Right: Ohio State’s freshman center Byron James Mullens hammers home a deuce against Michigan State. (Getty Images)

One thing you can never do is count out a Thad Matta-coached team come tournament time.

For the second straight day, Ohio State came away with an impressive win as the Buckeyes’ knocked off the top-seeded Michigan State Spartans, 82-70, in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Saturday afternoon.

Sure, the victory over Wisconsin on Friday was nice, but the win over the Spartans was even sweeter. The Buckeyes were 0-3 against both teams this season, and Michigan State was hoping to get a No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Not any more.

Now the Buckeyes, not the Spartans, will face second-seeded Purdue in the Big Ten tournament championship game on Sunday, as the Boilermakers defeated Illinois 66-56 in the other semifinal contest. Tip-off is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET at Conseco Fieldhouse and it will be televised on CBS.

It was nip and tuck early on as there were three ties and six lead changes, but Jon Diebler’s three-bomb from the right wing with 13:47 left in the first half put Ohio State up for good at 14-12. And it was a lead that they would never relinquish.

The Buckeyes biggest advantage in during the opening period was eight points after Diebler drained a pair of free throws with 6:41 to go that made the score 23-15.

Twice before intermission Michigan State was able to close the gap down to a single point, but Ohio State responded after every Spartan bucket.

With 2:21 left, Michigan State’s Raymar Morgan scored on a layup that trimmed Ohio State’s lead down to 28-27. On the Buckeyes’ next trip down the court, William Buford connected on a 10-foot runner in the lane to push OSU’s advantage up to three.

The Spartans’ scored on their next possession on a power layup down low from center Goran Suton, and the Buckeyes’ answered with a pair of free throws from Byron James Mullens after he was fouled by Delvon Roe with 1:18 on the clock.

After Durrell Summers misfired on a jumper for Michigan State with 48 ticks left, Buford knocked down a 15-foot “J” from the baseline eight seconds later and Ohio State headed into the locker room leading 34-29.

The Buckeyes’ shot an even 50.0 percent (13-of-26) from the field in the first half and were 4-of-9 (44.4%) from beyond the arc as Buford scored 13 points and Diebler chipped in eight during the first 20 minutes of action. Meanwhile, the Spartans’ were 12-of-27 (44.4%) from the field, but were just 1-of-6 from downtown.

Ohio State had a 48-41 advantage with 13:58 remaining in the game then went on a 10-1 run from that point fueled on a conventional three-point play by Mullens, a deep triple from Jeremie Simmons, a runner in the lane by Turner, plus two charity-stripe tosses from Mullens and the Buckeyes led 58-42 with 9:29 left and never looked back, holding a least a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Michigan State got as close as 68-58 with 4:33 remaining after a pair of foul shots by Korie Lucious, then the Spartans’ starting fouling and the Buckeyes’ converted their free throws, going 9-of-12 from the line in the longest four minutes of basketball that I have witnessed in a long while.

Turner ended up scoring all 18 of his points in the second half for the Buckeyes, while Buford tallied 13 of his 14 points in the first stanza. Also in double figures was Diebler, who added 17 points on 5-of-10 shooing from three-point land, and Mullens came off the bench to chip in a dozen. Turner also had a team-high 10 rebounds.

Kalin Lucas led the Spartans with 17 points.

Overall, Ohio State shot 53.2 percent (25-of-47) from the floor, while holding Michigan State to 38.0 percent (27-of-71).

Once again, though, the Buckeyes were outrebounded (39-33) and surrendered way too many offensive boards (20), but it didn’t bite them in the ass this time.

Ohio State also coughed up the orange sphere 15 times and Michigan State had only 10 miscues.

Of course the Spartans couldn’t connect at all from 20 feet, 9 inches, hitting just three of their 21 attempts (14.3%) from beyond the arc. The Buckeyes were 9-of-16 (56.3%).

