Live from Indy.
by Quinn Peterson / @QwinFNP
One-seeded Ohio St. vs. fourth-seeded Michigan
Ohio St. survived a scare from Northwestern yesterday, while Michigan tried to dash Illinois’ Tournament hopes. Today, the two schools with a famed football rivalry will face off in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinals. Ohio St. looking to further validate their body of work and return to the championship game of the Big Ten Tourney; Michigan attempting to send the Buckeyes packing, pick up a quality win, and, perhaps, punch their ticket. Tip-off in 3 minutes. Stay tuned folks!
– Ohio St. fans deep at Conseco Fieldhouse.
– OSU wins the tip.
– William Buford rocking Cool Grey LeBron VIII’s. Dope.
– Jon Diebler scores the game’s first points on a driving layup. Jordan Morgan gets Wolverines on the board. 2-2.
– Sullinger yet to get on the board. 5-5 at the first media timeout. Both teams playing solid D.
– Aaron Craft just checked in for OSU. What Wolverine will go through hell today? Dude’s defense is outstanding.
– Michigan guard Darius Morris is going right at Craft. Trying to take him to the post. Got fouled the first time. Traveled the second.
– Diebler for 3!
– Darius Morris doing a nice job attacking, facilitating, etc. Just hit penetrated and kicked to Stu Douglass for a 3. Michigan leads 12-10.
– Two Sully FT’s tie it at 12. His first FG gives them lead. UM, 14-12.
– Lighty just picked up his second. He and Craft — OSU’s two best perimeter defenders — both sitting with two fouls.
– Ha! DeShaun Thomas just took out the camera under the Ohio St. basket going for a loose ball. 7:40 to go in the first half. 18-14, Ohio St. leads it.
– Freshman guard Jordan Sibert getting more burn than usual with guys in foul trouble. Does a nice job denying, getting steal, finishing with a fastbreak dunk.
– Sullinger and OSU do a great job of recognizing double teams, finding open men. Just hit Deibler in the corner for a 3.
– Michigan always has an answer.
– Sully is a man. All over the glass. Never stops working. Buckeyes lead, 23-22.
– He grabs a rebound, throws it away, but does a great job sliding his feet to draw a charge on Morris.
– Tough shot by Morris with the shot clock expiring.
– Diebler strips Morris, saves it, the gets down to the other end and drives for a layup. Gets Buckeye fans on their feet.
– Michigan again does a nice job responding. Trail OSU, 31-27, 21 seconds to go in the half. UM Coach John Beilein calls a 30-second TO to get something drawn up.
– OSU goes 1-3-1 to slow Michigan up, then switches back to man in the half court. Morris misses his layup. Halftime score: 31-21, OSU.
– Back to the action. Ohio St. starts with the ball. Aaron Craft starting in place of Dallas Lauderdale.
– 20 seconds in, Lighty picks up his 3rd. Thomas replaces him immediately.
– Thomas has been huge off the bench for OSU today. Hits a 3 for the first shot of the half.
– Sullinger gets hit, misses. Gets the rebound and goes right back for the finish. Ohio St. now has their biggest lead of the day at 9. Good timeout by Beilein to qualm the crowd and stop the momentum. 36-27, OSU.
– 7-0 run by Ohio St. to start the half.
– Darius Morris’ and-1 finally gets Wolverines on the board. Now trail, 38-30.
– Two more shots in the lane by Morris cut the lead back to 6. Thomas answers with an offensive rebound + putback.
– Tim Hardaway, Jr. for 3! Diebler for 3!
– Darius Morris starting to lose his cool, show immaturity. Picks up an offensive foul for a clearly illegal screen.
– Tim Hardaway Jr. bringing Michigan back in this thing. 5 straight got the deficit down to two. 47-45, Buckeyes.
– Lighty finally gets on the board after a monster offensive rebound.
– Emotions starting to run high. Brief altercation as teams on the way to their respective benches during TV timeout. 52-45, 7:44 to play.
– Aaron Craft 3 puts Buckeyes up 10. Sullinger getting a quick breather.
– Turnover leads to a Williams Buford jumper. Now up 12, fans getting into it. Beilein calls another TO, looking to stop the bleeding.
– Lauderdale makes his presence felt swatting a Morris runner. Things getting out of control for UM. OSU leads, 59-45. 5:42 to play.
– Buford picking up the scoring load with Sullinger out. Surprisingly, this run has all taken place with the big man on the bench. 16-0 run for OSU.
– Matt Vogrich finally stops ends the run with a 3. 63-48, OSU. 4:23 to play.
– Thad Matta pulled his starters, but reinserts them after poor defense leads to fouling Hardaway Jr. on a 3. 65-53, OSU. Less than a minute to play.
– Buckeyes turn it over, then send Vogrich to the line. He knocks down both
– OSU turns it over on the inbounds.
– Zach Novak hits a 3, lead down to 7. 65-58, OSU. 30 ticks to play.
– Craft gets fouled. Misses both.
