Men's Basketball
Bucks Maul Cats Behind Turner’s Near Triple-Double
By Brandon CastelCOLUMBUS – Ohio State made its first seven shots Tuesday while Northwestern made only four in the entire first half as the Buckeyes (14-5, 4-3 Big Ten) made quick work of the visiting Wildcats (13-5, 2-4) in a 76-56 blowout out at Value City Arena.
David Lighty drives and scores against Northwestern.
Photo by Jim DavidsonComing off a huge win over Purdue Saturday, the Wildcats looked like a team that may have celebrated a little too hard as they had more turnovers in the first half (6) than made baskets. They shot just 18 percent for the half as the Buckeyes got out to a 40-17 halftime lead.
“We had a lousy practice yesterday and I think it showed up today,” Northwestern Head Coach Bill Carmody said after watching his team fall behind 17-3 in the first seven minutes of the game.
“That’s not to take away from how well Ohio State played. Right from the get-go they jumped on us and we were never in the game.”
The Wildcats came out much hungrier in the second half, as they matched Ohio State point for point in the early going. They even outscored them 39-36 over final 20 minutes, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 23-point halftime deficit or a near triple-double from Evan Turner.
“I thought Evan did a good job of getting inside (their defense) and that kind of shrunk it,” OSU Head Coach Thad Matta said of his star.
Coming off his fourth Big Ten Player of the Week award this season, Turner put on another show for the 13,324 fans attendance. Playing in his fifth game since returning from a lower back injury that cost him a month of the season, Turner fell just two assists shy of his third triple-double of the season.
Dallas Lauderdale records a dunk en route to a career-high 14 points.
Photo by Jim DavidsonAfter the game he said he still felt like he was only about 90 percent back to what he was before the injury.
“I still need a little bit more conditioning, and my feel for the game (isn’t back to where it was), but I felt I anticipated things a little better,” he said.
The 6-foot-7 junior out of Chicago led the Buckeyes with 20 points and 13 rebounds before leaving the game with over two minutes to play, just two assists shy of a triple-dip.
“I thought he got a little tired there down the stretch, but he’s getting back,” said Matta, who pulled Turner with 2:31 to play and a 73-51 lead.
The 13 rebounds came just three nights after Turner managed only one rebound against Wisconsin in a foul-plagued 60-51 win on the very same floor.
“For one I played in the game (tonight),” said Turner, who was noticeably upset after being called for two early fouls against the Badgers.
“I lost my rhythm sitting out 16 minutes but William Buford did a great job rebounding for us that game. I tried to focus on my defense and going to the boards. I wasn’t happy with the way I played defense and rebounded last game.
The Buckeyes outrebounded Northwestern 21-11 in the first half and 35-27 for the game, but it was the way they shared the basketball early on that seemed to impress Carmody the most.
“I thought they passed the ball around really well and got terrific shots,” he said after watching the Buckeyes shoot 56 percent in the first half and 52 percent for the game.
Ohio State had 19 assists on 27 made baskets, including a season-high five assists from junior Jon Diebler, who also added 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting against the Wildcats’ 1-3-1 zone defense.
“We told Jon going into this game that every time we play Northwestern he gets good looks. So we told him to be ready it was good to see him hit some shots,” Matta said.
Buford added eight points, almost all on tomahawk dunks, and David Lighty had seven, but it was center Dallas Lauderdale who stepped up to score a career-high 14 points in the paint to go with six rebounds against a Northwestern team that was playing without 6-8 forward Kevin Coble. The senior has been out the entire season with a foot injury, and without him the Wildcats shot 38 percent from the floor and 39 percent from behind the arc against Ohio State’s high-pressure defense.
The Buckeyes hope to continue that defensive intensity Saturday when they travel to Morgantown for a non-conference battle with No. 11 West Virginia (2 p.m. ET, CBS).
Game Notes:
*The Buckeyes are 12-0 in Value City Arena this season.
*Ohio State outscored Northwestern 14-2 in the paint in the first half.
*At 6:10 left in the first half, Ohio State was 12-of-17 (71 percent) from the floor and held Northwestern to 2-of-15 (13 percent), leading 28-10.
*Evan Turner garnered his seventh double-double of the season against the Wildcats and 18th of his career. It is Turner’s first double-double since he scored 25 points with 13 rebounds against Florida State Dec. 2, 2009.
*Turner’s eight assists makes him the second Buckeye in school history to record 1,000 pts. 500 rebounds and 300 assists - Jimmy Jackson is the only other Buckeye hold the honor. Turner has 1,127 points, 524 rebounds and 301 assists.
*Dallas Lauderdale scored a career-high 14 points to go along with six rebounds. Lauderdale has scored in double figures seven times this season.
*Lauderdale connected on 6-of-6 field-goal attempts. For the season, he is shooting 52-of-68 from the field (76.5 percent), tops in the Big Ten. He is 36-of-41 (87.8 percent) at Value City Arena.
*Jon Diebler has made at least one 3-pointer in his past 29 games, dating to last season. The last time Diebler went scoreless from behind the arc was Feb. 14, 2009, in an 0-of-3 effort against Wisconsin.The-Ozone Mall
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