In the other semifinal game, JaJuan Johnson scored 20 points and Robbie Hummel added 19 as Purdue took care of Illinois.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Point guard Jeremie Simmons came off the bench to score 10 points in OSU’s 61-57 win over Wisky. (Getty Images)

Sophomore Evan Turner, apparently pissed off that he didn’t win the Big Ten Player of the Year award, scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half as fifth-seeded Ohio State knocked off fourth-seeded Wisconsin 61-57 in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Friday afternoon.

Now Turner and his team will face Kalin Lucas, who won the award Turner probably should of received, as the Buckeyes will take on the top-seeded Michigan State Spartans in the semifinals on Saturday, with tip-off scheduled for 1:40 p.m. ET.

Ohio State trailed by as many as six points in the first half after Wisconsin’s Jon Leuer scored on a layup with with 4:57 left that prompted a 30-second timeout from head coach Thad Matta.

The Buckeyes went on a 13-6 run from that point to close out the half fueled on three 3-pointers by Jon Diebler, Jeremie Simmons and William Buford, the latter coming with three seconds left as OSU headed into the locker room leading 29-28.

Wisconsin took the lead right back 36 seconds into the second half after a jumper by Leuer and Ohio State didn’t reclaim their halftime advantage until Buford knocked down one of his two free throw attempts with 11:36 to play that put OSU ahead 43-42.

The Badgers went the next five-plus minutes outscoring the Buckeyes 12-4, capped off on a deep three by Jason Bohannon with 6:03 to go, putting Wisconsin ahead 54-47.

Unfortunately for head coach Bo Ryan and his Badgers, that would be the last field goal they would score the rest of the game as his cagers went 0-of-7 from the floor the rest of the way, and the Buckeyes finished the contest on a 14-3 run during the final six minutes.

Ohio State scored the game’s next three points, all from the charity stripe, until Turner drained a jumper with 3:44 remaining that cut Wisconsin’s lead down to 54-52.

A triple by Diebler two possessions later put OSU ahead, but UW’s Marcus Landry tied the game from the foul line at 55-all with 1:43 left.

On the Buckeyes next trip down the court, Turner missed, but Dallas Lauderdale snared a big offensive rebound. Following an OSU timeout, Turner drove to the dish and scored on a layup with 53 ticks on the clock that gave Ohio State the lead for good.

The Buckeyes shot an even 50.0 percent (19-of-38) from the field, while holding the Badgers to 36.0 percent (18-of-50). Ohio State was 5-of-11 (45.5%) from beyond the arc, and Wisconsin was 7-of-22 (31.8%).

It was also a relatively mistake-free game, as OSU had 11 turnovers to just seven for UW.

Along with Turner’s 19 points, Simmons added 10, Buford had 9, Lauderdale chipped in 8, P.J. Hill contributed 7, and Diebler poured in a half-dozen for Ohio State.

Lauderdale and Diebler both had a team-high five rebounds for the Buckeyes, while “Big D” added four blocked shots.

Trevon Hughes led Wisconsin with 15 points before fouling out in the final seconds. Jason Bohannon added 13 and Leuer tossed in 11.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Wisconsin Badgers

Date: Friday, March 13
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Place: Conseco Fieldhouse – capacity 18,345
TV: ESPN with Brent “Pard’ner” Musburger, Steve “Hair Gel” Lavin, and Erin Andrews-Barker.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 and WBNS-FM 97.1 in Columbus and 58 more stations across Buckeyeland on the Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Network with Paul Keels and Ron Stokes.
Tournament History: Ohio State is 9-7 all-time in the Big Ten tournament and 2-1 vs. Wisconsin.
Last Time: The last time Ohio State and Wisconsin met in the Big Ten tournament was back in 2007 as the Buckeyes and Badgers squared off in the championship game with OSU winning 66-49. Mike Conley scored 18 points, Ron Lewis added 17, and Greg Oden finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

Right: Junior guard Trevon Hughes is averaging 14.2 points per game in the last five outings for Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Ohio State and Wisconsin will meet up for the fourth time in the history of the Big Ten tournament with the Buckeyes winning two out of the three games when both schools have faced each other in postseason play.

