Feb. 2, 2002
Post Game audio:
COLUMBUS, Ohio - When Northwestern's Winston Blake hit two foul shots to give the Wildcats a 23-21 lead in the first half Saturday afternoon in Columbus, he gave them a lead they would hold for 24 minutes and 50 seconds.
Unfortunately, the game still had 25:06 left at that time.
Instead, OSU's Zach Williams hit the second of two foul shots with 16.8 seconds left, and No. 25 Ohio State survived a close call at the finish to beat Northwestern 58-57 Saturday.
Williams, a 65-percent free-throw shooter, had missed three of four attempts before stepping to the line late. His first shot clanked off the back of the rim, but the second hit nothing but net to give Ohio State (17-3, 8-1 Big Ten) its first lead since 5:06 remained in the first half.
Northwestern (12-8, 3-5) then brought the ball down court and patiently passed it around the perimeter until Tavaras Hardy drove across the paint and put up a 10-foot fadeaway over defender Zach Williams that hesitated on the rim before falling off with two seconds left. The Wildcats' Jitim Young caught the rebound and in one motion attempted the putback from in front, but it fell off and Ohio State's Brian Brown recovered the board as the final buzzer sounded.
The victory salvaged Ohio State's 23rd win in a row at home against Northwestern, dating to 1977.
Brent Darby scored a career-high 26 points for the Buckeyes, including 11 in a row before Williams' key free throw. Brown added 10 points for Ohio State, which has won 11 of its last 12 games and 15 of its last 16 in the conference.
Winston Blake had a career-high 25 points to lead the Wildcats, hitting 8-of-11 shots from the field including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. He also was a perfect 5-of-5 from the foul line. Hardy added 12 points, but for the first time since his freshman year did not grab a rebound. He entered the game third in the Big Ten in that category with 7.3 rpg.
The Wildcats--who entered the game 9-0 when leading at halftime--took a 35-30 advantage into the break and led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but Ohio State wouldn't go away. The Buckeyes drew to 51-48 on two Darby free throws with 5:19 left, but Blake came right back with a 3-pointer.
Ohio State got back to 54-51 on three foul shots by Darby before he drew a charging foul on Hardy at the other end.
Darby then slashed through the middle of the lane to cut it to 54-53 with 2:13 remaining. After a timeout, Northwestern worked the ball around until the shot clock was running down. Just as Blake shot from behind the arc, the shot-clock buzzer sounded - the ball swishing through the net with 1:32 left.
Darby drove the lane for another layup to cut the lead to 57-55, before Hardy took a 3-point attempt that went in and out with 42 seconds left. On OSU's ensuing possession, Young nearly swiped the ball from Darby, but seemed to kick it out of bounds. However, Young was called for a foul on the play, and Darby swished the free throws with 29.6 seconds remaining to tie it.
The Wildcats then turned the ball over when Vedran Vukusic drove the lane and lost control of the ball, running over Williams under the basket. Vukusic was called for an offensive foul and was deemed not to have possession, thus sending Williams to the line and setting up the wild finish.
Darby went 8-of-11 from the field, including 3-of-5 on 3-pointers, and 7-of-8 at the line.
Northwestern, which had won four of its last five, trailed 15-8 early but then came back with a 22-7 spurt to lead 30-22. The Wildcats did it in their customary way - making multiple passes before putting up a shot, then playing tight defense.
The Wildcats went 7-of-10 from the field, while Ohio State managed to go just 2-of-12.
Northwestern is back in action Wednesday night, hosting Michigan State at 7 p.m. CST. This will be the only meeting between the Wildcats and the Spartans this season.
Portions of this story were taken from the Associated Press account of the game