Ohio State Tames Northwestern

With the Holiday season upon us, the cupcakes of November have given way to the meaty, Christmas Ham of December. Despite the stiffer Big Ten opponent Wednesday night, Ohio State still managed a sweet indulgence.

The Buckeyes opened Big Ten play in front of a sellout crowd of 19,049, treating them to a 87-54 victory over visiting Northwestern.

The past few seasons, the Wildcats had been a bit of a nuisance to Ohio State. Last year, the Buckeyes' Jared Sullinger hit a free throw with 3 seconds left to give OSU a 58-57 win in Evanston. In a rematch in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, the Buckeyes needed overtime to dispatch the Wildcats 67-61. Despite numerous other close calls against Bill Carmody's bunch, however, Ohio State made surprisingly easy work of Northwestern on Wednesday.

In fact, Ohio State trailed for all of 18 seconds this time around. The Buckeyes, who have been struggling from 3-point range all season (32.4% entering the game), scorched the nets from start to finish. Ohio State hit on 10-of-20 3-point attempts, and an apparent eleventh make was overturned on replay with the officials contending William Buford's right big toe was on the line.

While Ohio State's offense looked virtually unstoppable at times, its usual relentless defense was up to typical standards. The Buckeyes smothered the Big Ten's two leading scorers -- Drew Crawford and John Shurna -- holding them to a combined 9-of-30 from the field with just two made 3-pointers. The total of 24 combined points was nearly 14 below their season average.

The result was nothing out of the ordinary for an Ohio State defense that was second nationally in defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com rankings. Efficiency is a measure of points allowed per 100 possessions, which is adjusted to the competition. Ohio State was allowing just 82.1 points per 100 possessions, which trailed just conference foe Wisconsin (an uncanny 78 defensive efficiency).

Ohio State (13-1, 1-0 Big Ten) looked a bit more like the juggernaut on Wednesday that fans had seen in wins against Florida and Duke. With nagging injuries to Sullinger, causing him to miss three weeks of practice, two full games and most of a third, the Buckeye offense had been M.I.A. almost the entire month. Buford, though, got uncorked for a career-high 28 points and Jordan Sibert finally showed his potential as a shooter, hitting 4-of-6 from 3-point range as a spark off the bench.

It was promising timing for the Buckeyes with a much anticipated showdown looming Saturday in Bloomington against the 12-1 Indiana Hoosiers. Indiana lost its first game of the season Wednesday on the road to Michigan State. It was more of an ominous loss for Northwestern (10-3) who has been going back to the drawing board in each season since 1901 waiting for its first NCAA Tournament appearance. After an optimistic beginning, the Wildcats have now been pounded against top-10 teams Ohio State and Baylor, sandwiched in between a loss on the road to Creighton.

Unlike past encounters with Northwestern, Ohio State was mostly able to dictate tempo and flow of the game. Northwestern's Princeton-style and 1-4 high offensive sets have given OSU (and many other teams, for that matter) fits with their patented backdoor cuts, but Northwestern has largely been able to keep the game played at a slow pace with stout defense both in transition and halfcourt. On Wednesday, Ohio State used some token fullcourt pressure to speed the game a bit and was flawless in the open court.

With the Buckeyes opening up a large second-half lead, it was a rare opportunity for Ohio State to work in valuable minutes to its bench. Normally a chore for Thad Matta to send players to the scorer's table, Ohio State played all 13 scholarship players and only Buford and DeShaun Thomas played more than 25 minutes total. Starters Sullinger and Aaron Craft, in fact, played only 22 minutes.

Thomas continued his quality production of late, adding a quiet 16 points. Backup point guard Shannon Scott added a season-high four assists in 18 minutes, and appeared as comfortable as he's been all season operating the offense.

With the Hoosiers on the Horizon, the Buckeyes have a chance to gain an early leg up on the Big Ten. With road victories at a premium, a win against the leagues second or third-best team, arguably, would prove invaluable in the conference standings later in the season. The schedule is set up nicely for the first half of the B1G slate with Ohio State getting games against Nebraska (twice), Iowa and Penn State over the next 3-4 weeks. It's an opportunity to jump out to a fast start before getting into the meat of the schedule.

With 28 points, Buford now has 233 on the season and 1,657 for his career. He is now eighth all-time on the Ohio State scoring list -- 439 from tying Dennis Hopson for the record. With at least 19 games remaining, including 16 regular season contests, one conference tournament game and two likely NCAA Tournament games, Buford would need to average a gaudy 23.1 points per game to obtain the record. An additional four games along the line, however, and a more attainable 19.1 points is needed.

Carmody, after the game, became the latest in a growing list of opposing coaches that effused the praise of Buford.

"He's playing a ‘swing' kind of position and he looks as good as anyone to me," Carmody said. "He can dribble the ball. He gets into the lane. He gets fouled and makes his foul shots."

Buford, Thomas and Sullinger all three are averaging 16 points after Wednesday. The Buckeyes are hoping Sibert, Lenzelle Smith or even freshman LaQuinton Ross emerge as a fourth scoring threat. Ross played his second consecutive game last night after joining the team in mid-December upon getting cleared by the NCAA. Ross played three minutes against Northwestern, recording a 'three trillion' in the box score, as established by former OSU walk-on Mark Titus. Ross scored 5 points in his debut against Miami.

Ohio State's game against Indiana will hardly come without caution. The Hoosiers already knocked off then-No. 1 Kentucky at Assembly Hall three weeks ago on a thrilling buzzer-beater. Ohio State stuffed Indiana 85-67 to open the Big Ten last season, adding a 21-point win in Columbus later in the year. This time, though, Ohio State knows its hands are likely full.

The tip for that game is 6 PM on ESPN2.