updated 7:59 p.m. ET Feb. 14, 2007

The winter storm that dumped snow and ice throughout the Midwest and Northeast wiped out two Big Ten basketball games Wednesday and racing at five thoroughbred tracks.

The games featuring Indiana-Purdue and Northwestern-Iowa were two of at least four called off in men’s Division I. The others were Lafayette-Bucknell and Iona-St. Peters.

Heavy snow blanketed much of Indiana, with blizzard conditions dumping nearly a foot of snow in some areas and 40 mph winds leaving drifts up to 6 feet high.

Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke said No. 24 Indiana and the Big Ten were involved in the decision to delay the game between state rivals until Thursday. Purdue canceled classes at the West Lafayette campus until noon Wednesday.

“The decision comes down to the safety of everyone involved,” Burke said.

The game at Iowa was reset for Thursday night as part of doubleheader with the Iowa’s women’s team, which faces Illinois in the second game.

On the racetrack, Aqueduct (New York), Turfway Park (Florence, Ky.), Beulah Park (Grove City, Ohio), Laurel Park (Laurel, Md.) and Penn National (Grantville, Pa.) abandoned racing. Penn National also said it will not run Thursday.

The storm also took a toll on harness tracks. Yonkers Raceway, Monticello Raceway and Buffalo Raceway in New York and the Meadowlands Racetrack and Freehold Raceway in New Jersey canceled Wednesday programs.

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In upstate New York, more than a foot of snow had fallen by midday in parts of the Adirondacks, and up to 3 feet of snow was possible.

The Lafayette-Bucknell game in Lewisberg, Pa., was shifted from Wednesday night to Thursday night. The Iona-St. Peter’s game in Jersey City, N.J., was postponed until Thursday. The College of New Jersey moved men’s and women’s games against Rutgers-Camden to Thursday.

Texas Tech’s baseball game against Eastern Michigan in the Midland College Classic in Texas was canceled because of cold weather, and the Patriot League delayed the start of the conference’s three-day swimming and diving championships at Bucknell from Thursday to Friday.

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