– Wow. Vogrich knocks down a wide open three. 65-61.
– Diebler misses a FT! What?! Splits, though. 66-61.
– Vogrich misses his three, Lighty grabs the rebound, secures the win with two FTs.
– After a back and forth battle for 30 minutes, a great run for five, then a terrible end game, Ohio St. knocks out Michigan, 68-61, to advance to their second consecutive Big Ten title game. Diebler led the Buckeyes with 16. Buford had 14; Sullinger had 14 and 13 boards. Morris led the Wolverines with 16. Hardaway, Jr. added 15.
– Michigan St.-Penn St. up shortly. Stay tuned!
Sixth-seeded Penn St. vs. seventh-seed Michigan St.
After a turbulent season, Michigan St. likely sured up their postseason chances by taking care Iowa, then upsetting Purdue, in rounds one and two, respectively. Penn St. coach Ed DeChellis believed his team was safely in the tournament, as well, after yesterday’s victory over Wisconsin. The two will battle it out today to get a crack at one seed Ohio St. tomorrow in the championship. Here we go!
– MSU wins the tip and Draymond Green knocks down a shot to get the Spartans on the board first. After an Adrien Payne block, Durrell Summers comes down and hits a 3. Great start for MSU.
– Tim Frazier picks up a loose ball and makes a layup to get PSU on the board. 5-2, Spartans.
– Summers leading the way for MSU with eight. Continue to build on their great start. His fastbreak layup forces PSU to call timeout. MSU up, 11-2.
– Lucas hits a 3 from the top of the key. Talor Battle, who’s struggled shooting in this tournament, responds with a 3 of his own. 14-7, MSU leads. 14:36 to play in the half.
– Frazier rattles home a 3. Stepping up for Lions with 7 already.
– Green for 3. That’s their third deep ball of the game. Excellent shooting start for Spartans. PSU forward comes back with a 3. Lions responding well after that quick Spartan start. 19-15, MSU.
– Penn St. on a 15-8 run after that quick MSU start.
– Two MSU turnovers lead to two fastbreak layups for PSU. Tied game at 21.
– Spartans have gone cold from the field since the opening minutes. 21-21, 3:34 left in the half.
– Battle gives the Lions their first lead of the game as he drives for a layup and finishes. 23-21. Turnovers plaguing the Spartans as they have for much of the season.
– Battle finally knocks down a three. Gives himself some confidence and the fans some energy. He’s really struggled these past couple days. Lion lead 26-23, 37 seconds left in the half.
– Big 3 by Keith Appling to tie it as we head to halftime. 26 all.
– Maybe the best halftime show I’ve ever seen. Man juggling balls off a piano on the ground, playing actual songs. Hard to explain, but it was pretty incredible.
– Lucas gets the Spartans on the board to start the second half. Frazier does the same for Penn St.
– Battle knocks down his first 3. Same shots he was making as he warmed up for the half. Let’s see if he’s shaken his slump.
– Yep. Drains one from the other side. Spartans in a danger zone: largest deficit of the game and Battle starting to get loose. TV timeout couldn’t have come at a better time. PSU leads, 36-29, 15:24 to play.
– Battle for 3! That’s three in a row.
– Green throws a dime to Kebler to stop the run.
– Battle for 3 again!
– After making four in a row, Penn St. doesn’t go to Battle on two straight plays and comes up with nothing. I don’t get it.
– Battle pulls a defensive board, drive and gets fouled. Lions up 42-35. 11:39 to go.
– Penn St. has taken complete control. Now up 46-35. Their largest lead of the game.
– Jeff Brooks for 3. 49-35. Michigan St. calls TO.
– Lucas knocks down a 3 to give the Spartans their first bucket in minutes. Frazier answers with a free-throw line pull up jumper as the shot clock expired.
– PSU backcourt has gone to work today. Combined for 42 of Penn St.’s 54. Outscored entire MSU tetam.
– Lucas pulls up for 3. He’s been the only consistent Spartan thus far. Trail Penn St. 55-45, 3:50 left in the game. Still time for one last run.
– What looked like an easy basket for Summers just got thrown into the stands by Jeff Brooks. 55-45, 2:52.
– Frazier drives and gets hit across the face by Delvon Roe. Hard fall. Refs rule it a flagrant. Misses both FT’s, though.
– Lucas airmails a three. MSU begins the fouling game.
– Andrew Jones knocks down two FT’s for PSU. They lead it, 59-45. Conseco Fieldhouse beginning to clear out.
– Summers hits a 3 from the corner, Izzo calls timeout. 59-48, PSU. 1:56 to play.
– Penn St. (probably) just punched their ticket, beating Michigan St. 61-48. Battle led the Lions with 25 points, including six threes, while Frazier chipped in 22 on 9-for-13 shooting. Lucas led the Spartans with 16, Summers had 11 and Green had 10. They shot just 17-for-53 as a team.
Penn St. will meet up with Ohio St. tomorrow in the Big Ten Championship at 3:30 ET.
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