Iowa's Big Ten Tournament game against Nebraska postponed until Friday

OMAHA, Neb. — Rainy weather throughout the day and into Thursday night has postponed Iowa’s Big Ten Tournament game against Nebraska.

Originally scheduled for 9 p.m. Thursday at TD Ameritrade Park, the quarterfinal matchup will begin Friday afternoon — approximately one hour after the conclusion of Ohio State and Maryland. The Terps and Buckeyes will pick up their suspended game at 10 a.m. Rain halted play with one out in the bottom of the eighth and Ohio State leading, 3-2.    

A 90-minute rain delay prior to the Ohio State-Maryland matchup knocked Thursday night's schedule off track. The Terps and Buckeyes didn’t get going until 6:35 p.m., which pushed the Iowa-Nebraska start time back as well. The Hawkeyes were scheduled to go 50 minutes after Ohio State and Maryland finished. Storms, however, filled Omaha’s evening forecast.

A decision to postpone was made around 8:30 p.m.

The move prevents a possible weather disruption in what is — at least for Iowa — its most important game of the season. Nebraska likely has an at-large bid solidified, but the Huskers too can benefit from a lengthy Omaha run.

Should Iowa win, it won’t play again until 9 a.m. Saturday against a team that’ll need to beat the Hawkeyes twice. An Iowa loss and Friday turns into a doubleheader; it would then face Minnesota at 7:30 p.m.        

Iowa began its Omaha stay with a 4-2 win over Indiana. The Hawkeyes need to win the Big Ten Tournament to return to a regional.  

Dargan Southard covers Iowa and UNI athletics, recruiting and preps for the Des Moines Register, HawkCentral.com and the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.