Greg Oden led the way with 17 points and 17 rebounds while the ghost of Ivan Harris had 18 points and 7 rebounds as the Buckeyes recorded their 9th straight victory against Northwestern. OSU found themselves in a 20-11 hole with 8:41 left in the first half before closing with a 16-4 run to take a 27-24 lead at intermission. Harris paced OSU with 14 first half points on 5-6 shooting but the Wildcats stayed close on the strength of 5-9 shooting on threes.
OSU started the second half with a 9-2 run to stretch the lead to 36-26 at the 17 minute mark but Northwestern hung around and trailed just 49-46 with 5:23 left after a Kevin Coble three. The OSU defense then tightened, allowing just four points over the final five minutes to seal the win.
Tim (Prancer) Doyle led NU with 15 points on 7-11 shooting while Sterling Williams had 11 and freshman Kevin Coble scored 10. For the Bucks, Jamar Butler finished with 9 points and hit 3-4 free throws in the final minute to ensure victory. Mike Conley had an off night with 7 points, 4 assists and 3 turnovers while Daequan Cook was held scoreless for the first time this season. On the bright side, OSU outrebounded Northwestern 38-15. Now, it's back to Columbus for a Saturday showdown with the Spartans as OSU welcomes the Gameday crew to the Schott. I can almost smell Erin Andrews already.
Comments
Went to the game last night and lucked out with great seats -- 4th row behind the Wildcat bench. Welsh-Ryan is kind of small, but the Tribune said last night's game had sold out, and that's a rarity.
Tim Doyle is the Jimmy Chitwood of Evanston and the hometown fans loved it when Vince Evans would throw up a three, but not enough to take down the Buckeyes.
I know Doyle is a popular guy out there. He still hops around like a 12 year old girl though. I looked for you on TV but you must have been loading up at the concession stand when I made my effort to spot you.
Any road win in the conference is a good one, so we'll take it.
I was actually working out Oden's post moves when you looked. Thad wanted me to teach him some better footwork.
It must suck to be a Northwestern student-athlete (and here the term student-athlete actually applies) because for every home game, you are invaded by alumni from the Big11Ten team that you're playing.
The football game in November was an absolute Buckeye home game and even last night, on a Wednesday in January, there were plenty of Buckeye fans around us right behind the Wildcat bench.
I'd like to feel sorry for them, but they'll all be making crazy loot once they graduate so...
I was wondering if you were there.