Dials can’t do it all as Bucks fall to the Badgers

Junior captain Terence Dials scored 20 points while the other four Buckeye starters managed to scored just 18 points combined, as the 20th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers defeated Ohio State 64-56 in front of 17,763 fans at Value City Arena in Columbus, Sunday afternoon.

Dials scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half, as the Buckeyes fought back and rallied from a 10-point deficit in the early stages of the game to tie the score at 19 with 8:24 left when Dials slam home a feed from Matt Sylvester.

But Wisconsin would go on an 11-3 run capped off by a three-pointer by Clayton Hanson that extended the lead to 30-22 with 4:31 remaining and the Badgers never looked back, taking a 37-27 lead into intermission.

During a halftime ceremony, Ohio State officially retired John Havlicek’s No. 5 jersey. Joining Havlicek in the ceremony was former head coach Fred Taylor’s wife, Eileen, and former sports information director and longtime radio voice of the Buckeyes Marv Homan. Havlicek was accompanied by his wife, Beth, and their children Chris Havlicek and Jill Buchanan. Also joining Havlicek was Chris’ fiancĂ©e, Kim Boger, and Jill’s son, Walker.

Having an all-time great like Havlicek around did not seem to be too inspirational for the Buckeyes as the Badgers took command right from the break to take a 44-29 lead with 16:01 left in the game. The Badgers would hold a double-digit lead until J.J. Sullinger scored with 19 seconds left.

Matt Sylvester was the only Buckeye other than Dials to score more than five points. Sylvester added eight points in 28 minutes played.

Wisconsin was lead by Alando Tucker who had 19 points. Mike Wilkinson added 14 more for the Badgers.

The Badgers finished the game going 24-of-48 (50%) from the floor, while the Buckeyes were 20-of-50 (40%). Wisconsin was 8-of-15 (53%) from three-point range, while the Buckeyes were a mere 5-of-22 (23%) shooting from beyond the arc. And the Badgers held a big advantage over the Buckeyes in rebounds, 37-24.

Dials became the 42 player in school history to reach the 1,000 mark. He got his one-thousandth point on a free throw 10:21 left in the first half.

Ohio State also set the mark for three-point field goals attempted in a season with 630 in 28 games, after slinging 22 against the Badgers. That topped the old mark set by the 1998-99 team who attempted 611 triples in 36 games that year.

Ohio State returns to action at 8 p.m. Wednesday against Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa

Bucks just miss sending game into overtime

Vincent Grier had 14 points and 10 rebounds and J’son Stamper came up with two big plays down the stretch to lift Minnesota to a 52-50 win over Ohio State on Saturday.

Stamper tipped in a loose ball with 34.9 seconds left for a 51-50 lead, then chased down two rebounds on Ohio State’s final two possessions to preserve the victory and snap Minnesota’s three-game losing streak.

Terence Dials had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead Ohio State, but he missed a nice look from about six feet that would have given the Buckeyes the lead.

Stamper corralled the rebound after a frantic scramble under the Buckeyes’ basket and Aaron Robinson made one free throw to cap the scoring for the Gophers (17-9, 7-6 Big Ten).

The Buckeyes (18-9, 7-6) had one more chance to tie or win the game with nine seconds to play. But J.J. Sullinger’s off-balance jumper in the lane was off the mark, and Stamper snatched the board again as time ran out.

Stamper finished with four points and six rebounds, and Jeff Hagen added 12 points and six rebounds for the Gophers, who out-rebounded Ohio State 38-25.

Sullinger finished with six points and nine rebounds for Ohio State, which lost for just the second time in the last eight games.

The Gophers led by as many as 12 in the second half and had a 47-40 lead on a layup by Stamper with 6:34 to play.

But Minnesota went the next 5:59 without a field goal to let the Buckeyes back in the game.

Dials converted a three-point play to pull the Buckeyes within four, then Ivan Harris hit a 3-pointer to cut the Gophers’ lead to 47-46 with 4:22 to go.

Dials made two free throws on the next possession for the Buckeyes’ first lead since 7-6 early in the first half and Sullinger hit a jumper with one minute to play for a 50-49 lead.

But the Buckeyes just couldn’t climb out of a big hole made by poor shooting through the first 25 minutes.

Ohio State shot just 25 percent in the first half and yielded a 7-0 run to the Gophers to start the second to fall behind 31-19.

The win put the Gophers back on track for a run at their first NCAA tournament berth in coach Dan Monson’s six seasons at the school.

They finish the season with a home game against Iowa and road dates with Purdue and Penn State. Winning all three would put them on solid ground with 20 wins.

The Buckeyes were playing without junior forward Matt Sylvester, who served a one-game suspension for unsportslike behavior toward a fan at Michigan State last week.

Sylvester sparks Buckeyes over PSU

Matt Sylvester scored 15 points off the bench as Ohio State defeated Penn State 66-56 on Saturday.

It was the fifth win in six games for the Buckeyes (17-8, 6-5 Big Ten), who got a 3-pointer from Sylvester with 3 minutes remaining to put them up 58-47, effectively sealing the game.

Ohio State also got 13 points from Je’Kel Foster and 12 from Terence Dials.

Geary Claxton and Travis Parker scored 14 each for the Nittany Lions (7-16, 1-9) and Aaron Johnson chipped in 10 points.

