Despite leading for the vast majority of the game, Northwestern men’s basketball (16-9, 4-8 B1G) fell to Ohio State (15-10, 7-5 B1G) 71-63. In their last 31 trips to Columbus, the ‘Cats have exactly zero wins. Four and a half minutes into the game Tuesday, Ohio State’s Marc Loving hit a three-pointer to give his team a 9-6 lead. After Northwestern’s Bryant McIntosh hit a three of his own to tie the game with 14:05 left to play in the first half, Ohio State never led again. Until Keita Bates-Diop hit a jumper with just under six minutes to play in the game. Then the Buckeyes never trailed again. Perhaps carrying over from their important win over Minnesota last week, the Wildcats put together a solid first half, shooting 43 percent from beyond the arc and collecting 25 rebounds, 10 of which were on the offensive glass. Gavin Skelly stood out in particular, grabbing seven of those boards while adding three points. Ohio State, meanwhile, shot only 33.3 percent from long range, and snagged 15 total rebounds. Northwestern headed into the break with a 33-26 lead. But the Buckeyes came to play in the second stanza. Northwestern actually shot the ball better in the second half, improving to nearly 41 percent from the floor. The Buckeyes, however, shot over 46 percent from the floor and hit 16 of their 17 foul shots. They only turned the ball over once and allowed Northwestern to shoot only two foul shots, en route to a 15-point second half scoring difference (45-30). …
Continue Reading: Men’s basketball collapses in second half, falls to Ohio State in Columbus
