Evan Turner may have gone from great player to legend, all in 2.2 seconds.

That’s how long it took the Big Ten Player of the Year to take an inbound pass and drain  a 37-footer at the buzzer. It left every Big Ten fan in attendance at Conseco field house with a look of utter disbelief on their faces as Buckeye fans celebrated a 69-68 win over rival Michigan.

If their was any doubt whether Turner should be awarded the Naismith Player of the Year award over John Wall, that debate was likely ended when Turner’s shot splashed through the net.

There may have been no words to describe what had happened, but Turner did his best.

“I think as coach [Thad Matta] said, he did a great job drawing up the play,” Turner said modestly. 
”It was a great play, and it was a good shot, and we had a little bit of luck.”

Turner had 18 points and was a perfect 3-of-3 behind the arc. William Buford and David Lighty both had 15, while Jon Diebler had 11.

Despite the “dream ending”, the game almost became a complete nightmare for Buckeyes.

Michigan Guard Manny Harris led a furious comeback by the Wolverines and almost capped the stunning upset with a baseline jumper over Dallas Lauderdale, leaving the 2.2 seconds for Turner. Harris wishes he would have held the ball a little longer.

“It definitely hurt,” Harris said of the heartbreaking loss. “We were excited, but at the same time we knew anything could happen. They had two seconds, a lot of time to shoot and score, and that’s what Evan Turner did. He made the big shot.”

The Buckeyes started rather lethargic after their nine-day layoff without a game since winning the Big Ten title over Illinois. Turner said he felt like the time between games was too much.

The Bucks found themselves down 19-10 in the first half but used a 25-6  run to go up 35-25 at halftime. The rally was led by Diebler and was punctuated by Buford’s 3-pointer with six seconds left in the half.

Michigan, fighting for its postseason life, made a valiant comeback in the second half. Trailing by as many as 13, Harris had 22 points in the last 20 minutes, including several clutch shots down the stretch and seven points in the last two minutes.

“I thought Michigan played really well,” Matta said. “[Stu] Douglass got going, Harris got going, [DeShawn] Sims was going early.”

Before the final shot by Turner, Michigan had contained him well enough to win. Defensively, he faced several double teams and traps that were able to slow his offensive production.

“I was surprised the whole day, the whole game,” Turner said. “They were trapping me and doing all this crazy stuff and then they just laid off me. You know, too bad for them.”

The disappointing loss will end what was a rather unpleasant season for the Wolverines. They came into the year ranked in the preseason, but their year was much like their final game: deflating.

The Buckeyes saved themselves from becoming another highly rated seed to fall early in their conference tournament. Syracuse, Villanova and Pittsburgh all went down early, while Turner watched Da’Sean Butler win a highly contested game for West Virginia with a buzzer-beater on Thursday night and tweeted,

“My boy Da’sean Butler is clutch. He comes through everytime. I knew it was coming,” Turner said.

Little did Turner know he would be even more “clutch” half-a-day later.