Buckeyes Fall To Michigan State In B1G Championship

Sullinger  is ready for March Madness

Draymond Green now has the winning chapter in Michigan State history he has longed for.

Green had 12 points and nine rebounds to help the eighth-ranked Spartans beat No. 7 Ohio State 68-64 on Sunday in the Big Ten tournament championship game.

Green and the Spartans claimed both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles, and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Big Ten player of the year and the tournament's most outstanding player felt he needed to win something for coach Tom Izzo to include him in the conversation with Michigan State greats.

Brandon Wood scored a season-high 21 points. Wood transferred to Michigan State after graduating from Valparaiso last year with eligibility remaining. He received a waiver from the NCAA to play immediately because he entered graduate school. He only started because starter Branden Dawson tore a left knee ligament in the regular-season finale against Ohio State.

Michigan State Handles Buckeyes, Snaps 39-game home streak

The two best coaches in the B1G.

With four minutes to play and Ohio State trailing Michigan State by eight points, Jared Sullinger went up for a basket against former AAU teammate Adreian Payne. It looked like Sullinger was hacked on his way to the rim, but a charge call sent Value City Arena into a frenzy of boos. OSU head coach Thad Matta looked daze and confused while Jared’s dad, Satch, glared at the court with his hands on his hips.

For the first time in 40 games, the Buckeyes (21-4, 9-3) fell on their home floor, 58-48, to Michigan State (20-5, 9-3), and in the process blew a chance for a two-game lead in the Big Ten standings.

Ohio State opened the game with a 9-4 lead, but both teams struggled to find a rhythm offensively. Sullinger finished with a triple-double, but not the kind he will put on his résumé. The Buckeyes’ star sophomore grabbed a season-high 16 rebounds to go with 17 points, but also turned the ball over 10 times in the loss. It did not help that Sullinger’s teammates were largely ineffective against the Spartan defense. 

Smith, Buckeyes Give Late Push Against Wolverines

(AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Lenzelle Smith Jr. once again stepped up big time for #4 Ohio State, as he scored 17 points and had a career-high 12 rebounds as the Buckeyes (19-3, 7-2) flexed its muscle inside to beat the 22nd ranked Michigan squad 64-49 on Sunday, keeping the Buckeyes in a first-place tie in the Big Ten.

Jared Sullinger added 13 points and William Buford and Deshaun Thomas both had 12 for Ohio State (19-3, 7-2), which ran its winning streak over its archrival to six straight and eight of nine.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had 15 points for the Wolverines (16-6, 6-3). Trey Burke, the conference's top freshman point guard, returned to his hometown to play for the first time against Sullinger, his former high school teammate, and finished with 13 points.

The Buckeyes also extended their home-court winning streak to 38, the second-longest in the program's 100 years. Leading by three points at halftime, the Buckeyes pulled away with a 14-2 run midway through the second half. Bookended by 3-pointers by Burke, most of the points came as a result of backdoor cuts or drives. It didn't include a 3.

Buford, who was quiet throughout the first half, got it started with a driving layup. Later in the spurt he stepped in front of Burke's crosscourt pass and streaked the length of the court for a dunk.

Basketball Recap: #2 Ohio State 82, USC Up State 58

Thomas was excellent last night

Everyone was pleased with how All-America forward Jared Sullinger played in his first game back after missing two because of back spasms.

Everybody but Sullinger, that is.

Deshaun Thomas scored 23 points and No. 2 Ohio State welcomed back Sullinger in an 82-58 victory over South Carolina Upstate on Wednesday night.

"I was terrible tonight," he said with a laugh after collecting a workmanlike 12 points and 10 rebounds in 33 minutes. "I was tired. Taking two weeks off is a killer."

The 6-foot-9 sophomore wasn't cleared to play until earlier Wednesday. He had missed the Buckeyes' win over Texas-Pan American and Saturday's 78-67 loss at No. 13 Kansas.

Coach Thad Matta said Sullinger played just about the way he expected.

"I thought he did a pretty decent job," Matta said. "He hadn't played since the Duke game (an 85-63 rout on Nov. 29). To get him out there and get him moving, he knew he was going to be rusty and probably a little bit winded. But now that gives him some confidence to get back (to where he was) and to go to work."

Sullinger received polite applause when he entered the game at the 14:37 mark of the first half. He took his time getting into the pace of the game.

