Ohio State got all it could handle from Northwestern, but the No. 1 team in the nation held off the Wildcats in overtime for a 67-61 victory to open the second day of the 2011 Big Ten tournament.
Northwestern had a chance to take the lead as time was running out in the second half, as did Ohio State. Neither team was able to hit a shot, however, so the game went to overtime. In the OT session, Ohio State scored 12 of its 15 points from the free throw line, and Northwestern just couldn't keep pace. A technical foul by Luka Mirkovic certainly didn't help, and in the end the Buckeyes won by six points.
Each team played only seven total guys during this game. For Ohio State, Jared Sullinger and Jon Diebler each played all 45 minutes. John Shurna and Michael Thompson did the same thing for Northwestern.
The Wildcats' leading scorer ended up being Shurna. He went 3-6 from three-point land and scored 23 points. Thompson scored 15 points for the 'Cats and Drew Crawford netted 12.
Ohio State's leading scorer was Sullinger, who had 20 points. Interestingly, 16 of his 20 points came from the free throw line. He shot the ball a dismal 2-12 from the field, but he made 16 of 18 free throws.
With the victory, Ohio State is back in the Big Ten tournament semifinals again. The Buckeyes will take on the winner of the Michigan/Illinois game at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday. You can check out the updated Big Ten tournament bracket below.
No. 1 Ohio State vs. Michigan/Illinois (beat Northwestern, 67-61 in OT, in quarterfinals)
No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 5 Illinois
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No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 7 Michigan State (beat Iowa, 66-61, in first round)
No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 6 Penn State (beat Indiana, 61-55, in first round)
For more on the 2011 Big Ten tournament, check out SB Nation Detroit's StoryStream.