#12 Ohio State 61, Northwestern 52 (Final)

[Golferdow01]

sylvester played about 2-3 minutes...

When?

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

I didn't see Syl out there...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

sylvester played about 2-3 minutes...

Sylvester was DNP.....

yahoo.com

2/18/06

(12) Ohio St. 61, Northwestern 52

(12) Ohio St. 61, Northwestern 52Preview - Box Score - Recap
By RUSTY MILLER, AP Sports Writer
February 18, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- For those wondering if No. 12 Ohio State would have trouble recovering from a loss at Wisconsin, the answer was a resounding yes. Terence Dials had 14 points and 15 rebounds in the Buckeyes' lethargic 61-52 victory over Northwestern on Saturday.

We were a little sloppy," said coach Thad Matta, whose team was playing its third game this week, including a tough loss at Wisconsin on Wednesday night. "We just didn't have the juice. There was a point where Jamar (Butler) was pushing it up and it's one-on-five. I knew that wasn't a good sign."


The Buckeyes (19-4, 8-4 Big Ten) got off to a plodding start and then survived a second-half lull to win for the 12th consecutive time against the Wildcats. Dials scored eight of Ohio State's final nine points.

J.J. Sullinger scored 16 points, Ron Lewis added 15 and Butler 12 for the Buckeyes, who came in leading the conference in field-goal shooting at 49 percent but shot just 37 percent on Saturday.

The Buckeyes played without starter Matt Sylvester, who was sidelined with a stiff back.

Mohamed Hachad led Northwestern with 19 points -- scoring 15 in a row for the Wildcats (12-12, 4-8) in a second-half surge. Big Ten scoring leader Vedran Vukusic finished with 17 points.

After a listless first half, the Buckeyes got going to start the final 20 minutes. Butler hit a 3-pointer on the first trip down floor and Lewis later added another during a 13-2 run to start the half.

Northwestern managed five points over 16 minutes spanning halftime.

"They just came after us and we weren't able to handle it," coach Bill Carmody said. "Their pressure on our guards really bothered us."

The Wildcats weren't done. Hachad scored 15 straight Northwestern points -- mostly off backcourt steals or on dribble drives in a patient, patterned offense -- to pull the Wildcats to 50-48 with 5 1/2 minutes left.

"Then they got some penetration and they started to look for Dials," Carmody said.

With Ohio State hanging on 52-50, Dials took over, scoring on three consecutive possessions. He hit a turnaround in the lane with 2:34 left, had his shot blocked by Vukusic but scored on the follow, and then had a putback off another offensive rebound with 43 seconds left for a 58-50 lead. He later added two free throws.

"I just continued to hit the offensive glass," Dials said. "It was just the flow of the game. I happened to be open at times and got the ball."

The Buckeyes, the league's best 3-point shooting team, had their worst game of the season behind the arc, hitting just 3-of-23.

"With the exception of J.J. Redick, who's one of the best I've ever seen, shooting is a phenomenon," Matta said. "We had good shots that we have made before, but they just weren't going down. We need to continue shooting the ball. We need to stick with it and get our confidence back."

Northwestern, content to shoot layups or 3s -- where it was just 3-of-20 -- shot two free throws while the Buckeyes were 18-of-30.

The Buckeyes had their worst half -- scoring a season-low 21 points -- yet still led by a point at the break. They missed their first eight 3-point shots and hit one of their first 14 shots from the field.

Northwestern scored the first nine points while holding the Buckeyes scoreless for the first 5:50 and without a field goal over the opening 8 minutes.

Ohio State closed the half on a 13-3 run, taking its first lead on Lewis' baseline drive with a minute left. The Buckeyes had some nervous moments, but never trailed again. "This is the jolt we needed," Sullinger said. "Coming off a loss, we're in high spirits right now."

 

[jimotis4heisman]

When?

youre right... the original box score had him for 3 minutes and change. has since been chaged to dnp.

 

[smitty03]

Did anyone else notice Matta didnt sub ANYONE in the 2nd half? I thought that was pretty interesting, especially with us being short handed without Sylvester. Perhaps Matta wanted to see what kind of shape his team was in before March starts? Just a thought...

 

[daddyphatsacs]

Did anyone else notice Matta didnt sub ANYONE in the 2nd half? I thought that was pretty interesting, especially with us being short handed without Sylvester. Perhaps Matta wanted to see what kind of shape his team was in before March starts? Just a thought...

