When the Big Ten expanded to 18 teams this season, with the addition of four West Coast schools, it decided to create a 15-team conference tournament.

That has added some drama for the schools at the bottom of the standings, vying for the last berths to next month’s conference tourney in Indianapolis.

Iowa (14-12, 5-10 Big Ten) currently sits in 15th place, with Washington (13-13, 4-11) a game back. Which makes Saturday’s matchup between the teams in Iowa City critical in determining which teams finish above the cut line with a handful of regular-season games remaining.

“It seems like every game here for the past four, five games has been like a Super Bowl for us that we’ve had to win,” first-year Huskies coach Danny Sprinkle said. “All you want to do is make the next game the last game (and) we’ve done that recently.

“This is a very important game. Does it shut the door on either of us? No, but it’s a crucial game for both of us.”

The Huskies are coming off an 89-85 overtime loss to visiting Rutgers on Wednesday that kept them out of a conference tournament spot. Mekhi Mason and Great Osobor combined for 37 points before both fouled out late for Washington, which played without guard DJ Davis because of the stomach flu that has been affecting much of the team.

The Hawkeyes have lost eight of their past 10 games, leading to speculation about coach Fran McCaffrey’s job security. They dropped an 80-78 decision to visiting Oregon on Thursday as Payton Sandfort and Josh Dix, who combined for 44 points, both missed potential game-tying layups in the closing seconds.

“It’s not just how we fought tonight in this game, it’s how they’ve continued to prepare in practice, with work ethic, with scouting-report information, with staying connected, staying together, staying positive with each other,” McCaffery said. “As a coach, that’s all you can ask. It makes you very proud when you have character like that on your basketball team.

“They want it badly. I want it badly for them. We were in position to get one, and we didn’t.”

–Field Level Media