"Sullinger looked like all really good players," Spartans coach Eddie Payne said. "He had quiet production. He had 12 and 10 and didn't seem like he did a whole lot."

It was Sullinger who suggested to Matta that he not start.

Recap: Ohio State 34 Michigan 40

The last drive wasn't enough

When people remember the 2011 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-6, 3-5), what will come to mind? That this was the first team to lose to Michigan in 7 years? Maybe they'll remember it as Braxton Miller's coming out party, where he led the Buckeyes to a 6-6 record, which would have been much worse without him. 

Perhaps the line of thinking will go towards the team that came after Jim Tressel and before Urban Meyer. Whichever way people remember it, this season was rough for OSU fans, and they most likely will try and forget it.

When OSU took the field, there was some serious energy on offense, before Braxton Miller connected with a wide open Philly Brown for the first score of the game. Better yet, it was a long pass that completed an outstanding drive, that was perhaps one of the best drives this season. The common phrase this game was "Where was this play-calling all season?". 

It seemed as if Fickell, coaching in what may be his first and last Michigan game was pulling out all the stops and kidnapping Jim Bollman's playbook for the day, to allow Braxton to actually be set free. The 18th-ranked Wolverines and first-year head coach Brady Hoke notched their first win over the arch-rival Buckeyes since 2003, prevailing 40-34 in what was by far the most entertaining Ohio State-Michigan game since the one-versus-two game in 2006. The offense's on both sides exploded, but the same could be said about the defense's.

Recap: Ohio State 14, Penn State 20

Posey did his best to try and get a win

The last time Penn State won a game without Joe Paterno as coach was December 1965.

That day, the Nittany Lions used a strong defensive effort to beat Maryland, behind the coach who mentored Paterno, Rip Engle.

On Saturday, No. 21 Penn State earned its first victory since Paterno was fired with a similarly stingy defense.

Stephfon Green ran for two touchdowns and the Nittany Lions held Ohio State (6-5, 3-4) scoreless in the second half of the 20-14 victory on Saturday.

"We talked about the last two teams to win here were `78 and `08," said interim coach Tom Bradley, who was promoted after Paterno was fired 10 days ago. "I said to them, `I want to know: How are you going to be remembered?"

They'll be remembered as at least co-champs of the Big Ten's Leaders Division, while Ohio State falls again.

Recap: Ohio State 23, Purdue 26

Hall made some big plays

If you thought that Ohio State (6-4, 3-3) would come out fast and looking ready to go for a November to remember, you weren't the only one. Sadly, it looked as if they didn't make any progress from the close-shave against Indiana. The trip to Ross-Ade stadium again seems to give fits to Ohio State offenses, and the defense looked terrible in a 26-23 overtime loss to Purdue. The Boilermakers (5-5, 3-3) had just been coming off 2 straight losses - both in ugly fashion. First came Michigan who they lost to 36-14, and then traveled to Camp Randall where the Badgers took care of business in fashion 62-17.

Of course, those games meant nothing to Purdue. Look at their home record before this game: 4-1. Their only loss came to Notre Dame. They beat Illinois and a Minnesota team that has shown much improvement from the past couple of years. Add to the fact that the Buckeyes have some weird phobia of playing against the Boilermakers at Purdue, and that's a recipe for confidence and success for Danny Hope's squad, which is now one win away from bowl edibility. As for Ohio State, things have taken a turn for the worse since their monumental upset of then highly-ranked Wisconsin. After that game, Ohio State was just 1 game away from being in control of their own destiny on their way to a B1G CCG. All they had to worry about was winning out, but even with Braxton Miller's heroics again, this time with a 4th down roll-out that ended in a fantastic Jordan Hall catch,  the Buckeye defense couldn't come up with a stop in overtime.

Recap: Ohio State 33, Wisconsin 29

Devin Smith for the win

After the first half of the season came and went with anxiety, disappointment and many second half collapses, Ohio State (5-3, 2-2) finally came out on top over a quality opponent, and did it in style. The Wisconsin Badgers (7-2, 3-2) fell to the Buckeyes on another Hail Mary play, for the second straight week. Of course, Russell Wilson had a chance at the end with about 20 ticks on the clock, but couldn't complete a pass although Nick Toon came up very close twice. When you look back on Ohio State in 2011, this may be the turning point on a chaotic season. If Ohio State wins out, the Buckeyes will be facing the inaugural B1G Championship Game in Indianapolis. This game was by far OSU's toughest test of the season, and perhaps one of the most important games as far as trying to maintain a sense of Big Ten superiority.