The Lions kept things close for most of the second half, repeatedly pulling within one basket, but were unable to get a stop when they needed it most. After Danny Morrissey hit two free throws to pull the Lions within two at 42-40, the Buckeyes countered with 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to go ahead 51-42 with just under eight minutes to play.

Scoring was at a premium early on for both teams, and they combined on 21 straight possessions without a field goal over an eight-minute stretch spanning both halves.

The Lions had chances to pull even or take a lead in the first half, but were unable to hit a field goal in the final 6:26 before halftime. Penn State shot just 8-of-27 in the opening frame but only trailed 27-22 heading into the second half.

Sullinger lead Bucks past Hoosiers

J.J. Sullinger scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half to spur Ohio State to a 57-44 win over Indiana on Tuesday night.

Terence Dials added 14 points and Jamar Butler scored a career-high 13 for the Buckeyes (18-8, 7-5 Big Ten), who have won six of their last seven. The Buckeyes took over fourth place in the conference with the win.

D.J. White had 17 points and Robert Vaden 14 for Indiana (11-11, 6-5), which dropped to 1-7 on the road.

Ohio State pried open a lead in the final minutes thanks to the inspired play of Dials, Sullinger and sub Matt Sylvester during a 15-2 run.

Down 36-33 midway through the half, the Buckeyes tied it on a Sullinger jumper and a free throw by Dials. Dials then scored the go-ahead bucket off an assist by Sylvester for a 38-36 lead with 8:32 to go. A Sylvester free throw pushed the lead to three.

After Marshall Strickland scored for the Hoosiers, Dials hit two free throws, Sullinger popped in a 3 from the right corner off a Sylvester pass and Dials scored again with Sylvester assisting for a 46-38 lead. Sullinger made it a 10-point lead on a fallaway 18-footer as the shot clock sounded with 3:21 left, capping a 9-0 Ohio State spurt.

Sullinger’s point total was his most this season since scoring 21 against Chattanooga in November. He hit 7-of-10 shots from the field, 2-of-5 3-pointers and his only free throw and added six rebounds and two assists.

Both teams had trouble scoring in the first half, with Ohio State taking a 27-22 lead.

The Hoosiers were without leading scorer Bracey Wright, who missed his third game in a row with an ankle sprain. He had scored 23 points and had seven rebounds and three assists in Indiana’s 67-60 win over the Buckeyes on Jan. 22.

Spartans too much for the Buckeyes

Chris Hill went 8-for-10 from the field and scored 26 points to lead No. 13 Michigan State to an 83-69 victory over Ohio State on Wednesday night.

Hill was 6-for-7 from 3-point range and made all four of his free throws in the highest scoring game this season for the Spartans (16-4, 7-2 Big Ten).

Maurice Ager, who was bothered by an illness, scored 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting for the Spartans, while Alan Anderson added 16 points and Paul Davis had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Terence Dials was 10-for-18 from the field and had 22 points for the Buckeyes (16-8, 5-5), who had a four-game winning streak snapped.

The Spartans scored the first six points of the second half to take a 47-43 lead and gradually stretched it by outshooting Ohio State 52.2 percent-34.5 percent from the field over the last 20 minutes.

The Buckeyes led 43-41 at halftime after shooting 63 percent from the field, including a 6-for-8 effort from Dials. Hill had 15 points in the first half.

The Spartans finished with a 40-24 rebounding edge and had 21 assists, including seven by Drew Neitzel in his second start in place of Hill at point guard.

Just like football, Buckeyes bounce the Wolverines

Terence Dials scored 19 points and Tony Stockman added 16 to lead Ohio State past Michigan 72-46 on Saturday, the most lopsided win by the Buckeyes over their rivals in 37 years.

The outcome was never in doubt after the Wolverines (12-11, 3-6 Big Ten) failed to get off a shot in the first 3:45 while Ohio State raced to an 8-0 lead.

Michigan’s assists-to-turnovers ratio ended up 4-to-29. The 29 turnovers was a season high as the Wolverines sagged to their sixth loss in a row.

Je’Kel Foster added 11 points for the Buckeyes (16-7, 5-4), who have won their last four conference games, all by double-figure margins.

A sold-out crowd of 19,200 chanted, “Just like football!” in the second half. The Buckeyes upset the seventh-ranked Wolverines 37-21 last November to spoil the Wolverines’ perfect record in the Big Ten.

Courtney Sims scored 15 points off the bench for Michigan, which has lost its last four games by an average of 21 points since leading scorer Daniel Horton was suspended after he was charged with choking his girlfriend.

The Wolverines had more turnovers than shots for most of the opening half. The Buckeyes took advantage, with a Dials dunk bracketed by 3-pointers by J.J. Sullinger and Stockman supplying the early lead. They went on to leads of 17-2 and 22-4 before Michigan ran off eight points in a row to draw to 22-12. The Wolverines never got closer.

Ohio State, which moved to 13-1 at home, led 40-19 despite shooting well below their season averages from the field, behind the arc and at the line as Michigan scored its fewest points in the opening half this season.

The Buckeyes’ biggest win in the series was a 103-70 victory in 1968.

The loss marked the seventh time in coach Tommy Amaker’s four seasons that the Wolverines have not scored 50 points in a game.

It was the fewest points scored by Michigan against Ohio State since 1953.