The first time that a Big Ten tournament game had reached a multi-overtime point, was good for Illinois, and for the conference. Ohio State finished it out in double overtime winning 88-81 aganist the Fighting Illini. Evan Turner had 31 points, 12 of them coming in both overtimes. Turner finished with a triple double -- 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 turnovers. Although it's not exactly what you wanted to see for a triple-double, he came through for the Buckeyes at the end. Just when the Buckeyes were about to pull away in double overtime, though, Turner got his 5th foul, which meant he was sitting on the bench. Ohio State had to be a little worried at that point, thinking that Illinois would stage a comeback. David Lighty, who had 12 points, turned into the Villian though, and made sure it didn't happen. He scored on a jumper, and then intercepted a pass and made a layup to put the Buckeyes ahead by 6, and giving them the final score. Illinois (19-14) was led by Demetri McCamey, who scored 19 of his 22 points after the first 20 minutes, and Mike Davis with 13 points and 18 rebounds. Davis fell one rebound short of matching Greg Oden's single-game record for rebounds.
Deibler is a happy man..
The Fighting Illini will now have to wait to see whether they've done enough to impress the NCAA selection committee to earn one of the 34 at-large bids. In my eyes they have earned it, upsetting Wisconsin and almost upsetting Ohio State here today. They twice had chances to win at the buzzer but both shots came after the buzzer. Davis had an open layup at the end of regulation, but it rolled off the rim. D.J. Richardson had a 3-pointer at the end of the first overtime, but it didn't count once again. Early in the second half, the Buckeyes went on another streak without scoring a point, falling into a 45-35 hole. Ohio State then rallied around Turner, who scored seven points in a 20-0 run that gave the Buckeyes a 59-50 lead with 8 minutes left in regulation. Then Illinois charged back and hit a couple shots to go ahead. William Buford tied the score with a layup, Illinois then made some free throws. Then Turner drove in for a reverse layup with 12 seconds left to make it 66-66. In the first overtime, Illinois took a 75-71 lead on Tyler Griffin's tip-in with 86 seconds to go. Turner scored the final four points and Richardson couldn't get his shot off in time. After Jon Diebler opened it with a 3-pointer, Turner made back-to-back layups to give Ohio State an 82-77 lead and Illinois never got another chance to tie it. They had their chances, but Ohio State came ready to play and did not give up. As of right now, Minnesota will most likely be their next opponenet because of the 20+ point lead on Purdue.