Good point Smitty.....although I didn't notice that, you damn observational bastard. Is something funky in the water at Chittenden?

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Did anyone else notice Matta didnt sub ANYONE in the 2nd half? I thought that was pretty interesting, especially with us being short handed without Sylvester. Perhaps Matta wanted to see what kind of shape his team was in before March starts? Just a thought...

Yeah I noticed, I pointed it out earlier and I still don't know how we turned it on at the end. I think with about 8 or so to go our guys were dead, and were making stupid mistakes and couldnt hit from long range b/c their legs were dead. I really hated the move, I would of liked to see him put Twig in even if it was for 2 minutes or so and then put Harris in and rotate the guards through to give them a minute. Hell he even could of put in Bell.

It could still prove to be disaster come East Lansing time if Mayes and Sylvester are still hurt. NO way we run 5 guys all game against them.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Rivals.com (free)

2/19/06

Game wrap-up by Jeff Rapp.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Scout.com (free)

2/19/06

Game wrap-up by Steve Helwagen.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

2/19/06

NO. 12 OHIO STATE 61 | NORTHWESTERN 52

Buckeyes subdue Wildcats after slow start

Defense spurs reversal after OSU starts 0 of 12 from field, trails 13-1

Sunday, February 19, 2006

Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

NEAL C . LAURON | DISPATCH Jamar Butler of Ohio State and Michael Jenkins of Northwestern vie for a loose ball in the second half.


The good thing about playing the Northwestern men’s basketball team is you can score just a little more than next to nothing and still win because, by nature, the Wildcats score exactly next to nothing.

They bleed the clock with patience on offense. They average fewer than 60 points per game.

So another tooth-puller came to pass yesterday in Value City Arena. Ohio State missed its first 12 shots from the field and still led at halftime. It built a 15-point lead, withstood a Northwestern rally and won 61-52 despite shooting 37 percent from the field and making three of 23 three-point attempts.

Coach Thad Matta entered his postgame news conference, rolled his eyes, mouthed a "Whew" and put the best face on it. Ohio State (19-4, 8-4) regained a share of second place in the Big Ten with Wisconsin and got back to even in the loss column with first-place Iowa after the Hawkeyes lost at Minnesota. Style points did not factor in.

"I was extremely concerned going into this game with our effort level because of the three games in six days that we’ve played," Matta said. "To the guys’ credit, they toughed it out."

Ohio State’s five starters — Jamar Butler, Je’Kel Foster, Ron Lewis, J.J. Sullinger and Terence Dials — played the entire second half and 35 or more minutes overall because starting forward Matt Sylvester was sidelined by a recurrence of tightness in his lower back.

"We thought we could get him loosened up through warm-ups, but he wasn’t able to go," Matta said. "The way he’s been playing with his passing (20 assists the past four games) and even his scoring (14 points at Wisconsin), that was a tough blow for us."

Sullinger scored 16 points, Lewis 15 and Dials 14 and they combined for 13 offensive rebounds to help the Buckeyes score 19 second-chance points.

Dials had 15 rebounds for his third consecutive doubledouble.

Mohammed Hachad had 19 points to lead Northwestern (12-12, 4-8), which lost its 26 th straight game in Columbus since last winning here in 1977.

After overcoming a 13-1 deficit to lead 21-20 at halftime, the Buckeyes built a 44-29 lead with 10:39 left with a surge of pressure defense by Butler and Foster. Foster dived into the scorer’s table to flip a loose ball to Sullinger for a breakaway dunk during a 13-2 burst in the first five minutes of the second half.

"They just came after us and we were not able to handle it," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "Their pressuring our guards really bothered us a lot."

Northwestern stabilized, however, forced a few turnovers itself and Hachad scored 15 straight points in a 21-8 run in which the Wildcats three times got to two points, the last with 3:45 remaining.

Dials came up big at that point, scoring on a deep feed, twice on offensive rebounds and finally with two free throws as the Buckeyes secured victory with a 9-2 kick to the finish.

Afterward, Sullinger took mild exception when asked whether the Buckeyes are in need of a jolt after not looking sharp the past two games.

"We’re sitting here answering questions like we lost," he said. "We won the game.

"You’ve got to give Northwestern credit. Northwestern plays a different style of basketball than most teams, and it’s effective. It’s hard to play defense for 35 seconds. You’ve got to be extremely committed.

"But we got the win and we’re happy about it. I think we’re in high spirits."

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Sunday, February 19, 2006