Ohio State Bests Northwestern, 65-56

1/6/2016 10:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

McIntosh scores 15, Pardon pulls down 14 rebounds

EVANSTON, Ill. — Bryant McIntosh scored 15 points and freshman center Dererk Pardon pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds but Northwestern succumbed to a late Ohio State run in falling 65-56 Wednesday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

The Wildcats trailed by only one, 51-50, following a 3-pointer by freshman Aaron Falzon with 6:03 remaining, but the Buckeyes responded with a 14-3 run over the next four minutes to pull away for their seventh straight win.

Four days after a cold shooting performance from 3-point range against Maryland (2 for 20), NU continued to struggle from behind the arch against Ohio State. Northwestern missed its first 11 3-point attempts during the first half on Wednesday.

Despite the struggles, the 'Cats were in front 10-6 following a layup by Tre Demps six and a half minutes into the contest. NU forced the Buckeyes into eight first-half turnovers that they converted into seven points. With the game tied 17-17 with six minutes to go in the half, Ohio State rattled off nine straight points to go up 26-17 with four minutes remaining before halftime.

A pair of buckets by Ohio native Gavin Skelly helped spark a Northwestern comeback. A triple by Demps finally got the lid off for NU before Nathan Taphorn drilled a 3-pointer out of the corner in the closing seconds of the first half as the Wildcats closed the stanza on a 10-0 run to take a 27-26 advantage into the break.

The second period started well for Northwestern when Joey van Zegeren converted a three-point play to push the lead to four. The teams would battle back and forth throughout the majory of the stanza. Ohio State was up by three when McIntosh drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game for the 11th time, 44-44, with 9:10 left.

The Buckeyes went up by five following Kam Williams' fifth triple of the game with 7:25 remaining, but NU got it to one on Falzon's trey with 6:03 left, but the Buckeyes made the key plays down the stretch to earn the victory.

Northwestern returns to action at 1:30 p.m. Saturday when it travels to Minnesota.

Northwestern Notes vs. Ohio State - Jan. 6, 2016
• Northwestern falls to 13-3 overall and 1-2 in Big Ten play.
• Dererk Pardon recorded a career-high 14 rebounds off the bench. It is the second double-figure rebounding game in just his fourth career game. His previous high was 12 rebounds at Nebraska Dec. 30.
• Pardon's 14 rebounds are the most by a Northwestern player since Jared Swopshire recorded 16 at Nebraska Jan. 26, 2013.
• Bryant McIntosh recorded 6 assists in the contest. He entered the game ranked ninth nationally with an average of 7.1 assists per game.
• Aaron Falzon recorded a career-high 7 rebounds in the contest. His previous high was 6 on two occasions.
• The Wildcats' .313 field goal percentage was a season-low.
• Northwestern's 16 offensive rebounds are a season high. The Wildcats converted the 16 boards into a 17-7 edge in second-chance points.