National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Ohio St. 75, Northwestern 73
When: 8:30 PM ET, Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Where: Welsh-Ryan Arena, Evanston, Illinois
Officials: # Ed Hightower, # Mike Sanzere, # Ray Perone
Attendance: 8117

OHIO STATE 75, NORTHWESTERN 73: Jared Sullinger had 22 points and 18 rebounds, including a layup with four seconds left, as the No. 11 Buckeyes remained alive for a share of the Big Ten regular season title.

Ohio State (24-6, 12-5 Big Ten) will win the Big Ten title with a victory at No. 5 Michigan State (13-4) on Sunday.

Northwestern (17-12, 7-10), which lost for the sixth consecutive time to Ohio State, trailed by as many as 13 points before coming all the way back to tie the game at 73 on a dramatic 3-pointer by Alex Marcotullio with 10 seconds to play. John Shurna, who scored 22 points, missed a potential winning 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded.

The Buckeyes had a seemingly comfortable 12-point lead after Lenzelle Smith, who had a career-high seven assists, fed William Buford for a dunk and a 66-54 cushion at the 7:24 mark.

Northwestern, though, whittled the deficit down to 73-70 on two free throws by JerShon Cobb, and a Cobb steal led to Marcotullio’s shot.

Drew Crawford hit 9 of 11 field goals and scored 23 points for Northwestern, which has never played in the NCAA Tournament.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Ohio State had an excellent first half, making 16 of 27 from the field (59 percent). … The Buckeyes outrebounded the Wildcats 42-16, including 20-3 in the opening half. … Northwestern fell to 1-7 against ranked teams.
Top Game Performances
 
Ohio St.   Northwestern
Jared Sullinger 22 Scoring Drew Crawford 23
Lenzelle Smith Jr. 7 Assists Reggie Hearn 5
Jared Sullinger 18 Rebounds Drew Crawford 4
Jared Sullinger 6 Free Throws Made John Shurna 4
Aaron Craft 4 Steals JerShon Cobb 2
Aaron Craft 2 Blocks JerShon Cobb 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Ohio St. 75 50.0 6-19 11-16 20 42 4 5 16
Northwestern 73 50.0 13-27 8-13 21 16 2 7 7