CBS)

Zach Edey posted a 29-point, 12-rebound double-double to help Purdue (29-3, 17-3 Big Ten) survive Michigan State. The Boilermakers blew a 12-point lead but managed to regain their composure at the end and hang on for a 67-62 win. Michigan State made them work for it, though; the game featured several heated exchanges and 46 total fouls called. First-team All-Big Ten guard Braden Smith will be worth monitoring ahead of the game. He briefly left with what looked to be a serious leg injury, but returned after only a few minutes. Wisconsin (21-12, 11-9) beat Northwestern 70-61 to get to the semis. The Badgers, led by 30 points from AJ Storr, led by just 4 points after the first half but hot shooting helped them pull away late. UW has shot 49% from the field and 55% from 3 through its first 2 tournament games.

Spread: Purdue -5.5

Total: 142.5

Game 12: No. 2 Illinois vs. No. 3 Nebraska — 3:30 p.m. (CBS)

Illinois (24-8, 14-6 Big Ten) trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half of Friday’s quarterfinal game against Ohio State before recovering to win 77-74. A 10-1 run over a 2-minute span midway through the second half flipped the game. Terrence Shannon Jr. was huge in the effort, scoring 28 points (14 in each half) and bullying his way to the free throw line for 10 second-half foul shots. For Nebraska (23-9, 12-8), Keisei Tominaga and Brice Williams each hit 4 shots from beyond the arc and scored 23 points apiece to power the Huskers to a 93-66 romp of Indiana. Nebraska had a 50-27 halftime lead en route to its first conference tournament semifinal appearance since 2006. The Huskers, winners of 7 of their last 8 games, have scored 50 first-half points in back-to-back contests.

Spread: Illinois -4.5

Total: 157.5

2 picks against the spread

Purdue -5.5 (FanDuel)

The Badgers have been unbelievable on the offensive end of the floor through their first 2 games. Against Maryland, they scored 1.32 points per possession. Against Northwestern, they were at 1.11 points per possession. They’ve shot a combined 26-for-47 from the 3-point line in the 2 wins. That seems unsustainable, especially over a 3-games-in-3-days span. Purdue will have fresher legs, and it just held Michigan State under a point per possession.

Nebraska +4.5 (ESPN BET)

Tominaga scored 31 points in the regular-season meeting between these 2 teams, an overtime game that was decided by 3 after Illinois blew a double-digit lead. Tominaga hit 5 triples that day, and he’s once again rolling, with 9 makes from deep in his last 2 outings. As a team, Nebraska has also been exceptionally hot out of the gates in recent weeks. In their last 8, the Huskers are averaging 41 first-half points. With Illinois giving up a good percentage of 3s to opponents, this has a high-scoring, back-and-forth feel to it.

1 player prop

Wisconsin G AJ Storr over 15.5 points (DraftKings)

If Wisconsin is going to upset the Boilermakers, it’ll have to keep knocking down 3s. Storr — who had 17 the last time Wisconsin met Purdue — should have a huge workload.