Thursday, March 12th, 2:30 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Conseco Fieldhouse (18,165) -- Indianapolis, Indiana. Television: ESPN2. Home Record: Iowa 13-4, Michigan 14-3. Away Record: Iowa 1-11, Michigan 3-8. Neutral Record: Iowa 1-1, Michigan 2-1. Conference Record: Iowa 5-13, Michigan 9-9. Series Record: Michigan leads, 83-57.

GAME NOTES: The seventh-seeded Michigan Wolverines will meet the 10th-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes in first-round action of the Big Ten Tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The winner will advance to face No. 2 seed Illinois in the quarterfinals on Friday. These teams split the season series and also met in the first round of last year's conference tournament. The Wolverines won that opening-round matchup, and they lead the head-to-head series, 83-57. Michigan is coming off a narrow 67-64 win at Minnesota in the regular season finale this past Saturday. As for the Hawkeyes, they snapped a three-game slide with Saturday's 75-67 double-overtime win against Penn State.

The Hawkeyes' regular season finale certainly wasn't short on dramatic moments. First, they blew a nine-point lead in the final 2:41 of regulation, before forcing overtime on a layup by Jarryd Cole with 10 seconds to play. The Nittany Lions forced the second overtime on a three-pointer in the waning moments of the first extra session, then Iowa sealed the win with some clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch. Jake Kelly led the Hawkeyes with 22 points and 11 assists, while Cyrus Tate (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Cole (14 points, 11 rebounds) each posted double-doubles. Matt Gatens added 12 points in the win. Iowa launched 30 three-pointers in the game, connecting on 10 of those attempts. On the season, the team is making 8.2 threes per game, while shooting a respectable 36.7 percent from the perimeter. Four players are averaging double figures, led by Kelly with 11.7 ppg. The Hawkeyes have held opponents to just 42.9 percent shooting from the floor and 59.2 ppg this season.

The Wolverines have a potent tandem in Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims. Harris leads the team with 17.1 ppg in addition to 7.0 rpg. He has also hit 163- of-190 free throws (.858) on the season. Sims is shooting 50.8 percent from the field and is averaging 15.3 ppg and 7.1 rpg. Nearly every offensive set is designed to get the ball to one of those two players. Michigan generally does a good job taking care of the basketball, committing just 11.4 turnovers per game (+2.4 in turnover margin). The Wolverines committed just nine turnovers on Saturday, while forcing Minnesota into 18 miscues. The result was a key 19-8 edge for the Wolverines in points off turnovers, as they overcame a 12- point deficit in the final 14 minutes of regulation. Sims registered a game- high 24 points in the win, while Laval Lucas-Perry added 19 points and Harris scored 14. However, Michigan will need to tighten up its defense, after allowing the Golden Gophers to shoot 55 percent from the floor.

Their most recent game aside, the Hawkeyes have really struggled down the stretch, dropping nine of their previous 11 games. And while they have some scoring balance, they simply don't have the offensive firepower to match the production of Harris and Sims.

Predicted Outcome

Michigan 75, Iowa 65