OHIO STATE 52 | INDIANA 51
Bloodied, but still alive
Clutch plays help OSU survive physical game
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
NEAL C . LAURON | DISPATCH Jamar Butler, right, tries to beat Indiana’s Errek Suhr to a loose ball. Butler scored six points.
NEAL C . LAURON | DISPATCH Ohio State’s J.J. Sullinger holds the ball and Je’Kel Foster heads for his teamates as the Buckeyes begin celebrating their victory.
INDIANAPOLIS — Far up in a corner of Conseco Fieldhouse was what appeared to be a sign stretched across four Indiana fans. It was about 2 feet high and had an IU logo at each end. Between the logos was this message:
Winner takes Matta.
Guess that makes two losses for the Hoosiers this weekend.
Thad Matta, the man who could be king of about any college basketball program he desires right now, looks like Ohio State’s for the forseeable future after the resolution of the NCAA’s case against the university Friday. The foundation of that future added another block yesterday, at the expense of a program whose fans covet him.
The Buckeyes shot poorly from the field yet again but overcame it yet again. They took a one-point lead with 37.4 seconds left on a set play out of a timeout that freed Matt Sylvester for a layup. Then they survived two missed shots by Indiana in the final seven seconds and beat the Hoosiers 52-51 in a Big Ten tournament semifinal.
Ohio State (25-4), the regular-season champion and top seed in the tournament, will play secondseeded Iowa (24-8) for the title at 3:30 p.m. today. The Hawkeyes beat Michigan State 53-48 yesterday.
"That was a tremendously hard-fought game by both teams. It’s honestly a shame that anybody had to lose," Matta said after the Buckeyes won despite squandering a sevenpoint lead in less than two minutes late in the game.
"As you get into these types of (postseason) tournaments, it’s all about surviving, and that’s what we got done today."
With the Buckeyes frigid again from outside the three-point arc — they made 5 of 27 attempts — they gained the upper hand inside, where a bloodied J.J. Sullinger did most of his damage in totaling 19 points and 13 rebounds. He also held Indiana’s Robert Vaden to six points as part of a defensive effort that limited the fifth-seeded Hoosiers (18-11) to 33 percent shooting from the field and five three-point baskets.
"He brings tremendous energy," Matta said, "and today he was turned up full blast."
Dials added 13 points in a brutal struggle deep in the paint against Indiana’s 270-pound Marco Killingsworth, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds but missed 13 of 18 shots, including one with seven seconds left.
"They tried to give him the ball every possession it seemed like," Dials said.
"He’s their best player, and you definitely want your best player shooting the last shot. I tried to push him off the block. He still got a good look.
Luckily, it didn’t drop."
Roderick Wilmont, who led Indiana with 16 points, snagged the rebound, however, and put up a 12-foot floater in the lane. It missed, too, and Sullinger, playing with a split left eyelid that required stitches after the game, corraled his last and biggest rebound, threw the ball high in the air and danced off the court to the sounds of the OSU fight song.
"He got a good look. It just didn’t go down," Sullinger said. "Fortunately for us and unfortunately for them."
The Buckeyes, who trailed 28-25 early in the second half, built an eight-point lead as Sullinger scored their first 13 points of the second half. They still led 47-40 with less than six minutes remaining.
But Indiana exploited a matchup between point guard Earl Calloway and OSU power forward Matt Sylvester to tie the score at 47 with 3:47 remaining, and the Hoosiers took a 51-50 lead with 1:50 left when Wilmont drove past Ron Lewis on the baseline.
"I thought our guys fought hard and showed a lot of courage by just sticking with it, especially when we were down by seven points," said Indiana coach Mike Davis, who coached his last Big Ten game. He announced his resignation last month.
But Lewis and Sylvester had the last word.
Lewis ran down Je’Kel Foster’s missed shot and Ohio State called time out with 48.9 seconds left. Out of the break, the ball went to Dials in the high post, Sylvester set a screen for Jamar Butler on the baseline and both Sylvester’s and Butler’s man followed Butler on the curl. Sylvester cut to the basket and Dials found him with the pass.
"I told him, ‘I’ve been giving you assists for five years,’ " Sylvester said. "It’s about time he gave me one."
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