Scoring Drought Ends Upset Bid
By Adam Rittenberg Daily Herald Sports Writer
The talent gap between Ohio State and Northwestern is wider than Greg Oden’s wingspan, but the points gap is another matter entirely.
Only 9 points separated the teams Wednesday night, leaving Northwestern to ponder what-ifs after a 59-50 loss before 6,646 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Like its previous two league home games, NU (11- 9, 1-6) found itself within striking distance down the stretch, only to fall short.
The Wildcats lamented their lackluster finish, but the real shortcoming occurred midway through the first half, when they could have actually widened the gap with No. 5 Ohio State (17-3, 5-1). NU led 20-11 after Sterling Williams banked in a 3-pointer, and the seemingly disinterested Buckeyes abandoned their zone defense for man-to-man, opening the lane for backcuts.
“It was exactly what we wanted them to do,” Wildcats swingman Tim Doyle said. “But, like every game, we went into a scoring drought.”
One that lasted 7 minutes, 19 seconds before Doyle scored with 1:42 remaining. Northwestern had 3 missed layups during the drought, and Ohio State led 27-24 at halftime.
“You have a chance to get up by 13,” NU coach Bill Carmody said. “You know they’re going to make a run, so you need as big a cushion as you can get.”
Aside from Oden and Ivan Harris, the Buckeyes had 6 first-half points.
“We played awful basketball for the first 14 minutes and we were up 3,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “I didn’t know whether to kill ‘em or hug ‘em.”
He chose the latter and it paid off. Ohio State opened the second half with 3 consecutive 3-pointers, taking a 36-26 lead.
Northwestern rallied behind Doyle, who intrepidly drove the lane for 15 points. His fastbreak layup with 10:47 left cut the deficit to 1.
But from there, Ohio State took over where it should – in the paint. Oden grabbed 10 of his game-high 17 rebounds in the second half. He and Harris combined for 35 points (13-for-16 shooting) and 24 rebounds as Ohio State tallied 15 second-chance points after halftime.
Northwestern’s best lock-down job on Oden came well after the game, when six university police officers escorted the rock-star freshman to the team bus.
What irked Carmody were the loose balls his players missed. OSU held a 39-19 rebounding edge.
“Why aren’t we getting the ones we have to get?” Carmody asked. “There’s a toughness thing involved.”
Williams didn’t start for the first time this year but contributed 11 points off the bench. Kevin Coble added 10, but Craig Moore struggled (1-for-8 on 3-pointers).
arittenberg@@dailyherald.com
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