By Mark Wiley
Staff Writer

Big Ten Tournament action heats up as the second round starts today. The top five seeds will all play their first games.

In the biggest tournament matchup yet, fourth-seeded Illinois (19-8, 11-5 Big Ten) takes on fifth-seeded Indiana (20-6, 10-6) today at 12:30. No. 25 Illinois beat No. 13 Indiana by 24 points in their only meeting this season on February 22.

Indiana's high scoring trio of Big Ten player of the year and league scoring leader, A.J. Guyton (20.5 points per game), the Big Ten's second best assist getter, Michael Lewis (5.4 per game), and high-scoring center Kirk Haston (15.8 per game) will look to lead Indiana's Big Ten-leading scoring offense into the next round.

Illinois, the most improved team in the Big Ten this year, features sophomore Cory Bradford (15.6 points per game), who led the Big Ten in 3-pointers made; point guard Frank Williams (11.3 points four assists per game); and forward Marcus Griffin, who led the Big Ten in steals with 2.42 per game while averaging 11.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.

"We're playing our best ball right now," Illinois coach Lon Kruger said. "In the last month, this group's lost only once. We've played much better defensively and consistently."

When asked about his loss to Illinois, Indiana coach Bob Knight seemed disgruntled.

"Why do you people ask these stupid questions," asked Knight. "Why even bring it up? What good is a game two weeks ago? If you start thinking about the past, you're not going to get anything done in the future."

Regular season co-Big Ten champion and No. 1 seed Ohio State (22-5, 13-3) will play their first tournament game against No. 9 seed Penn State (13-14, 5-11) at 3 p.m. Penn State defeated No. 8 seed Michigan yesterday, 76-66.

The Nittany Lions had four players score in double figures. The top players for Penn State are juniors Joe Crispin and Jarrett Stephens. Crispin led all scorers with 22 points and had nine rebounds. Stephens, a First Team All-Big Ten selection, had 10. Gyasi Cline-Heard and Titus Ivory are also capable of good performances as they proved last night. Cline-Heard had 18 and Ivory added 17 — 13 of which came in the second half.

The Buckeyes are led by one of the best starting backcourts in the nation. Guards Scoonie Penn (15.8 points per game, 4.28 assists per game) and Michael Redd (17 points per game) were both on the All-Big Ten first team. Ken Johnson was the Big Ten defensive player of the year, averaging almost six blocked shots per game. Johnson and George Reese both made the All-Big Ten third team.

No. 2 seed Michigan State (23-7, 13-3) will look to eliminate No. 7 seed Iowa (13-15, 6-10) tonight at 7:40.

The Spartans are coming off a 51-point blowout win over Michigan last Thursday. All-American point guard Mateen Cleaves, the Big Ten's assist leader, had 20 assists in the game. Cleaves and Morris Peterson (16.6 points, 6.4 rebounds per game), were both named to the All-Big Ten first team, will lead an explosive offensive attack that defeated opponents by a league-leading average of 15.5 points a game.

Charlie Bell (12.6 points per game), a third team All-Big Ten selection, and Andre Hutson (9.9 points per game) also contribute greatly to the 1999 Final Four finalists who hope to win it all this year.

"They're hungry because they got to the Final Four last year," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "I don't think there's any pressure. Our goal is to win the national championship. If we don't make it, it will be disappointing to the media and alumni, but as a team, we know what we have to accomplish and what it takes to get there."

First the Spartans must stop Iowa, which beat Minnesota 81-78 last night. Minnesota outscored Iowa 48-35 in the second half but it wasn't enough.

Kyle Galloway led the way for the Hawkeyes with 30 points, including five 3-pointers. Jacob Jaacks added 18. It was Iowa's first-ever win in the tournament.

Pete Vignier's career-high 16 points were not enough for the Wolverines, who had won at least one game in each of the previous two Big Ten Tournaments.