[Pictured: Duane Washington’s shoe honoring Kobe Bryant. Photo courtesy ohiostatebuckeyes.com.]
Point guard DJ Carton scored 17 points in 21 minutes of action and wing Justin Ahrens added 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range in leading Ohio State (13-7, 3-6) to a 71-59 win over Northwestern (6-13, 1-8) in Evanston, Illinois on Sunday.
The win was the first in three attempts for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State held the Wildcats to 8-of-30 (.267) shooting in the second half, allowing just 24 points over the final 20 minutes.
The Wesson Brothers scored 11 points a piece and combined for 14 rebounds.
It was a slow start for the Buckeyes, as they didn’t get their first points until a putback at the 15:43 mark of the first half to cut Northwestern’s lead to 7-2. A short jumper from Miller Kopp a couple of minutes later made it 13-4.
Ohio State responded with layups from Kyle Young and Duane Washington. Following another basket from Kopp, Washington and Justin Ahrens dropped in consecutive three-pointers to cut Northwestern’s lead to 15-14.
After some baskets were traded by both teams, Arens hit a three to make it 19-19 with 7:56 to play in the first half. Four free throws from Andre Wesson gave the Buckeyes a 4-point lead shortly thereafter.
Two minutes later the lead grew to 30-23 following an Andre Wesson three-pointer, which was then followed by a DJ Carton three.
Yet again, however, the Buckeyes faded down the stretch in the first half, allowing Northwestern to close on a 9-2 run to make it 38-35 OSU at the half.
The Wildcats then tied the game with a three-pointer from Pat Spencer with 18:40 to play. Following a Northwestern turnover, Kaleb Wesson hit a three from the right side to give the Buckeyes the lead back at 41-38.
A 6-0 run for the Wildcats made it 44-41 Northwestern, but a pair of layups from Carton gave the Buckeyes the lead again at 45-44. Kaleb Wesson added a pair of baskets to move the lead to five points, which was then knocked back to three points following another basket from Kopp.
Following that two-pointer, however, Ahrens hit a pair of threes from the left wing to give Ohio State a 55-46 lead with 11:30 remaining in the game.
With 7:35 to play in the game and the Buckeyes leading 57-51, Kaleb Wesson picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench. Ohio State went scoreless on its next two possessions, but Carton finally hit a pull-up jumper to make it 59-51 with just over six minutes to play.
Layups by Spencer and Ryan Young quickly made it a 4-point game, but Carton answered with a pair of free throws and then an alley oop to build the lead back up to eight points with 4:29 remaining.
Down the stretch, the Buckeye lead grew thanks to three points from CJ Walker and Washington. Carton ended the OSU scoring with a dunk and a blocked three-point attempt from Boo Buie.
Ohio State outscored Northwestern 39-10 in bench points, and 28-18 in the paint.
Up next for the Buckeyes is a home game against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday. Tip is at 12:00 pm and the game will air on ESPN.
Box Score
It is completely insane how this team has fell apart this year. No one can make sense of it. Come on Bucks!
The road back has to start somewhere. I hope this is it. Carton played more within the team framework, but K. Wesson has to start making shots in the paint.
WooHoo…they took down mighty Northwestern. Bad news…………the locker room is still a disgrace.