Back in 2003, Ohio State defeated Wisconsin in the quarterfinals, and in 2007, the Buckeyes topped the Badgers in the championship game. The Badgers lone win over OSU in the Big Ten tournament came in the 2005 quarterfinals.

Overall, this will be the 149th meeting between OSU and UW since the teams first met back in 1905, and the Buckeyes lead the all-time series 83-65, though the Badgers have won 9 out of the last 12 contests.

Fourth-seeded Wisconsin has won seven of its last nine games. During that stretch, their opponents are averaging 52.8 points per game against UW. The Badgers have posted a +3.8 turnover margin, forcing 114
turnovers (12.7 avg.), while coughing up the rock 80 times (8.9 avg.) during that span.

Senior forward Marcus Landry, a second-team, All-Big Ten selection by the coaches (third team from
the media), leads the Badgers in scoring (12.7 ppg), ranks second in rebounds per game (4.5 rpg) and field goal percentage (.500).

Junior guard Trevon Hughes is second on the Badgers’ roster in scoring, averaging 11.9 points per game, and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.64, ranking him eighth in the Big Ten.

Most of the rest of Wisconsin’s roster is filled with a bunch of big, goofy white guys.

The Badgers’ top rebounder is senior swingman Joe Krabbenhoft, who is averaging 6.7 caroms per contest, good for sixth-best in the conference.

Junior guard Jason Bohannon is one of three Badgers’ averaging in double figures at a clip of 10.2 points per game, while sophomore forward Jon Leuer rounds out the starting five by chipping in 9.2 points per ballgame.

The last time both schools played against each other was back on Valentine’s Day as the Badgers won 55-50 at the Kohl Center.

Ohio State did two things that they can’t afford to do this time around if they expect to win. First, they have to rebound. Back on Feb. 14, OSU was outrebounded 32-22 and gave up 15 offensive boards. It was also one of the reasons why the UW had 17 more field goal attempts than OSU, and the Buckeyes did end up shooting the ball well from the floor (21-38, 55.3%).

The other reason why Ohio State lost while attempting far fewer shots was because the Buckeyes turned the ball over 19 times. Not going to win too many games if you can’t take care of the ball.

Evan Turner scored a team-high 23 points, but he also had a team-high six turnovers. B.J. Mullens played 21 minutes and had seven points, but coughed up the orange sphere five times.

On paper, I think Ohio State has the better team. It just all depends on who shows up to play. Turner has been consistent all year, but can the Buckeyes get any production from Mullens and Dallas Lauderdale in the low post? If that happens, you can chalk up a “W” for the Scarlet & Gray.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: Though he wasn’t named Player of the Year, Evan Turner was the only unanimous First-Team, All-Big Ten selection.
(File Photo)

The Ohio State men’s basketball team won two out of the five major postseason awards last night doled out by the coaches and a panel of media members as William Buford was named Freshman of the Year and his fellow classmate, Byron James Mullens, was selected as the Sixth Man of the Year.

Buford, who won accolades from both the coaches and the media, topped all freshmen with 12.6 points per games during conference play. Mullens, who started only two of 29 games this season, led the Big Ten by connecting on 70.3 percent of his field goals during conference play while adding 9.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.11 blocks per contest.

The Sixth Man of the Year award is conducted only by the coaches.

Buford and Mullens were also named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, along with Iowa’s Matt Gatens, Michigan State’s Delvon Roe and Purdue’s Lewis Jackson, as chosen by the coaches.

Ohio State’s sophomore guard Evan Turner, who arguably had the best numbers of anyone in the Big Ten, lost out on the Player of the Year award to Michigan State’s sophomore guard Kalin Lucas by both the coaches and media. Even with that, Tuner was the only unanimous First-Team, All-Big Ten selection as voted by both groups.

Sure, Lucas did lead his team to the conference title while the Spartans’ best player, Raymar Morgan, battled the flu, walking pneumonia and mononucleosis through a good chuck of the Big Ten season. And not to sound like a homer, but Turner is the best player in the conference. He just didn’t play on the best team.

