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11/12 Big Ten Recap: Michigan Scores Marquee Win

Recap all the Big Ten action from Tuesday night.

NCAA Basketball: Creighton at Michigan Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The 2019 Gavitt Games continued on Tuesday night with two more Big Ten teams facing off against Big East foes. Indiana also got back into action. The league went 2-1 on the night with a major win coming in Ann Arbor.

Let’s take a look at what happened.

Game of the Day:

-Michigan Wolverines 79, Creighton Bluejays 69

Given how Michigan played last week at home against Appalachian State, there were a lot of questions about how the Wolverines would look against a better opponent. Well, fans got their answer on Tuesday night and Michigan was able to score a marquee win against a top 40 opponent on KenPom. It was a major win for Juwan Howard and the program.

The star of the night was certainly Zavier Simpson, who finished with 17 points, nine assists, and three rebounds in the win. He was dynamic on both sides of the floor and Creighton head coach Greg McDermott credited Simpson’s ability to drive the hoop as one of the major reasons the Bluejays faded in the second half.

Michigan will now get a few days off before resuming action on Friday at home against a dreadful Elon team. This win should put the Wolverines in great position to head to the Bahamas later in the month with an undefeated record.

The Rest:

-Indiana Hoosiers 91, North Alabama Lions 65

While this one was a bit closer than Hoosier fans would have liked early on, Indiana was eventually able to pull away on Tuesday night and grab another win at home. The victory pushed the Hoosiers to 3-0 on the season, with all three games coming by double-digits. The star of the game was Trayce Jackson-Davis, who finished with 20 points and eight rebounds. The Hoosiers will return to action on Saturday at home against Troy.

-Butler Bulldogs 64, Minnesota Golden Gophers 56

Heading into this game, we knew Minnesota would have its hands full trying to slow down a really good Butler team on the road. The Gophers were underdogs in this matchup on KenPom and few expected the team to come out with a win. However, Minnesota kept things close throughout and was in decent position to steal a win in the final minutes of the game. Unfortunately, Butler did just enough to grab the win. The loss dropped Minnesota to 1-2 on the season and the league to 1-2 in the Gavitt Games as well.

Given that Minnesota was an underdog heading into this one, it’s hard to get too upset about a loss here. In fact, Minnesota actually seemed to outperform expectations for much of the night. Fans will hope the team can build on that as the Gophers prepare for a trip out west on Friday to face Utah on the road. Expect another tough game.