Sunday, March 07, 1999
ILLINOIS 79, OHIO STATE 77
Penn's injury hampers Buckeyes
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CHICAGO — Scoonie Penn is the primary difference between Ohio State's miserable 1998 and marvelous 1999. But Penn's health may be the difference between a magical March run or an early out in the NCAA Tournament.
The Buckeyes' dream season isn't over yet. But a blue-and-orange clad Cinderella interrupted the fantasy Saturday, and Penn, hampered by nagging back and hip injuries and leg cramps, just wasn't himself.
Eleventh-seeded Illinois, which won just three conference games in the regular season, continued its whirlwind postseason ride with a thrilling 79-77 upset of the No. 2 seed Buckeyes in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, sending Ohio State home to await its NCAA Tournament call today.
The Buckeyes rallied from an 11-point deficit and nearly tied it at the buzzer, but Michael Redd's off-balance shot after a mad scramble for a rebound rolled off the back of the rim.
“Unquestionably, (the Illini) are the best last-place team in America,” said Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien. “I think it is apparent, with a team like Illinois playing the way they are, just how good this conference is.
“But you have to give our players a lot of credit. We were down by 11 late and had a chance to win it at the end.”
Penn, the junior point guard whose transfer from Boston College has electrified a lagging Ohio State program, struggled to score 15 points, two under his average. He was just 5-of-13 from the field, 2-of-6 from the free throw line and missed several key shots in the second half as cramps drained the life from his legs. His three-point miss with six seconds left would have tied it at 79 had it fallen.
“At the end, I even started to feel it in my thigh,” Penn said. “If I made the wrong move, I'd cramp up. But I tried to play through it.”
Penn refused to use the cramps — which forced him to leave for two minutes midway through the second half — as an excuse, the same tact he has taken with the back and hip injuries he suffered last week. But the difference between the pre-injury Penn and his current self is less movement, less penetration and fewer shots finding the net.
For the Buckeyes, it means not even Redd's 32 points could save them if Penn's not right.
“You could tell several times (Penn's) back was hurting,” said forward Jon Sanderson. “You just have to give Scoonie a lot of credit for playing through that.”
But Penn believes his problems stem from not practicing last week and not shooting enough to keep himself fresh, rather than an ongoing problem. He says with a few days of practice before the NCAA Tournament, he'll be back to his old self.
“There's no question in my mind,” Penn said. “I'll get back in the gym and shoot, do whatever I need to do. I don't want my season to end.”
Illinois (14-17), which upset No. 6 seed Minnesota and No. 3 seed Indiana to get to the semifinals, came out with forceful emotion and controlled most of the way — until Redd took control.
He took the ball to the hole aggressively and sparked the Buckeyes to a late run that took them from an 11-point hole to a tie at 70, but they could never get the lead.
They had a chance in the end.
“It looked good from where I was,” Redd said.
Said O'Brien, “All you can ask for is a chance. In that situation, you can't get better than what Michael got.”
OHIO STATE NOTEBOOK
ILLINOIS (79)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Krupalija 12 1-1 1-2 0-2 1 5 4
Johnson 29 4-7 2-2 0-2 1 4 12
Chukwudebe 26 6-10 1-2 4-6 2 2 13
Bradford 37 5-15 6-6 0-0 4 2 17
Mcclain 30 3-6 1-3 2-4 4 2 7
Hawkins 17 1-3 4-7 3-5 0 2 6
Mast 4 0-0 2-2 0-0 2 0 2
Archibald 25 2-4 3-4 0-6 3 3 7
Brown 20 4-5 2-2 0-7 1 2 11
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 26-51 22-30 9-32 18 22 79
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.510, FT-.733. 3-Point Goals:
5-16, .313 (Krupalija 1-1, Johnson 2-5, Bradford
1-8, Brown 1-2). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots:
3 (Chukwudebe, Hawkins, Bradford). Turnovers: 20
(Johnson 6, Krupalija 3, Mcclain 3, Archibald 2,
Bradford 2, Brown 2, Chukwudebe, Hawkins).
Steals: 8 (Brown 2, Mcclain 2, Archibald,
Bradford, Chukwudebe, Johnson).
OHIO ST (77)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Singleton 24 2-8 3-3 2-7 2 5 7
Sanderson 19 1-6 0-0 2-3 0 0 2
Johnson 23 2-6 0-1 3-4 0 4 4
Penn 36 5-13 2-6 0-3 8 4 15
Redd 36 11-18 8-11 5-7 3 3 32
Coleman 17 2-5 0-0 1-2 1 1 6
Brown 14 3-4 0-0 0-1 3 0 7
Savovic 13 0-3 0-0 1-2 2 2 0
Reese 18 1-3 2-2 0-3 0 3 4
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 27-66 15-23 14-32 19 22 77
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.409, FT-.652. 3-Point Goals:
8-24, .333 (Sanderson 0-3, Penn 3-9, Redd 2-4,
Coleman 2-5, Brown 1-1, Savovic 0-2). Team
rebounds: 8. Blocked shots: 1 (Reese). Turnovers:
17 (Redd 4, Singleton 4, Brown 2, Penn 2, Reese
2, Coleman, Johnson, Sanderson). Steals: 10
(Singleton 4, Redd 3, Johnson, Penn, Savovic).
__________________________________
Illinois 32 47 - 79
Ohio St 27 50 - 77
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 20,695. Officials: Tom
Rucker, Gary Bova, Arnie Mcdonald.
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