Wichita St.-Ohio St. Preview
LOS ANGELES (AP) — During Ohio State’s journey to the Final Four last season, Aaron Craft learned the importance of focusing on the next 40 minutes, not the three-week trip. So Craft didn’t realize the highest seeds in the West Regional were dropping like dominoes until earlier this week. He purposely didn’t learn much about ninth-seeded Wichita State until Thursday night, when the powerful Buckeyes found out they’re facing the unheralded Shockers on Saturday for another ticket to the Final Four. ”I think that really helped a lot – just getting caught up in the moment and thinking about where you are and what you need to do to get out,” Ohio State’s star point guard said. ”We watch all the games. Obviously we’re basketball fans, but I kept saying, ‘Where is this team? Which bracket is this in? What is that?’ It wasn’t until after we played Iowa State…
LaQuinton Ross’ late 3 sends Ohio St past Arizona
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LaQuinton Ross hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2 seconds to play, and Ohio State advanced to the brink of its second straight Final Four appearance with a 73-70 victory over Arizona on Thursday night in the West Regional semifinals. Ross, the Buckeyes’ remarkable reserve, scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half for the second-seeded Buckeyes (29-7), who rallied from an early 11-point deficit and weathered the sixth-seeded Wildcats’ late charge for their 11th consecutive victory since mid-February. Deshaun Thomas scored 20 points for Ohio State, and Aaron Craft added 13 before ceding the Buckeyes’ final shot to Ross. Craft hit an awfully similar 3-pointer against Iowa State last Sunday to send the Buckeyes forward. Mark Lyons’ acrobatic three-point play for the Wildcats (27-8) had tied it with 21.8 seconds left. Craft dribbled down the clock and gave it to Ross, who coolly drilled his second 3-…
Illinois-Ohio St. Preview (The Associated Press)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — – The Buckeyes won’t take the bait. Yes, they know a home win over Illinois on Sunday afternoon coupled with an Indiana loss later in the day at Michigan would leave them in a multi-team tie for the Big Ten championship. But they refuse to let anyone think they’re getting ahead of themselves by saying they’ll be rooting for the archrival Wolverines. Instead, the party line is that No. 14 Ohio State is concentrating on taking care of its own business first. “I’m only focused on the game at 12:30 against Illinois on Sunday,” said Evan Ravenel , Ohio State’s only senior, who will be playing his final home game at Value City Arena. “I’m not really focused on what everybody else does.” Coach Thad Matta declined to even address a possible fourth consecutive Big Ten title and sixth in eight years. “I’ll be honest with you, I just want to play well on Sunday. That is where our focus is completely,” he said. “We would be foolish to think past 12:30 on Sunday. That’s all we’ve…
Bentley, Lucas lead Penn St. past Ohio St., 76-66 (The Associated Press)
HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (AP) — Alex Bentley scored 20 points, Maggie Lucas added 18, and No. 8 Penn State beat Ohio State 76-66 Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament. The top-seeded Lady Lions (25-4) had their difficulties in this one after earning a first-round bye and their second straight regular-season title with a 14-2 conference record. But they went on a big run early in the second half to break a tie and earn a spot in Saturday’s semifinals against the Michigan-Michigan State winner. Bentley was 8 of 13 from the field. Lucas, the Big Ten player of the year, hit three 3-pointers. Nikki Greene scored 17, and the Lady Lions shook off a slow start to shoot just over 49 percent in the game. Tayler Hill scored 23 for Ohio State (18-13) and became the fifth Buckeyes player to hit the 2,000-point mark. She now has 2,015 in her career, but it was a tough night overall, even though she tried to inject some suspense as the game…
Ohio St.-Indiana Preview (The Associated Press)
Indiana clinched at least a piece of its first Big Ten championship in 11 years over the weekend, but it can have that title all to itself with a win in its home finale. Ohio State, on the other hand, would be more than happy to settle for a share. The second-ranked Hoosiers look to claim their first outright league title in 20 years on Tuesday night against the No. 14 Buckeyes, who can stay alive for a portion of the league’s regular-season prize with a fourth straight victory. Instead of fleeing from a program coming off a six-win season, which was reeling from NCAA-imposed sanctions and had become a laughingstock around the league, Hoosiers seniors Derek Elston, Jordan Hulls and Christian Watford embraced the challenge and over the next four years fought the long, arduous journey to get back on top of the college basketball world. …
