March 8, 2009
Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Northwestern rallied back from an early 15-point deficit to take a second-half lead, but Ohio State still managed to earn a 52-47 victory Sunday evening at Value City Arena in the regular-season finale for both teams. Craig Moore led the Wildcats with a game-high 18 points, nailing four of six 3-pointers during the second stanza.
Kevin Coble and Michael Thompson added 13 and 12 points, respectively, as Northwestern's leading trio posted 43 of the team's 47 points.
NU finishes the regular season with a 17-12 overall record and an 8-10 mark in Big Ten play. The Wildcats will be the No. 9 seed for this week's Big Ten tournament and will face eighth-seeded Minnesota in the tourney's first game at 11 a.m. Central time Thursday.
The Buckeyes jumped out to a 21-6 lead with just under 11 minutes remaining prior to the intermission. The Wildcats were finally able to slow down Ohio State as it chipped away at the deficit and closed to within six points thanks to a 9-0 run. The NU defense held the hosts scoreless for a span of six minutes and 40 seconds.
The Buckeyes scored the final four points of the half to take a 25-15 advantage into the break. Northwestern turned nine offensive rebounds into nine second-chance points as it held a 19-10 edge on the glass over the opening 20 minutes of play. Northwestern shot just 26.1 percent (6-23) from the field in the first half.
After OSU scored the first basket of the second half, the Wildcats turned the game around with a 13-0 run to take a 28-27 lead with 12:15 remaining. NU held the Buckeyes to just six points over a 19-minute stretch that spanned both halves.
The teams would battle back and forth the rest of the way. Three straight baskets by B.J. Mullens put Ohio State back up by five at 37-32 with 8:30 to go. But a pair of triples by Moore and another by Coble put the visitors ahead 41-39 with under six minutes left.
With the 'Cats trailing by two and the shot clock winding down, Thompson launched a 3-pointer that banked in while drawing a foul on the shot to earn a four-point play that gave Northwestern the two-point advantage with 3:38 remaining.
But Jon Diebler answered with a 3-pointer out of the corner that put OSU back up by one and the Wildcats would never lead again. Evan Turner hit a driving layup that gave the Buckeyes a three-point advantage before Thompson nailed a running one-hander along the baseline with 56 seconds left to get NU within one.
Ohio State was able to answer on the other end, though, as Turner hit a tough pull-up jumper from 16 feet with 24.9 seconds left to make it 50-47. Coble attempted a tying 3-pointer on the other end and appeared to draw a foul, but none was called and the Buckeyes gained possession with 12 seconds left.
Northwestern was forced to foul three times before the Buckeyes would go into the bonus and did so twice before OSU turned the ball over with 10 seconds left, giving the Wildcats one more shot.
Ohio State used one of its fouls to give with seven seconds to go. NU was able to find Luka Mirkovic for a 3-point try that would have tied the game, but his challenged attempt was off the mark and Diebler sealed the win for the Buckeyes with a pair of makes from the free-throw line.
Turner scored 10 of his team-high 17 points in the second half for OSU, including eight over the final five minutes and 12 seconds of play.
Moore's six 3-pointers raised his career total to 313 and into fourth place in Big Ten history. His season mark now stands at 103, surpassing his own Northwestern single-season record of 97 set a year ago.