Along with Lucas and Turner as First-Team selections by both the coaches and media were: Michigan’s Manny Harris, Penn State’s Talor Battle and JaJuan Johnson of Purdue.

No other Buckeye was named to either the second or third teams by the coaches or media, but sophomore Jon Diebler was an Honorable Mention selection.

Michigan State’s Tom Izzo was named Coach of the Year by his peers, while Penn State’s Ed DeChellis was tabbed for that award by the media.

The Spartans’ Travis Walton was Defensive Player of the Year.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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Right: About three jock straps owned by Northwestern players fell to the floor after Ohio State’s Evan Turner spun and drove to the dish for this deuce late in the game.
(AP Photo/Terry Gilliam)

Will the real Ohio State men’s basketball team please stand up?

On some days, you get a Buckeye team that defeated the likes of Miami-FL, Notre Dame, Purdue and Penn State, then on some days you get a Scarlet & Gray-clad squad that gets blown out by opponents like West Virginia and Purdue. Even still, you get what you saw yesterday in Ohio State’s 52-47 win over Northwestern on Sunday.

OSU cruised to a 21-6 lead after Jon Diebler canned two, 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and it appeared that the rout was on. Then the Wildcats switched from a man-to-man to a zone defense and everything became discombobulated for the Buckeyes.

Instead of putting the hammer down, Northwestern went on a 9-0 run to get back into the game fueled mostly on poor shooting and shot selection to go along with three turnovers on Ohio State’s part.

With 5:14 left until halftime, Kevin Coble scored on a layup to put the Wildcats within six at 21-15.

Luckily for the Buckeyes, Northwestern would not score another point in the first half. The only problem is, Ohio State could only muster four point themselves in span of over five minutes.

Evan Turner, who led the Buckeyes with 17 points, scored a bucket with 4:17 left until intermission and William Buford added a pair of charity-stripe tosses on OSU’s next possession.

After that, no one else from either team put the leather ball through the orange cylinder for three minutes, 48 seconds and Ohio State headed into the locker room leading 25-15 in a very ugly first half.

Ohio State scored the first points of the second half when B.J. Mullens tipped-in his own miss just 23 seconds into the final period.

Just when you think you can relax, Northwestern goes on a 13-0 run to take a one-point advantage after Coble’s basket put the Wildcats ahead 28-27 with 12:15 left.

Coble had four points during the run while Craig Moore and Michael Thompson reach added triples to give Northwestern their first lead of the game.

Ohio State was ahead 43-41 following the last media timeout with 3:54 left, but Northwestern quickly reversed that after Thompson nailed a trey and was fouled while shooting. His 4-point play put the Wildcats up 44-43 with 3:35 to go.

The Buckeyes, though, took the lead right back and for good when Diebler drained his third 3-pointer of the game 20 seconds later.

With 2:10 to play, Turner spun at the elbow and shook about three defenders as the drove down the right side of the lane for a layup that put Ohio State ahead 48-45.

Another bucket by Turner put the Buckeyes ahead 50-47 with 23 seconds remaining, but Northwestern failed on two-straight possessions to tie the game and Diebler made a pair of free throws with two ticks left on the clock.

Ohio State did shoot well from the field (20-of-43, 46.5%), but seem to settle for 3-pointers at times and did not do well from beyond the arc (5-of-17, 29.4%).

One thing the Buckeyes did do in the second half was to get the ball into the hands of Mullens in the low post, who scored all 10 of his points in the final 20 minutes of action.

Northwestern was held to 39.1 percent (18-of-46) shooting from the floor, and 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from three-point land.

And there’s no surprise that Ohio State was outrebounded once again, this time by a slim 26-25 margin.

Along with Turner and Mullens in double figure scoring was Diebler and Buford, who both contributed 11 points.

Leading the way for the Wildcats was Moore, who scored 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting from behind the arc.

With the win, Ohio State earned the fifth-seed in the Big Ten tournament and will play Wisconsin, Friday afternoon. Tip-off at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis is scheduled at 2:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on ESPN.

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