Basketball fans on both sides of the Indiana University - Purdue University rivalry are still celebrating the victories of Sunday evening.
IU Hoosiers men's basketball team won the Big-Ten Championship outright for the first time in 20 years after defeating the Michigan Wolverines in a heart-pounding one-point game last night, and the Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball team beat the Michigan State Spartans 62-47 to win the Big-Ten Tournament championships - their second consecutive tournament win.
The big story for the Hoosiers is the talk surrounding players Victor Oladipo (junior) and Cody Zeller (sophomore); both are favorites in the run for National Player of the Year. During Sunday's game, Zeller scored an impressive six points in the final 41 seconds and sealed the team's victory. Oladipo posted a career-high 13 rebounds, along with his 14 points in the game. However, it is believed that Oladipo, along with the rest of the nation, will be shocked and "crazy" if Zeller doesn't receive the award.
The Purdue win was in the hands of Boilermakers Forward Drey Mingo throughout most of the game last night. Mingo scored 24 of Purdue's 62 points in the championship; this was a large personal achievement for the fifth-year senior who had to sit out all last season with a knee injury. She was named as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after the final buzzer.
This is the ninth tournament win for the Boilermaker women's team, a league-best record, and the 21st outright Big-Ten championship for the Hoosiers since their first in 1928. The men of IU next play in the Conference Tournament beginning March 14 in Chicago.
These wins Sunday night definitely reminded the nation that Indiana is truly a basketball state, making our state as proud as ever.
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