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Results and news from Day 4 of the Big Ten Tournament on Saturday at the United Center:

Michigan 76, Minnesota 49

Summary: The Wolverines’ suffocating defense helped them breeze into the championship game. They’ll be going for a record third consecutive conference tournament crown. Three Michigan players scored in double digits, and the team shot 51.6 percent. The Wolverines (28-5) hit 10 of 26 3-pointers while Minnesota made only 2 of 12 3-point attempts. The Gophers (21-13) also hurt themselves by making only 3 of 9 free throws.

Star of the game: Sophomore forward Isaiah Livers came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 4 of 6 3-pointers.

The quote: “We want to win 100 percent. We already lost to them twice this year. They’re our rivals. We’ve got to get this one for Michigan.” — Ignas Brazdeikis, who scored 13 points, on facing Michigan State in the final

Turning point: The Wolverines used a 15-2 run to build a 31-15 first-half lead and never looked back.

Up next: Michigan faces Michigan State at 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the championship game. The Spartans won both meetings this season, 77-70 on Feb. 24 in Ann Arbor and 75-63 on March 9 in East Lansing. Minnesota likely earned an NCAA Tournament at-large bid.

Michigan State 67, Wisconsin 55

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Summary: The Spartans scored the game’s first eight points and never looked back. They did cool off after a sizzling 7-for-9 start from the field, but their lead was never smaller than six points. The Badgers (23-10) shot just 2-for-19 from downtown. Ethan Happ had 20 points, six rebounds and only one turnover but still missed a host of shots in close. He finished 10-for-20.

Star of the game: Kenny Goins came through by hitting 4 of 7 from deep, but Cassius Winston was Michigan State’s MVP, as usual. The 6-1 point guard finished with 21 points, six assists and just two turnovers, receiving an embrace from coach Tom Izzo when he exited with a minute to play.

Turning point: This might be a stretch, but the first half ended with Xavier Tillman blowing a dunk. Izzo gave him a death stare as Tillman jogged off. Perhaps that was an eye-opener for the Spartans, who built their lead up from eight to 11 in the second half.

The quote: “It was a grind of a game … and a gritty performance by us. I thought the difference in the game early, we made all our shots and they missed some wide-open shots.” – Izzo

Up next: The Spartans (27-6) can make their case for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament by winning Sunday against Michigan. Heading into Saturday, ESPN and CBS Spots projected Wisconsin as a No. 4 seed.

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Twitter @TeddyGreenstein