The two Big Ten losses the Buckeyes have suffered have come at the hands of Nebraska and Michigan State, both who are in the Legends division, while Ohio State and Wisconsin both fall under the Leaders division. There were so many key moments in this game, and for OSU to upset a rival like the Badgers was huge for confidence in true freshman Braxton Miller and the rest of this young Buckeye squad down this last stretch of games, including 2 key match-ups in November: Penn State, and at Michigan.

Recap: Ohio State 17, Illinois 7

The return of Boom was huge

The Ohio State Buckeyes (4-3, 1-2) upset the Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1, 2-1) 17-7 on Saturday after an impressive showing of defense and pounding the Illini front line for big runs. The return of Dan "Boom" Herron was key in this game as he rushed for 114 yards on 23 carries. The Buckeyes also relied heavily on the defense, which turned out to be a not so bad idea. The defensive stance of this game was great, and although the offense was ridiculous, the defense was on it's game after the debacle in Lincoln.

The Silver Bullets forced 3 turnovers, two of which set up the Buckeyes' touchdowns, while Braxton Miller threw only 4 passes. Only one of those were complete, but the completion was a big deal, as it resulted in a 14 yard touchdown pass to Jake Stoneburner, to just about seal the deal on the upset and give the Buckeyes a 17 point lead. The passing game was very quiet in this game, as the first pass wasn't even thrown until the 7:22 mark of the second quarter. The touchdown pass was completed at the 13:06 mark of the 4th. Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase was 20/34 for 169 yards, with two interceptions, and 1 touchdown that was thrown to Evan Wilson late in the game to stop the shut out.

Another reason the Buckeye defense did so well? Bradley Roby and the rest of the Buckeye secondary played well, and stopped Scheelhaase's #1 target: A.J. Jenkins. Roby said during the week that Jenkins was "nothing special". At the time, Jenkins was averaging 135.8 yards a game, and in this game, often covered by Roby himself, only had 80 yards and 8 catches. That may not sound too bad, but they were catches that didn't really affect the drives all that much. Illinois senior tailback Jason Ford left the game in the 3rd quarter with an injured left shoulder after a big hit on a first down carry. He finished with 30 yards on six carries.

Recap: Ohio State 27, Nebraska 34

Carlos Hyde's 67-yard run.

When Ohio State (3-3, 0-2) built a 27-6 lead over the favored, 14th ranked Cornhuskers, Buckeye fans across the nation watching could believe that they had finally turned it around and were ready to start competing. The Cornhuskers were on their heels for the majority of this game, at least, until true freshman Braxton Miller gained 3 yards on a 2nd down play.

That play is significant because Miller hurt his ankle to the point in which he could not return in this game, but even previous before that, the ghost of Maurice Clarrett seemed to come to the Huskers side, as Lavonte David stripped the ball right out of Braxton Miller's hands on a medium gain run. After that, the Cornhuskers rolled on offense.

Perhaps the reason is when Braxton got hurt, that left the game in Joe Bauserman's hands. Bauserman came in when Ohio State was then clinging to a 27-13 lead, and went 1/10 (10% completion percentage) for 13 yards and 1 pick. Every incompletion sailed high over every intended target, even some wide open ones. On the flip side, Taylor Martinez and Rex Burkhead just dominated in the second half, as the defense for OSU must have been super tired after not getting any long breaks from touchdowns while Bauserman was in. Martinez went 16/22 passing for 191 yards and Burkhead ran for 119 yards on 26 carries. Carlos Hyde led the Buckeyes in rushing with 104 on only 13 carries. Before Braxton Miller was injured, he was doing very well throwing the ball, and of course running. He went 5/8 (62.5% completion percentage), and rushed for 95 yards on 10 carries.

Recap: Ohio State 7, Michigan State 10

If he isn't the answer, who is?

With the way the offense had played the past 2-3 games, I can't say I'm surprised that we only scored 1 touchdown in garbage time. Michigan State's defense is ranked #1 in the country in total defense (172 YPG), and passing defense (101 YPG). They backed up that lofty ranking, and added more stats into their rushing defense. Jordan Hall and Carlos Hyde a few big runs, and really couldn't seem to find a rhythm. I can't blame them: MSU knew what we were running, and so did everyone else in the 'Shoe yesterday. Michigan State (4-1, 1-0) didn't even have possession of the ball for this game, and even then the defense did it's job. The Buckeyes (3-2, 0-1), had true freshman Braxton Miller in at the helm again, but even #5 couldn't make any good plays that day.

