Sunday, February 20, 2000
Ohio State 82, Indiana 71
Buckeyes blast Hoosiers from Big Ten lead
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana may be improved this season, but the Hoosiers still aren't as good as Ohio State.
In a foul-fest as ugly as Bob Knight's sweaters, the seventh-ranked Buckeyes muscled their way out of Bloomington with an 82-71 win Saturday, knocking No.10 Indiana out of its tie for second place in the Big Ten.
“That's the best team we've played against this year,” said Knight, the Indiana coach.
The victory keeps Ohio State's conference title hopes strong, with the Buckeyes (18-5, 9-3) a game behind league leader Michigan State with four to play. But it delivered a big blow to Indiana's prospects, with Michigan State, Purdue and Illinois still remaining on its schedule and the Hoosiers (18-5, 8-4) two back in the loss column.
“This is an incredible win for our guys,” said Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien, whose club was coming off a road loss at Michigan State last week that bumped it out of the Big Ten lead. “This game had a lot of important implications. We all know it's not very easy to come in here and win a game against a very good team.”
Michael Redd scored 28 points for Ohio State, reaching his average for six career games against the Hoosiers. A.J. Guyton, the Big Ten's leading scorer, had 27 for IU, but none in the crucial closing minutes as Ohio State cemented its lead. Guyton was dead-on early in the game but appeared to tire late as the Buckeyes defense wore him down.
“They're tough,” Knight said. “That was a decisive difference in the last 10 minutes.”
It was a game that saw the teams whistled for a combined 58 fouls, 30 on Ohio State.
The Buckeyes had four players — backup center Will Dudley, forwards Boban Savovic and George Reese, and guard Brent Darby — foul out. Dudley had four fouls by halftime, and he and Savovic were disqualified within 15 seconds of each other with more than seven minutes remaining in the game.
Starting center Ken Johnson was in foul trouble for most of the game. Indiana center Kirk Haston didn't handle the physical play well and ended with just seven points — nine below his average — on 3-of-11 free-throw shooting.
OSU hit 22 of 28 free throws in the second half, while IU made nine of 18.
“There was a lot of banging on both ends,” O'Brien said. “I don't think a lot of people want to see, nor do a lot of players want to play in, a game where there's a lot of free throws taken, but it's kind of how the game played out.”
The ugliness of the fouls was contrasted by the beauty of Redd's night, which O'Brien called maybe “the best game he has played at Ohio State.”
Redd, the All-Big Ten junior guard, scored 28 points on 8-of-16 field-goal shooting and 11-of-15 foul shooting and led the Buckeyes in assists (five) and rebounds (10). His most impressive stretch came as Ohio State regained control midway through the second half, when he scored 10 of his team's 16 points as the Buckeyes climbed from a five-point deficit to a 3-point lead.
“I thought Michael was incredible,” O'Brien said. “He was very selective in his field-goal attempts. I thought he played under control the entire game. He was terrific at the foul line, and I thought he guarded very well.”
Guyton made some impres sive 3-pointers, but on this night it was Redd who proved to be the better overall scorer. He drove to the basket when he needed to break down the IU defense or popped a 3-pointer when the situation dictated.
Asked to explain his career numbers against the Hoosiers, Redd said: “I love playing against Indiana, in this building. It's the mystique.”
Down by as many as eight in the first half, IU took a five-point lead early in the second on baskets by Larry Richardson and Guyton. But the Buckeyes answered with patience as the fouls piled up, slowly cutting into the lead behind a flurry of activity from Redd. Darby came off the bench to nail three straight 3-pointers to extend the lead to six, and OSU controlled the rest of the way.
OHIO ST (82)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Brown 26 2-2 1-2 0-2 1 0 6
Reese 35 2-12 7-10 3-10 2 5 11
Johnson 18 2-5 1-2 2-6 0 4 5
Penn 38 2-10 9-12 1-6 4 1 15
Redd 38 8-16 11-15 4-10 5 3 28
Darby 9 4-4 0-0 0-0 0 5 12
Robinson 7 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 1 0
Savovic 10 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 5 2
Ocokoljic 7 0-1 0-0 1-2 1 1 0
Dudley 12 1-2 1-2 2-5 0 5 3
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 22-54 30-43 13-42 13 30 82
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.407, FT-.698. 3-Point Goals:
8-13, .615 (Brown 1-1, Penn 2-4, Redd 1-3, Darby
4-4, Savovic 0-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked
shots: 2 (Johnson, Brown). Turnovers: 16 (Penn 3,
Ocokoljic 2, Redd 2, Reese 2, Robinson 2, Brown,
Darby, Dudley, Johnson, Savovic). Steals: 6 (Redd
3, Dudley, Ocokoljic, Penn).
INDIANA (71)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Haston 36 2-8 3-11 1-11 2 3 7
Fife 18 0-0 1-2 1-2 1 5 1
Washington 24 1-4 4-6 2-3 1 5 6
Lewis 40 4-9 1-2 0-1 4 4 11
Guyton 37 7-16 11-12 1-3 3 2 27
Jimenez 4 0-2 0-0 1-2 0 4 0
Hornsby 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Richardson 11 1-2 4-7 0-2 1 4 6
Odle 3 1-1 1-2 1-2 0 0 3
Newton 26 4-6 2-2 2-4 0 1 10
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 20-48 27-44 9-30 12 28 71
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.417, FT-.614. 3-Point Goals:
4-12, .333 (Lewis 2-5, Guyton 2-5, Jimenez 0-2).
Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 5 (Newton 2,
Haston, Washington, Guyton). Turnovers: 15
(Guyton 4, Haston 4, Lewis 3, Newton, Odle,
Richardson, Washington). Steals: 5 (Lewis 2,
Fife, Richardson, Washington).
__________________________________
Ohio St 36 46 - 82
Indiana 35 36 - 71
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Indiana 1 (Bench). A: 17,432.
Officials: Tom Rucker, Dan Chrisman, Paul Janssen.
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