The Iowa Hawkeyes won the 2022 Big Ten Tournament Championship on Sunday with a 75-66 victory over Purdue. Iowa led by three at half and led most of the second on their way to the title. Purdue had a couple brief 1 point leads in the second half but the Hawkeyes answered back each time.

Keegan Murray scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Iowa. Tony Perkins added 11 points and Payton Sandfort dropped in 10. Iowa improved to 26-9 on the season and won their first Big Ten Tournament Title since 2006.

Purdue was led by 20 points and 6 assists from Jaden Ivey. The Boilermakers fall to 27-7 on the season.

Iowa earned a 5-seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament and will face Richmond in the opening round.

Iowa won the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2006. The Hawkeyes turned back a late Purdue rally for 75-66 win, avenging two regular season losses to the Boilermakers. Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says it was depth that allowed the Hawkeyes to win four games in four days.

Iowa had an eight point lead sliced to one with just over three minutes remaining but made the plays down the stretch to post its 26th win of the season.

The Hawkeyes are the fifth seed in the Midwest Regional and open the NCAA Tournament Thursday in Buffalo, New York against a Richmond team that upset Davidson to win the A-10 Tournament title.

Keegan Murray led the Hawkeyes with 19 points and was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.

Sophomore forward Patrick McCaffery on winning the championship.

Sophomore guard and Indianapolis native Tony Perkins says defense was the key to holding off Purdue in the second half.

Atlantic alum Gratt Reed finished as a 2nd Team All-American in the 60M Hurdles at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend.

Reed ran a time of 7.78 in the prelims on Friday evening to ultimately finish in 12th place overall. The meet was being contested in Birmingham, AL.

Reed has continued to improve and make strides with the Hawkeye track and field program. They will now transition to the outdoor season starting with a meet at Arizona State next weekend.

The UNI women’s basketball team took down Missouri State 63-57 on Saturday to reach the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship game. The Panthers rallied in the fourth quarter to get the win, outscoring the Lady Bears 22-12 in the final session.

The Panthers opened that final quarter with a 14-0 run to take command. Karli Rucker led four panthers in double-figures with 18 points. Grace Boffeli had a big game with 14 points and 9 rebounds.

Missouri State was led by 19 points from Abigayle Jackson and 12 from Mya Bhiner. The Lady Bears fall to 24-7.

UNI improved to 22-9 and will face Illinois State in the Hoops in the Heartland Championship Game on Sunday in Moline, IL.

The Iowa State Women’s basketball team forced overtime but ultimately came up short against Texas 82-73 in the Big 12 Tournament Semifinals on Saturday. The Longhorns outscored the Cyclones 25-18 in the third quarter and 19-10 in the overtime period. Rori Harmon opened the overtime with two threes for the Longhorns to help them pull away.

Harmon finished with 30 points and 4 assists. Lauren Ebo added 14 points, all in the second half to help the Texas effort. The Longhorns improved to 25-6 and will face Baylor in the Big 12 Championship game on Sunday.

Iowa State was led by 33 points and 13 rebounds from Ashley Joens. Lexi Donarski had 11 points and the Cyclones fall to 26-6.

The Creighton Bluejays gave Villanova a tough test but the Wildcats edged out a 54-48 win in the Big East Championship Game at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Collin Gillespie came up with two huge threes in the final two minutes to give Nova the win.

Creighton played strong defense to stay tight all game long but they couldn’t get shots to fall. The Jays went just 3 of 29 from 3-point range and shot just 33% from the field.

Ryan Kalkbrenner had 19 points and 8 rebounds to lead Creighton as they fall to 22-11. Ryan Hawkins was held to just 2 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.

Gillespie led Villanova with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Justin Moore added 16 for the Cats. Villanova improved to 26-7.

Jordan Bohannon banked in a deep three with one second left to send Iowa past Indiana 80-77 and into the Big Ten Tournament Championship. Iowa was down much of the game but rallied late to take a lead in the fourth. Indiana got a steal and a layup to tie it at 77 with under thirty seconds left before Bohannon’s shot.

Keegan Murray had 32 points and 9 rebounds to lead the Hawks. Jordan Bohannon finished with 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. The Hawkeyes improved to 25-9.

Indiana was led by 31 points and 10 rebounds from Trayce Jackson-Davis. Their record falls to 20-13.

Iowa will take on Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament Championship today. Purdue advanced with a 75-70 win over Michigan State in the other semifinal. We’ll have coverage on KJAN with pregame at 1:30 p.m. and tipoff at 2:30 p.m.

(Cedar Rapids, Iowa) — Wellmark® Blue Cross® and Blue Shield® announces the return of the Set the Pace Challenge during the Grand Blue Mile. This year, registrants can participate virtually or in person on April 26 in downtown Des Moines, coinciding with the 112th edition of the Drake Relays presented by Xtream® powered by Mediacom®. The challenge encourages Iowans to develop sustainable, healthy habits to adopt throughout 2022.

As part of the challenge, the community with the highest percentage of its residents participating in the in person or virtual Grand Blue Mile — measured by the number of registrants for a given ZIP code against its total population — will be awarded $10,000 to use on a project that promotes safe, inclusive and accessible places in which to be active, such as a park, playground or trail. Additional information and resources, including past project videos and a digital toolkit for communities are available here.

“Participating in Wellmark’s Set the Pace Challenge couldn’t be easier this year as we’re giving Iowans the opportunity to engage in the setting that suits them best — in person or virtually,” said Chris Verlengia, Wellmark’s marketing activation & alliance manager and Grand Blue Mile co-race director. “Wellmark constantly strives to improve community health and this challenge provides a tremendous incentive for Iowans to enjoy a family-friendly physical activity, while working together to create inclusive and accessible green spaces, right in their own hometowns.”

Register today: Registration for the 2022 virtual Grand Blue Mile presented by Wellmark is now open at grandbluemile.com. Registration is $15 for youth and $20 for adults. As part of Wellmark’s commitment to improving the health of Iowans, all proceeds benefit Iowa Kidstrong youth fitness programs and support student participation in the annual Drake Relays.

The Drake Bulldogs saw their run a the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament end on Friday with a 63-49 loss to second-seeded Missouri State. Drake had a 15 point lead early in the game as Missouri State struggled from the field but the Bulldogs wore out down the stretch.

Sydney Wilson and Brice Calip both had double-doubles to lead the Lady Bears to the win. Wilson had 17 points and 13 rebounds, 15 of those points after halftime. Calip added 11 points and 10 boards. Missouri State will face UNI in the semifinals on Saturday.

Drake was led by 11 points from Katie Dinnebier and Maggie Bair and Grace Berg each added 9. The Bulldogs end the season at 18-13.

UNI blew past Valporaiso 63-39 to reach the MVC women’s tournament semifinals. Kam Finley led the Panthers with 16 points and UNI locked down defensively in a big way to advance.

The Panthers held the Beacons to just 28.6% shooting and forced 14 turnovers. Grace Boffeli added 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.

The Panthers move to 21-9 on the season. They will meet second-seeded Missouri State in the semifinals on Saturday at 4:02 p.m. in Moline, Illinois.