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Dispatch
3/2/06
3/2/06
NO. 9 OHIO STATE 56 | NORTHWESTERN 53
A piece of the action
OSU grabs share of Big Ten title with last-minute win
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
BRIAN KERSEY | ASSOCIATED PRESS Terence Dials goes up for a shot against Northwestern’s Vedran Vukusic. Dials led Ohio State with 18 points.
BRIAN KERSEY | ASSOCIATED PRESS J.J. Sullinger gives high-fives to happy Ohio State fans after the Buckeyes clinched a share of the Big Ten title.
EVANSTON, Ill. — A last-minute win usually inspires more emotion. A last-minute win to win a championship usually inspires a celebration.
But Ohio State won only a share of the Big Ten men’s basketball title last night in Welsh-Ryan Arena. And the Buckeyes don’t plan to share.
"We’re not trying to be co(-champions).
We want to win it outright," guard Ron
Lewis said. "We want to go back home and finish it off with a win."
Because of Lewis, they will have that chance.
The junior from Brookhaven, who transferred from Bowling Green in 2004 for a chance to play for bigger stakes, made a driving layup with 10.1 seconds left to give the Buckeyes a one-point lead over Northwestern. Then he intercepted a pass at the other end with 1.5 seconds left to all but complete a 56-53 victory before a crowded house that included fans of not only Northwestern and Ohio State but also Illinois, which is still alive for a piece of the title.
"Coach (Thad Matta) said Illinois was buying up tickets," center Terence Dials said. "He said we were going to (tick) millions of people off if we won this game, and that’s what we did. Illinois is still in the hunt, they still want to share the Big Ten title. But we still control our own destiny, and if we get a win against Purdue, it’s over."
With one game left, the Buckeyes (22-4, 11-4) can win it outright for the first time in 14 years by beating Purdue on Sunday in Value City Arena.
Dials had 18 points to lead Ohio State, which won for the seventh time in its past eight Big Ten games and the 13 th in a row over Northwestern.
Vedran Vukusic’s 13 points led Northwestern (13-14, 5-10).
"It was a game of crazy plays," Matta said. "Fortunately for us, we got the last crack at it."
Ohio State struggled offensively for the second consecutive game against Northwestern and found itself behind by a point when Sterling Williams’ three-pointer gave the Wildcats a 49-48 lead with 5:33 left.
Northwestern still led by a point, 53-52, with less than a minute remaining after OSU squandered three cracks at taking the lead, on a missed front end of a 1-and-1 by Dials and missed three-pointers by Matt Sylvester and Lewis.
But Dials rebounded Lewis’ miss and Ohio State called a timeout with 30.3 seconds left to set up the last play, which began with Jamar Butler getting knocked around in a doubleteam at the top of the key and the ball bouncing free toward the right sideline.
Lewis retrieved it, passed to Foster, got the ball back on the opposite wing and drove into traffic for the go-ahead basket.
"Everybody was fumbling the ball, and I felt like I had to make the play,"
Lewis said. "I didn’t want my team to lose."
Northwestern eschewed a timeout after inbounding the ball. Instead, Williams drove the lane and had his pass to Bernard Cote intercepted by Lewis, who was fouled.
"I knew he wasn’t going to shoot the ball," Lewis said. "I knew he’s not a great shooter and I knew I had to stay back and look for the pass."
Lewis missed the front end of the 1-and-1 with 1.5 seconds left, but Tim Doyle’s length-ofthe-court inbounds pass sailed into the Northwestern bench. Foster, fouled on the ensuing inbounds pass, made two free throws for the final margin.
"I call timeout seven out of 10 times," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "But I saw the transition going and Sterling, that’s his strength. It looked like he was going to be able to get to the hole, but it just didn’t happen. I should have called a timeout."
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Thursday, March 02, 2006
Thursday, March 02, 2006
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