Northwestern
Ohio State
Wildcats Fall At Home, 52-48
3/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - Brent Darby made two free throws with 3.4 seconds to play to cap a second half in which he scored 15 of his 17 points as Ohio State beat Northwestern 52-48 on Wednesday night.
"I know the team feels bad. I feel bad," said NU head coach Bill Carmody. "This was a winnable game. I think we let them hang in there too long, and then Darby had that stretch where he just took over. That's what good players do."
Northwestern -- which defeated Penn State in double overtime Saturday -- looked like it was in good shape midway through the second half, when senior Winston Blake hit his fourth three-pointer of the night to give the 'Cats a 38-31 lead.
However, OSU freshman Matt Sylvester made a pair of baskets to cut the deficit to three, and then Darby -- who was just 1-of-8 in the first half -- hit a trey and a fall-away jumper just inside the arc. The 11-0 run gave the Buckeyes a 42-38 lead.
Northwestern (11-15, 3-12) hung around, drawing within one when Mohamed Hachad drained a three-pointer with 4:19 to go. That would be the Wildcats' last field goal, though, and Ohio State won it at the foul line by hitting eight free throws in the final three minutes
Darby, an 83-percent free throw shooter, had an off night from the foul line. He missed a pair of free throws with 24 seconds to go and Ohio State was up by three, giving Northwestern a chance to tie.
However, Aaron Jennings passed up a three-point attempt and instead tried to throw it down low to an open Blake under the basket. The pass went through Blake's hands and out of bounds, the last of NU's 15 turnovers.
Darby was fouled on the inbounds and made one of two to make the score 50-46 with 10 seconds to play. After T.J. Parker hit two freebies with six seconds left, Darby closed it out with his last two.
Ohio State (14-12, 7-8 Big Ten) finished with a 49-29 edge in rebounding and held the Wildcats to just one field goal over the last 10:03.
Velimir Radinovic had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Ohio State, his second double-double of the season -- both of them came against the Wildcats.
Both teams had trouble scoring in the first half.
Northwestern held Ohio State scoreless for 6:06 in the first half to open up a 20-9 lead with 8:13 to go in the half. Jitim Young, the team's leading scorer, hit a 3-pointer and scored eight straight during the 11-0 spurt.
Unfortunately, Northwestern didn't score the rest of the half. Instead, Darby's first points of the game sparked a 10-0 run as Ohio State closed to 20-19 by halftime.
Blake led Northwestern with 12 points, all on three-point baskets, and Parker had 10 points.
The Wildcats close out the regular season Saturday at Iowa. Tipoff for that contest is 1:30 p.m.