Joe Bauserman led Ohio State to it's only score, that came with only 20 or so seconds left, and the onside kick was recoverable, but ended in the hands of Michigan State. The loss at home ended a 16 game winning streak in the 'Shoe. Fickell said after the game that he might just open up the quarterback job to the four contenders, including Kenny Guiton and Taylor Graham, who had fought for the job during spring and fall practices. At the same time, he said Miller would remain the starter for now. Bauserman came in late in the game, to many Buckeye's despair. Joe went 7/14, for 87 yards and a touchdown throw to Evan Spencer. Miller on the other hand went 5/10 for 56 yards with an interception. I was outraged with putting in Bauserman and then throwing on first and second down, like we should have been doing all game long with Miller in the game.

To put the blame on Miller is a bit childish in my opinion. The one interception he threw, Devin Smith had it in his hands, only to have it be ripped away by the defender, so that one isn't on Braxton. Other than that, his offensive line blocked way better for Bauserman than they did for Miller. Perhaps that's just my Braxton Kool-Aid glasses, but it sure seemed like Bauserman had more time to throw in the pocket late in the game. Dan Conroy wrapped the game up with a 50 yard FG, from the bend, don't break, defense. That gave the Spartans the 10-0 lead, with only a few minutes left in the game.

Recap: Ohio State 27, Toledo 22

Fields returned a 69 yard punt for a TD

It all came down to the last half minute for the Toledo Rockets. They trailed 27-22 with about 45 seconds left in the game when quarterback Terrance Owens started to roll out and look for his go-to receiver, Eric Page. Page, of course, the unsung hero of the day for the Toledo Rockets had been making plays all over the field against the Silver Bullet's, and OSU's defense had yet to really contain him.

As John Simon gave chase and put some real pressure on Owens, the ball fell to the turf on 4th down, and #13 Ohio State lived to see another game in the world of the undefeated. How long that will last, will be up to on how much we can improve from now until the Miami game on the 24th. The fact that OSU had to rely on the Rocket's mistakes to win the game says enough in itself. 14 penalties, a missed field goal, and a punt return for a touchdown all killed Toledo's momentum when they would start to build it up.

Despite all these struggles, Toledo still led for most of this game, including late in the third quarter. They had led 15-7 after the first quarter and were leading 22-21 very late in the third. Ohio State still managed to take the lead, and started to look like they could finally put the nail in the coffin and head into Week 3 with a little momentum, when the unthinkable happened: Rod Smith fumbled with less than 2 minutes in the game. Luckily John Simon was there, and more plays from OSU's defense and special teams saved the day as the offense had trouble scoring and even driving down the field.

Chris Fields had a really nice day returning the ball and got his first punt return for a touchdown, that went for 69 yards. Carlos Hyde had 2 scores for the Buckeyes, who are still recovering and trying to figure out how long Travis Howard, Jordan Hall and Corey Brown will be out due to suspensions. Joe Bauserman was the starter and went 16/30 (53% completion percentage) for 189 yards and 1 touchdown. Braxton Miller did not see any playing time at all yesterday, and that left Buckeye Nation a little deceived by the coaching staff.

Buckeyes Pay Wisconsin Back With Interest

Sullinger and the Buckeyes get revenge

Diebler lived up to his "Threebler" nickname Sunday, by hitting 7 of 8 shots behind the arc while scoring 27 points, as Ohio State (29-2, 16-2 Big Ten) set NCAA Division I records by making 14 of 15 3-pointers (93.3 percent) and hitting 14 in a row -- after missing the first. Still hurting from their first loss of the year, a 71-67 setback at Wisconsin on Feb. 12, the Buckeyes unleashed their best game of the season -- shutdown defense at one end and 68-percent shooting from the field at the other.


Freshman Jared Sullinger had 22 points just weeks after accusing a Wisconsin fan of spitting in his face as he left the floor at the Kohl Center. He had told several people that he not only wanted to beat the Badgers, but that he wanted to beat them by 50 points. It wasn't that big of a blowout, but they did defeat the Badgers by 28 in the 93-65 win. William Buford added 18 points and David Lighty 13 for the Buckeyes, who won their 22nd straight home game while dropping Wisconsin to just 4-5 in Big Ten road games this season.

