Sitting right on the bubble, the Illinois Fighting Illini need at least a victory in the Big Ten tournament to better their position into the NCAA tournament.

The Illini can reach the 20-win plateu again under John Groce with a win this morning against Michigan at the United Center in Chicago against Michigan.

The 19-11 Illini split the season series with the Wolverines, each winning at home.

The brackets are released Sunday.

>>Penn State Knocks Off Nebraska In Big Ten Tourney Action

D.J. Newbill scored 26 points on 9-of-22 shooting and the Penn State Nittany Lions held off the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 68-65, in the first round of the Big Ten Conference Tournament.

Shep Garner made five 3-pointers en route to 19 points for the 13th-seeded Nittany Lions (17-15), who will play the fifth-seeded Iowa Hawkeyes in the second round on Thursday.

Terran Petteway ended with 29 points for the 12th-seeded Cornhuskers (13-18), who lost their ninth straight game. Shavon Shields contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds.

>>Minnesota Takes Down Rutgers

Joey King was one of four Minnesota Golden Gophers to net double figures as his 20 points led the 11th-seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers to an 80-68 victory over the 14th-seeded Rutgers Scarlet Knights in the first round of the 2015 Big Ten Conference Tournament at the United Center.

King converted 6-of-9 from 3-point distance, while Carlos Morris added 16 points to the scoring effort for Minnesota (18-14). Nate Mason contributed 15 points and Maurice Walker tallied a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in the win. Minnesota, which won despite Andre Hollins (14.3 ppg) being held scoreless, will now challenge sixth-seeded Ohio State on Thursday in the quarterfinal round.

Kadeem Jack scored 18 points and pulled down five rebounds for Rutgers (10-22). Myles Mack tallied 15 points and four steals, while Bishop Daniels also netted 15 points before fouling out. Junior Etou nearly collected a double-double as he scored nine points and grabbed nine rebounds.