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Men's Basketball
Overtime Win Over Illini Sends Buckeyes To Big Ten Tournament Title Game
By Brandon CastelINDIANAPOLIS – Evan Turner had one of his sloppier performances against Illinois Saturday, but once again he turned it on when his team needed him most.
One day after hitting a 37-foot buzz beater to shock archrival Michigan in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, Turner went for 31 points and 10 rebounds in Ohio State’s 88-81 double-overtime win over Illinois in the semifinals.
Evan Turner dunks for two of his game-high 31 points.
Photo by Jim Davidson“Something just clicked, knowing I have to make a play” said Turner, who also finished with 10 turnovers, six assists and two steals before fouling out with a minute to play in double overtime.
“I might have to keep the ball a little bit more once the game starts winding down and starts getting close…sometimes you just have to will your way, you just have to make things happen.”
The fifth-ranked Buckeyes (26-7) used a 20-0 run to take a 59-50 lead in the second half, but it still took a layup by Turner with 11 seconds left to force the first overtime at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
From there, Turner scored seven of Ohio State’s nine points in the first overtime, and 12 of 22 overall in extra time. That allowed the Buckeyes to outlast a pesky Illini team that was fighting for its NCAA Tournament life.
“They needed this game, but it didn’t matter. We wanted to win worse,” said the Big Ten Player of the Year, who is averaging 24.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game in this year’s conference tournament.
“We smelled fear and we could tell they were getting a little nervous. Once you knock a team like Illinois on their heels they don’t want to have anything to do with it.”
Illinois had two chances to win the game at the buzzer Evan Turner-style, but neither Mike Davis nor Tyler Griffey could get off their shots before the clock read zeros.
“The second time Tyler was wide open but he’s a freshman and he didn’t know the clock,” Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber said.
“Is it a bomb? Yeah, but Evan Turner made a bomb yesterday, what’s wrong with that? He had made shots, and he had made some bombs and he’s a heck of a shooter, but we didn’t get it off and that part’s disappointing.”
The Buckeyes started the game on an 8-2 run but quickly found themselves trailing 21-15 with 7:30 to play in the first half after a 14-0 run by the Illini. Ohio State went more than seven minutes without a point during that stretch. That carried over to the defensive end of the court, where they were giving D.J. Richardson and his teammates open looks from behind the arc.
“In the first half they were getting whatever shots they wanted and they were knocking them down,” said Jon Diebler, who broke Ohio State’s all-time record for career three pointers with his fourth of the game to open the second overtime period.
Matta said Friday he thought his team lacked intensity in their first game of the Big Ten Tournament after a 10-day layoff, but Turner bailed them out with a half-court buzzer beater against Michigan. A day later they showed a similar lack of intensity over the first 20 minutes, which prompted Matta to get in the faces of his players during a timeout at the 17:17 mark of the second half.
“I just didn’t think that we were as dialed in, and I thought the first half and I thought part of the second half, we were five guys playing basketball as five guys; we weren’t five guys playing together, especially at the defensive end of the floor,” Matta said.
“And the timeout was basically to pinpoint (that) we needed to come together defensively and get the stops.”
The Illini went on a 9-4 run immediately following that timeout, but the concepts began to take shape after Turner knocked down a three from the right corner to spark (with the help of Kyle Madsen) an improbable 20-0 run by the Buckeyes that gave them a 59-50 lead with eight minutes to play.
Turner followed his three with a steal and a dunk. Then Diebler connected on a three from the top of the arc on a ball that squirted free from the pile beneath the basket to make it a one-point game at 50-49 with just over 10 minutes to play.
“First I thought I was going to get the putback because the ball was coming right to me but I couldn’t hold on to the ball because my hands get so slippery, I sweat so much,” said David Lighty, who ended up on the ground before tipping the ball out to Diebler.
“I saw him and I just pushed it out to him and he knocked it down.”
The Buckeyes went up by as many as nine in the second half, but for the second straight day they couldn’t hold the lead. Demetri McCamey reclaimed it for Illinois on a three-ball with 1:18 to play. Lighty tied things back up on a layup, but McCamey hit a pair of free throws to put the Illini ahead 66-64 with 31 seconds to play.
On the next possession, Turner carved right through the Illinois defense for the reverse layup with 11 seconds left that sent the game to overtime. The two teams played even in the first frame, but Diebler connected on a game-changing three to open the second overtime. Turner scored the next two baskets for OSU, but fouled out with a minute to play and his team leading 84-80.
That’s when Turner huddled his teammates for one last message.
“I just told them keep the game going. Definitely finish off strong. We’re up by four, we’re a better team, and just do what we’ve got to do,” Turner said.
That’s when Lighty took over, scoring two baskets in the final 34 seconds to seal the victory for Ohio State. With the win, the Buckeyes advance to the Big Ten Tournament final for the second straight year and the fourth time in the last five years under Matta. They will face Minnesota, who bested Purdue in the other semifinal game at 3:30 p.m. ET.
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