Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Break Three-Game Losing Streak Behind Turner and Lighty
By John Porentas

It may not have been pretty at the end, but the Buckeyes (13-6, 4-2 Big Ten) held on to break a three-game losing streak with a 64-58 win over Illinois (9-11, 1-6 Big Ten) to complete a regular-season sweep of the Illini. For whatever the game lacked in aesthetic value at the end for the Buckeyes, it made up for by the fact that it was a win.

"Believe me, it beats the alternative," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

With teams now setting their defenses to stop OSU senior point guard Jamar Butler, things are opening up for other OSU players. For the second-straight game freshman Evan Turner was one of the players who was able to take advantage. Turner scored 14 points to be OSU's second-leading scorer, but it was David Lighty who really did the damage for the Buckeyes. Lighty scored a team-high 16 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 80 percent shooting from the free throw line. Lighty also contributed four assists.

"Coming into the game we thought he was the X-factor," said Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber.

Lighty's offense was important, but his biggest play may have come in the 30 seconds of the game when he managed to grab an offensive rebound on a missed free throw by OSU freshman center Kosta Koufos to give the Buckeyes possession leading by just three. The Illini then fouled Lighty who stepped to the free throw line and made a pair to all but ice the game.

"I saw they had a smaller guard trying to box me out, it was Calvin Brock, so I thought I had a real good chance of getting the ball if it came off. I just tried to get physical and attacked the ball," said Lighty.

Lighty's key offensive rebound came in a game where the Illini kept themselves in contest by amassing 17 offensive boards to offset their 35 percent shooting. The Illini didn't make shots consistently but got off 60 of them as compared to just 42 for the Buckeyes. The shot differential due to the offensive rebounding kept the game close. It also left OSU Head Coach Thad Matta shaking his head.

"We didn't rebound the ball well," lamented Matta.

"When the ball goes up everybody should have a man. We've just got to find ways to get better at it," Matta said.

OSU led by 10 at the half on the strength of 62 percent shooting (13-21) from the field that included 4-8 from three point range. The Buckeyes went up by as many as 15 points in the second half, but a cold shooting spell as the game wound down coupled with some determined play by the Illini turned what had been a one-sided game into a close one at the end.

The Buckeyes took a 15 point lead with 6:26 remaining when Turner hit a jump shot, but did not score from the field again until the 1:32 mark. Over that time frame the Buckeyes committed two turnovers, missed three shots from the field, and converted on four of five free throws. The Illini were finally able to get their offense going and cut OSU's lead to just four at 59-55 when Rodney Alexander hit a three with 1:45 remaining.

OSU went back up by six on a dunk by Koufos but a free throw by Alexander followed by an OSU turnover and a basket by Illinois' Brian Randle cut OSU's lead to just three with 30 seconds remaining. Koufos was fouled on the following inbound play and went the line for two free throws with 29 seconds remaining. Koufos missed them both, but Light came up with the game-saving rebound to help OSU keep the game in the W column despite the fact that the Illini had limited Butler to just seven points.

"We just talked about making him (Butler) give it (the ball) up," said Weber.

"I thought Tennessee did that when you watched the tape. They made the other guys make the plays.

"To their credit, Lighty, Turner, those kids made enough plays, and it was one of Kosta's better games in a while. When you took away something they found a way to win."

Box Score

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