Ryan had been the focal point for many fans in a capacity crowd of 18,809 who felt he had disrespected the Buckeyes after the first meeting when he said, "We won the game. Deal with it."

Josh Gasser had 17 points, Jon Leuer 16 and Keaton Nankivil 10 for the Badgers (23-7, 13-5). Jordan Taylor, who had scored 21 of his 27 points to lead the comeback in the second half of the first meeting, was limited to eight points on 2-of-9 shooting. He was shadowed throughout the game by Ohio State freshman Aaron Craft.

Diebler, Buckeyes Clinch Share Of Big Ten Championship

Threebler!

Whether wide open, fading away from a defender or with a bad look at the basket with a hand in his face, Ohio State's Jon Diebler had one of those games in which he just couldn't miss.


The kid was on absolute fire Tuesday night at Penn State, draining 10 3's for tying a conference record. Diebler had a career-high 30 points and set a school record with 10 3-pointers Tuesday night to lead top-ranked Ohio State to an 82-61 rout of Penn State to clinch at least a share of the Big Ten title.

Diebler went 5 of 6 from behind the arc in the first half as the Buckeyes (28-2, 15-2) built a 15-point halftime lead and never let up. There wasn't much talk afterward about tying for the title -- a loss by No. 6 Purdue at Iowa on Saturday or an Ohio State win over No. 10 Wisconsin on Sunday would give the Buckeyes the title outright.

Penn State is now falling fast on the chances of going to the NCAA tournament this year, and they'd better find their footing quickly, otherwise their feet will be on the couch watching March Madness on the TV. 


Senior Talor Battle scored 18 points in his final regular-season home game for Penn State (15-13, 8-9).

Thomas, Buckeyes Blow Up Hooisers

We've said on here that to win a championship this year, DeShaun Thomas would have to step up and be a key player. Yesterday, he did just that.


Deshaun Thomas, last year's Indiana Mr. Basketball, came out of a slump with 22 points to lead Ohio State (No. 3 ESPN/USA Today, No. 2 AP) past Indiana 82-61 on Sunday. Thomas scored all the points during a 14-3 first-half run that spanned 3:36 and turned the game into a rout. He had managed just 13 points in his last seven games. Thomas, who Indiana coach Tom Crean had tried to recruit after he had verbally committed to Ohio State, was the story for the Buckeyes in the first half. He gave them a lift after starters Jared Sullinger, David Lighty and Dallas Lauderdale got in early foul trouble.


Indiana, which hasn't beaten a Top 25 team on the road in more than nine years, led 8-7 after Derek Elston scissored through the lane for a layup at the 16:35 mark, but didn't score again for almost 8 minutes until Elston scored again on a short jumper.


William Buford added 15 points and Jon Diebler had 11 for the Buckeyes, who could ascend to No. 1 next week after top-ranked Duke lost at Virginia Tech on Saturday night. The defeat was Indiana's sixth in a row to Ohio State.


The victory helped Ohio State maintain a one-game lead in the Big Ten with two games remaining -- at Penn State on Tuesday night and home against Wisconsin on Sunday. It was Wisconsin that hung the first loss on the Buckeyes on Feb. 12 in Madison.

Lighty Brings Buckeyes Back

Jared & Buckeyes were able to rely on Lighty

David Lighty scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and William Buford had all 17 of his in the first to lead Ohio State (No. 3 ESPN/USA Today, No. 2 AP) past Illinois 89-70 on Tuesday night, an impressive bounce-back game after two recent losses for the Buckeyes.


The Buckeyes never trailed after tying it 2-2, building a 15-point lead at halftime and then trading runs with the Illini, but eventually pulling off the win 89-70.

Ohio State shot 53 percent from the field to end Illinois' string of 37 consecutive games holding an opponent under 50 percent. The last team to reach 50 percent was also Ohio State, which shot 53.1 against the Illini on Feb. 14, 2010.


Buford, though, was the chief reason the Buckeyes pulled away. He had 17 points to go with two assists, feeding Diebler for a 3 from the right corner at the buzzer to send the large crowd into intermission with a sustained roar. 

