Two nail-biters were enough for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes won the Big Ten title Sunday, 90-61, in blowout fashion over Minnesota and asserted themselves as the Big Ten’s best team.
It was something the Buckeyes have waited months to prove.
“I think it was just about us coming together and playing as a team,” David Lighty said. “No one being bigger than the team or bigger than one another. That was the one thing that helped us win the championship.”
Evan Turner finished off a tournament that may have solidified his standing as the country’s top player. After his last-minute heroics against Michigan and a never-say-die mentality in double overtime against Illinois, he finished the tournament in a business-like fashion.
His 31 points, six assists and 11 rebounds capped his weekend and earned him the tournament MVP.
“When the time called for it, I just tried to step up and make plays,” Turner said. “Coach [Thad] Matta really told me take over when I could, and stuff like that. Like I said, this is tournament ball; it’s all about play-makers.
“It’s not too much about half-court offense or anything. You just try and make plays, and the team who’s in attack mode and the team that’s trying to win is going to win,” he said.
The Buckeyes spent the second half of both games prior to Sunday holding on for dear life as Michigan and Illinois pushed them to the limit. On Sunday, however, they finally showed why they were the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
OSU immediately came out and began pushing Minnesota to play at a faster pace. The Buckeyes went up 11 before the Gophers responded and pushed the game back to a two-point margin at 42-40.
Both Michigan and Illinois made runs to get back in the game this weekend when the Buckeyes pushed their lead to a wide margin, but the Buckeyes weren’t going to make that mistake again.
Instead they began to play as if their tournament life was on the line. Ohio State didn’t wait for Minnesota to respond, and pushed its slim, four-point lead into the 20s by making 12 straight shots, and it didn’t miss from the field for eight minutes and 22 seconds.
“I think as a unit we got hot, we made our run,” Turner said. “Once we got a couple points ahead, we didn’t want to let them back, just kept trying to hit shots and trying to get defensive stops.”
The Buckeyes used a 20-0 run on Saturday to come back from a double-digit deficit against Illinois, and they used a similar 20-5 run to eliminate Minnesota.
Turner made big plays, but it was the eldest member of Ohio State, junior David Lighty, who took over during the spurt and scored nine points. He finished with 20 points and seven rebounds.
“He’s been here before,” William Buford said of Lighty. “I’ve never been here before, so I just feed off of David. What he tells me to do, I do. He’s a good team player and he’s a good leader.”
It looked as if Ohio State was determined to finish off the Gophers without a buzzer-beater or overtime. In a matter of minutes, the game was over.
Matta said at halftime he didn’t even touch the clipboard but instead knew from that point on it was more about mind and heart than anything else.
It looks like the Buckeyes finally knew it too.
