Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Go Low to Tame Wildcats
Postgame Note and Quotebook
By John Porentas

Kosta Koufos and Othello Hunter accounted for 30 of Ohio State's 65 points to help the Buckeyes (17-8, 8-4 Big Ten) to a 65-47 win over Northwestern (7-15, 0-11 Big) in Evanston. The win is OSU's 17th straight over the Wildcats.

Ohio State has struggled to find consistency on offense this season, but was able to solve Northwestern's 1-3-1 zone for open shots down low for their big men. When that happened, things also got easier on the perimeter allowing the Buckeyes to shoot 53 percent from the field and 41 percent from the three point line.

The Buckeyes were able to get the ball down low to Hunter and Koufos with diagonal passes over the top of the Northwestern zone from guards Jamar Butler and Evan Turner. The duo combined for 13 assists, seven by Turner and six by Butler.

"I saw it right from the (opening) tip. They had a smaller guy up top and a bigger guy down low," said Butler.

"When there's only one guy down there covering all that baseline you're going to have wide open diagonal passes. That was a talk coming into the game, to look for that, and we executed it well," Butler said.

"The game plan was to seal the guy in the middle of the 1-3-1 and try and get the lob," said Hunter.

Butler and Turner got the ball to the big men with passes over the Northwestern zone, not through it. Though the strategy sometimes led to some tough passes to catch and resultant turnovers, it was successful enough to establish an inside game for OSU, something that has been sorely lacking in their offense.

"I thought we would be able to contest those passes," said Northwestern Head Coach Bill Carmody.

"They probably connected on half of those that they threw up and turned it over on the other half.

"That was their game plan, and if they caught it it was two for the most part. I don't know what we could have done about that," Carmody said.

OSU led 29-24 at the half, their turnovers helping to keep Northwestern in the game. In the second half, however, the Wildcats hit a cold shooing spell and the Buckeyes were not as generous with the turnovers. OSU led by just one at 35-34, but when the Wildcats went cold the Buckeyes went on a run to open up a 54-38 lead with 5:10 remaining and all but end the game.

"We did a much better job in the second half of challenging shots," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

"Probably the biggest difference there in the beginning, offensively we had too many turnovers and Northwestern was converting on them, but give our guys credit, they stuck with what we were trying to do and some guys made some big plays, big shots down the stretch. Probably the difference in the game was we made some shots.

"I thought our big guys did a nice job of finishing around the basket. Jamar and Evan combined for 13 assists.

"Our big guys did a good job. I thought Othello finished strong and Kosta played big and that opened up our outside game for us," Matta said.

"I think we got worn out," said Carmody of OSU's second half run.

"They just seemed more ready to go the distance than we were."

"We had some turnovers that we probably shouldn't have had," said Butler in agreement with Matta, "but to come in here and get a win on the road in the Big Ten, that was our goal coming in, we got it, and we're happy with it."

Postgame Note and Quotebook:

Milestones: There were several milestones reached in the game.

Jamar Butler became the Ohio State all-time career leader for assists in the game, surpassing Kelvin Ransey who dished out 516 assists from 1977-80. Butler got his 517th assist with 2:53 remaining in the game

"As I told the team, you think about all the great players that have played at Ohio State and for him to break Kelvin Ransey's record is a tremendous accomplishment for him," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

"I think it shows when you're looking at assists how many great players he's played with in his time. I think it speaks volumes about how unselfish he's been. I couldn't be happier for him."

Butler and fellow senior Matt Terwilliger reached another milestone with the win over Northwestern. Butler and Terwilliger are now the winningest recruiting class in OSU history. The two have been at OSU for 98 wins, tying the Ohio State all-time record.

Matta too reached a milestone with the win. It was his 200th victory in his coaching career that includes one year at Butler, three at Xavier, and four at Ohio State.

"I told them (his team) you do this long enough eventually you're going to get there," said Matta humbly.

"I think I've been blessed to coach at three great universities and most importantly, I've had great players.

"I could name you all the losses, but I probably couldn't name you all the wins. I guess that's coaching. You remember those more.

"Honestly, you give the credit to the kids. I've never scored a bucket or gotten a rebound," Matta said.

Hunter Lost, and Found: After a very strong game against Michigan Othello Hunter disappeared in OSU's loss to Indiana last Sunday. Hunter reappeared against the Wildcats and made several athletic plays. Hunter got some inspiration from several sources this week after his lackluster game against the Hoosiers.

"I let him know that we had a guaranteed six more game left together and to leave everything out there. I don't want to look back and wish, say I wish I would have done this, wish I had done that," said Jamar Butler.

OSU Head Coach Thad Matta wasn't quite so subtle with Hunter.

"I had coach getting on me a lot in practice," said Hunter.

"He was like 'You didn't come out there to play (against Indiana)'".

Hunter's output of 14 points, five rebounds and a team-high four steals had Matta thinking he is onto something as far as getting Hunter ready to go the rest of the season.

"I guess I'm going to be real unhappy with him after this game too. I'm going to find something he didn't do real well and exploit it on him," said Matta with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

"I wasn't real pleased with the way he played on Sunday against Indiana and I sat down and talked with him, just trying to figure out why, because from the Michigan game to the Indiana game to this game (he was a different player).

"Getting him to understand this is the job you have to do and lets get it done. Honestly with Othello its lets get it done with great energy and fire."

Kosta not Coasting: OSU freshman Kosta Koufos has had some good days and has had some not-so good days in his young Buckeye career. He had a good one against the Wildcats with a double-double. Koufos score a game-high 16 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds that included five offensive boards.

"The thing I love about Kosta is you can just see him getting better," said Matta.

"He's adding more things from finishing around the basket to rebounding out of his area. He's moving better on defense, he's got more awareness.

"Tonight is probably the most he's talked defensively.

"His outside shot, he's really working footwork every day in skill instruction and trying to get his feet right on his shot. I love the progress he's making," Matta said.

Game Story

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