AP Photo/Darron Cummings
The No. 5 seed Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the No. 3 seed Purdue Boilermakers 75-66 in the Big Ten Championship Game on Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for their first conference title since 2006.
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“The Iowa Hawkeyes are the Big Ten champions!” ????<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/B1Gtourney?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#B1Gtourney</a> x <a href=”https://twitter.com/IowaHoops?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@IowaHoops</a> <a href=”https://t.co/Ir2riWEq8d”>pic.twitter.com/Ir2riWEq8d</a>
Sunday’s game was Iowa’s fourth in four days. They defeated No. 12 Northwestern in the second round, No. 4 Rutgers in the quarterfinals and No. 9 Indiana in the semifinals.
Entering Sunday’s game, the Hawkeyes had been 2-1 in the championship game, last appearing in the game in 2006, when they defeated Ohio State 67-60 for their second conference title.
Sophomore forward Keegan Murray was Iowa’s most valuable player Sunday, finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds and three assists in the win. However, he had much better performances through the first three rounds, averaging 28 points per game.
Regardless, Murray’s performance Sunday was enough and is a significant reason the Hawkeyes are moving on to the NCAA tournament.
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Historic hoop ????<br><br>Keegan Murray just set the single-season <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/B1Gtourney?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#B1Gtourney</a> record for most points (93).<a href=”https://twitter.com/keegan3murray?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@keegan3murray</a> // <a href=”https://twitter.com/IowaHoops?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@IowaHoops</a> <a href=”https://t.co/yHTGTkJ3Bo”>pic.twitter.com/yHTGTkJ3Bo</a>
Sophomore guard Tony Perkins also had a significant impact for the Hawkeyes, finishing with 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal. Freshman guard Payton Sandfort also had a phenomenal performance off the bench, putting up 10 points.
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Enjoy delivering on the B1G stage, <a href=”https://twitter.com/payton_20_?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@payton_20_</a>! ????<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/B1Gtourney?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#B1Gtourney</a> x <a href=”https://twitter.com/IowaHoops?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@IowaHoops</a> <a href=”https://t.co/w6tFQLvH5Z”>pic.twitter.com/w6tFQLvH5Z</a>
The Boilermakers went toe-to-toe with the Hawkeyes through the second half, but the efforts of sophomore guard Jaden Ivey and sophomore center Zach Edey weren’t enough as players like sophomore forward Mason Gillis and senior guard Sasha Stefanovic struggled.
Ivey finished with 20 points, three rebounds and six assists, while Edey finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Moving into the NCAA tournament, Iowa will need Murray, Perkins and Jordan Bohannon to stay hot, because they’ll be facing some pretty difficult opponents in the weeks ahead.
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