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 Defense and rebounding led to offense as the Buckeyes caught fire
and never cooled off en route to a 76-60 victory over the Wildcats
in a Big Ten game in Value City Arena.
"For whatever reason, I think we woke up," Ohio State forward Sam
Thompson said. "They got up nine and we drew the line. That's what
we talk about needing to do, having that killer instinct and put
teams away, and I think we did that."
The Buckeyes (21-6, 8-6 Big Ten) won for the fifth time in their
last six games after enduring a four-game losing streak in January.
Northwestern (12-15, 5-9) lost its fourth consecutive game. The
Wildcats have lost 33 straight in Columbus dating to 1977.
Trailing by nine points early in the first half, the Buckeyes
recovered by scoring on 20 of 22 possessions during a long stretch
spanning the halves and led by as many as 21 points twice in the
second half.
"I thought they turned up their defense a notch," first-year
Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. " I felt an extra burst of
energy. They have a very veteran team."
The intensity boiled over late in the game. Tempers flared with 5:24
left and Ohio State leading 66-50. Several players exchanged shoves
under the basket before the officials intervened.
After a long delay to review replay monitors and determine fouls on
the play, Northwestern forward Nikola Cerina and Ohio State forward
LaQuinton Ross were ejected.
After the game, official Ray Perone told a pool reporter that Cerina
was disqualified for swinging at Ohio State center Amir Williams,
which will result in a one-game suspension for Cerina because he
used a closed hand. Ross was ejected for committing two dead-ball
contact technical fouls, but he will not be suspended for fighting.
The skirmish resulted in 10 free throws. Williams and guard Aaron
Craft combined to make four foul shots for Ohio State. Northwestern
guard JerShon Cobb made two of four free throws and forward Nathan
Taphorn made one of two.
But at that point the outcome had long been decided.
"I think it was the consistency, no question," Ohio State coach Thad
Matta said of the Buckeyes' recovery from the lukewarm start. "The
big thing was we felt like we needed a run. I thought we did a
pretty good job keeping our composure. Guys knew coming out of
timeouts what they needed to do and went out and executed it."
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Ross scored 16 points to lead Ohio State before he was disqualified.
Guard Lenzelle Smith posted his second career double-double with 14
points and a team-leading 10 rebounds. Craft also had 14 points.
Ohio State outrebounded Northwestern 34-23.
"I just feel like our transition game and getting offense off of our
defense is our strong suit," Smith said. "Any time we can get in the
game and force the other team into turnovers and get steals, usually
we're getting wide-open 3s and dunks. It just builds on each other.
It gives us momentum and carries throughout the game."
Thompson contributed 11 points, hitting 3 of 4 from 3-point range.
The Buckeyes were 7 of 16 on 3-pointers for 43.8 percent.
"I just had a bunch of open looks and I was able to knock them
down," Thompson said. "I hit some big 3s, Q (Ross) hit some big 3s.
We were shooting the ball well today."
Northwestern forward Drew Crawford was hot early but was slowed by
foul trouble in the second half and finished with 22 points,
Northwestern was strong coming out of the gate, opening a 25-16 with
7:19 left in the first half. Ohio State appeared to be in trouble at
that point, but the Buckeyes charged back and went ahead 30-28 on a
drive by Ross against Crawford. Northwestern reclaimed the lead
briefly on a 3-pointer by guard Tre Demps before Ohio State finished
the half with a 7-2 run to lead 37-33 at intermission.
"I was really pleased with how we started the game," Collins said.
"We had good energy. What Ohio State did was turn up the heat
defensively as the last couple of minutes of the half wore down. I
thought that last couple minutes of the half for them to get the
lead at halftime was big and then we had a very poor start to the
second half."
NOTES: Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller was presented the
Silver Football awarded by the Chicago Tribune to the Big Ten's Most
Valuable Player. Miller won the award for the second consecutive
year. ... Buckeyes senior G Aaron Craft was named one of 23
finalists for the Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year
Award. ... Three of Northwestern's five Big Ten wins this season
have come on the road. That followed a conference trend of road
teams posting a .447 winning percentage in Big Ten games.
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