Buckeyes Bounce Back Against Spartans

Buford played a key part in the win

Coming off an upset loss at the hands of Wisconsin, Buckeye fans weren't sure what to expect. Would they see a hangover from the loss at the Kohl Center, or a Purdue smash-down? The players, actually, just acted like the loss never happened, struggling their way to a 71-61 victory over the Spartans. Jon Diebler and David Lighty each had 12 points. Craft, a freshman substitute point guard, had seven points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds -- and a hustle play that was the talk of both head coaches.


Kalin Lucas led the Spartans (14-11, 6-7) with 14 points, while Adreian Payne and Draymond Green each had 10. They've lost six of their last eight but fought hard throughout. Izzo continued to tell the media that the Spartans aren't out for the count. I would say they are awfully close at this point, though, and need to get moving if they want to earn a good spot in the NCAA tournament.


Near the end, Ohio State fans taunted the Spartans, who have made it to the Final Four in six of the last 12 seasons, with a cheer of "N-I-T! N-I-T!". Can't say I encourage it, coming off a loss and being spit on by Badger fans.

The Buckeyes were 23 of 29 at the free-throw line to the Spartans' 5 of 6, another aspect of the game that rankled Izzo.

Buckeyes Sneak Past Northwestern For Win

Thanks to a David Lighty steal, and a free throw from Jared Sullinger to go up by one, the Buckeyes were able to escape from Evanston with a win in a close, but expectedly so, Big Ten match-up.

Sullinger finished with 21 points and Aaron Craft had 13 points for Ohio State.

Leading by only two at the half, Ohio State (22-0, 9-0 Big Ten) pulled out to a 13-point lead in the second half with a 14-4 run. The Wildcats, though were still coming after OSU hard even withoutleading scorer John Shurna because of a concussion, came back behind senior guard Michael Thompson, who led the Wildcats with 16 points -- 13 in the second half.


Surprisingly, the Wildcats were able to lead on the boards, which usually means tough times for the Buckeyes, even without Shurna. Ohio State shot 57 percent for the game and Sullinger was 7 for 12 from the field.


Ohio State's record was moved to 22-0, a very good start obviously, but the longest Buckeyes win streak in a single season was the 1960-61 season, in which they started out 27-0. This is a possiblity for OSU, and would be pretty amazing to see. Thad Matta can certainly lead this team to do it, he's got all the talent and heart he could ever want. 


Notes:


- Northwestern is now 0-15 all-time against teams ranked No. 1.


- Northwestern is now 0-7 against ranked opponents this season.


- The Buckeyes held on to improve to 20-1 all-time against the Wildcats.

Buckeyes Pound Boilermakers In Big Ten Showdown

For the many doubters that OSU may have had over the last 20 or so games, they have pretty much shut their mouth by now. Ohio State is now 21-0, (8-0 Big Ten) and the only remaining unbeaten team in the country. Kansas fell to Texas, and San Diego State got outplayed by 1 man of the BYU squad (who looks very dangerous thus far).

William Buford had 19 points, Jared Sullinger added 17 and the top-ranked Buckeyes played almost flawlessly in rolling past No. 12 Purdue 87-64 on Tuesday night.


This time it wasn't just the effort of 1 or two guys, no, Tuesday night was all about teamwork as Jon Diebler had 13 points and a career-high eight rebounds, Deshaun Thomas added 13 points, David Lighty scored 10 points and Aaron Craft had 11 points and six assists for Ohio State, which ran its record to 62-4 all-time when atop the polls.

Buckeyes Able To Edge Out Illinois In Tough Win

Sullinger willed the Buckeyes to victory

A frequent theme during this game was don't panic. When Ohio State was down 8 early in the second half, most assumed the Buckeye's train wheels had fallen off. Jared Sullinger led an inspired comeback by scoring 27 points and added 16 rebounds, his second game this season with at least 25 points and 15 rebounds. Late in the game, the rest of the Buckeye squad couldn't hit the broad side of the barn, resulting in feeding Sullinger the ball for the rest of the game.


Jereme Richmond had 18 points and 10 rebounds for Illinois (14-6, 4-3), and Mike Tisdale added 15 points. Demetri McCamey, who leads the Illini with 16.2 points a game, scored just five on 2-of-11 shooting, much thanks to the efforts of Aaron Craft. The Illini defense was on fire containing just about every Buckeye but Sullinger. It ended up not being enough for a win, but surely OSU fans can wait until February 22nd, when they meet again.


Still down, DeShaun Thomas started off his second half with 2 straight 3's, and then was able to score a couple more, adding a spark to the offense.