Ohio St.-Northwestern Preview (The Associated Press)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — – There’s something about traveling to Northwestern that seems to summon problems for the Ohio State Buckeyes. A year ago, the Buckeyes were ranked 10th and the Wildcats were headed for a losing record in the Big Ten. Yet it took Jared Sullinger ‘s banked-in turnaround with 3.1 seconds left for Ohio State to escape with a 75-73 win. In 2011, the Buckeyes were 22-0 and No. 1 in the nation while Northwestern was just 3-6 in the conference. This time, David Lighty made a late steal and Sullinger hit a foul shot in a 58-57 white-knuckler. ”The last two times it really came down to the last minute,” Ohio State forward Sam Thompson said on Wednesday. The 16th-ranked Buckeyes (20-7, 10-5 Big Ten) have a lot riding on the outcome when they play at troublesome Northwestern (13-15, 4-11) on Thursday night. It won’t take much to remind them of how dangerous the Wildcats can be. Just two weeks ago Northwestern came to Value City Arena and set the pace and controlled…
Rapid Reaction: Ohio St 68, Michigan St 60
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Quick thoughts following Ohio State’s second-half surge on the way to a critical Big Ten victory over Michigan State on Sunday afternoon at Value City Arena. Overview: Flawed as it may be and as painful as it can look for Ohio State at times, it proved it can still handle its business against one of the best teams in the country. The Buckeyes continued to take questionable shots, were sometimes overmatched in the post and suffered through occasional lapses on both ends of the floor.
Michigan St.-Ohio St. Preview (The Associated Press)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — – For a change, Michigan State and Ohio State aren’t playing for a trophy. After contesting Big Ten regular-season and tournament titles in two of their last three meetings, there’ll be no hardware up for grabs when the fourth-ranked Spartans square off with the No. 18 Buckeyes on Sunday. That does not mean there is nothing on the line. ”It’s like there’s always a trophy on the line every time you play one of the top-tier teams in this conference,” Ohio State guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. said. ”It’s clutch time now. It’s gut-check (time) now. Now, toward the end of the season, the good teams step up and make big plays and win games. That’s what this game is going to be about.” Coach Tom Izzo’s team (22-5, 11-3) needs a victory to remain within reach of No. 1-ranked Big Ten leader Indiana (24-3, 12-2). The Buckeyes (19-7, 9-5) are trying …
Minnesota-Ohio St. Preview (The Associated Press)
(AP) — – The word kept coming up again and again as Ohio State players spoke about their most recent outing: Embarrassing. That’s how Lenzelle Smith Jr. and Sam Thompson repeatedly described the 18th-ranked Buckeyes’ effort, mindset, defense and overall performance in a 71-49 trashing at Wisconsin on Sunday. February has mostly been a month to forget for Minnesota under coach Tubby Smith, who called Sunday’s 72-51 loss at Iowa one of the most disappointing of his career. These Big Ten rivals look to get back on track Wednesday night in a matchup that could go a long way toward seeding in the conference tournament and possibly even in the NCAA tournament. “I think I can speak for the team, we are embarrassed,” Smith Jr. said. “We not only embarrassed ourselves, we embarrassed our coaching staff, our university, our school president and our fans. We embarrassed everybody. We didn’t answer the call. We didn’t do anything…
No. 20 Wisconsin cruises past No. 13 Ohio St 71-49 (The Associated Press)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Ben Brust and Jared Berggren each scored 15 points as No. 20 Wisconsin routed No. 13 Ohio State 71-49 on Sunday. Sam Dekker came off the bench to score 13 for Wisconsin (18-8, 9-4 Big Ten), while Traevon Jackson added 10. DeShaun Thomas led the Buckeyes (18-7, 8-5) with 18 points, and Sam Thompson had 10. The win kept Wisconsin tied with Michigan for third in the conference, two games behind leaders Indiana and Michigan State. Ohio State dropped into fifth place. Wisconsin put Ohio State in a hole early and never let the Buckeyes climb out of it. The Badgers took control with an 18-0 run in the first half that lasted more than 7 minutes and put them up 24-6. Wisconsin led by as many as 26 in the second half. While the Badgers were a model of efficiency on offense, the Buckeyes started the game 3 for 18 and could not get into a rhythm. Wisconsin built its first 20-point lead…
