Published: Friday, 3/13/2015 – Updated: 1 minute ago BY DAVID BRIGGSBLADE SPORTS WRITER CHICAGO — If the Ohio State basketball team could get just a portion of the production Marc Loving provided earlier this season, coach Thad Matta believed these Buckeyes could be all right. They badly needed a shooter to complement freshman star D’Angelo Russell — the kind of player Loving was for three months as Ohio State’s second-leading scorer and the Big Ten’s leading 3-point shooter and a threat that had been missing since January. In his six games since serving a three-game suspension, the sophomore forward from Toledo was hardly himself. He had only 19 points and was 2-of-14 from beyond the arc, leaving coaches at a loss. “We definitely need Marc going at the level that he was,” Matta said this week. Count a milestone Thursday as an encouraging step. On the night Matta became the winningest coach in Ohio State history, Loving had 12 points — his most since January — to help the Buckeyes hold off Minnesota 79-73 in the second round of the Big Ten tournament. Loving sank his first 3-point attempt early in the first half, then bookended the night by delivering when it mattered most. After Minnesota (18-15) ripped off a 12-3 run to pull within two points with 5:17 remaining, Loving’s driving baseline layup pushed the Buckeyes ahead 67-63 — and the margin never narrowed from there. He finished 5-of-8 from the field with five rebounds in 25 minutes. Russell led the sixth-seeded Buckeyes (23-9) with 23 points, while senior guard Shannon Scott scored a career-high 21. “Everything’s a learning lesson,” said Loving, who declined to confirm the reason for his suspension in his first comments since the punishment. “Just being able to get a rhythm going is an awesome thing.” “It was big to see that first shot go in,” Matta said. “We’ve been waiting for Marc to come out of it, and tonight I thought he was really, really good…
Continue Reading: Loving makes statement in OSU’s win over Minnesota
