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Northwestern opens Big Ten Tournament play Thursday at the United Center in Chicago, as the Wildcats take on Indiana. Despite a slow (read: 1-10) start to the year, NU finished the season on a 5-2 run and tied with Minnesota for 10th place in the conference at 6-12, earning the 10 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. IU, at 9-9, finished seventh in the conference and has the seven seed.
This will be an interesting matchup for Northwestern, which beat the Hoosiers the last time the teams played each other. IU enters the game with a 2-5 record in its last seven games, and coach Tom Crean's team is reeling. The Hoosiers have been especially pitiful on defense, and lacking a big man there is plenty of potential for Alex Olah to have a stellar game.
If NU can take down Indiana, the Wildcats would then move on to the quarterfinals and a game against Maryland. But before we get ahead of ourselves, here's how you can watch NU-Indiana, along with a bracket of the entire tournament.
Time: 5:30 CT
Channel: ESPN2 (Mike Tirico, Dan Dakich, Quint Kessenich)
Online: WatchESPN
Radio: WGN 720 in Chicagoland, wgnradio.com for others
Line: IU opened as a 4.5-point favorite. The line is now at 4.
KenPom: NU has a 32 percent chance to win, with a projected score of 73-68, Indiana
And here's a look at the bracket: