Fifth-seed Iowa will face Illinois-Minnesota winner on Thursday in Big Ten Tournament
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Iowa men’s basketball team fell short of earning a double bye in the Big Ten Tournament, but still has more time to rest than its next opponent.
Iowa is seeded fifth in the Big Ten Tournament and will face the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between Illinois and Minnesota at approximately 1:30 p.m. on Thursday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Iowa’s chance of earning a double bye, which goes to the top four seeds, ended when Big Ten champion Indiana crushed Maryland 82-60 on Sunday. Iowa needed a win by Maryland to have a chance to move up to the 4 line and earn a double bye.
The four teams with double byes will not play until Friday.
Iowa closed the regular-season with a 71-61 victory at Michigan on Saturday, snapping a four-game losing streak. The Hawkeyes finished the regular season with records of 21-9 overall and 12-6 in the Big Ten. It marks the second consecutive season that Iowa has finished 12-6 in conference play.
The fifth-seed is not what the Iowa players had hoped for after winning 10 of their first 11 Big Ten games and climbing to as high as third in the national polls.
But the victory at Michigan gives Iowa some positive momentum heading into the postseason.
“I can’t say enough about how we performed,” said Iowa senior forward Jarrod Uthoff, who scored 29 points against Michigan. "It’s a big momentum swing. We’ve had a couple rough games and lost a couple in a row. This will get us back on track."