Sylvester's basket helps Ohio State remain unbeaten

His last-second 3-pointer capped a furious rally by the Buckeyes against LSU.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- There's something about big games and last-minute shots that seem to bring out the best in Matt Sylvester.
It was the Ohio State swingman who made the 3-pointer that dashed No. 1 Illinois' unbeaten season last March.
Hitting just 31 percent of his shots from the field this season, Sylvester hit another big 3 with 5.5 seconds left Saturday to cap a furious comeback and keep the 21st-ranked Buckeyes undefeated with a 78-76 victory over LSU.
"I don't know what I was thinking -- my mind was pretty much blank, hoping that I'd make the shot," Sylvester said. "But when I let that one go, I felt pretty good about it."
Ohio State (10-0) trailed by 15 points with just over 51/2 minutes left and was down by 10 with 21/2 minutes remaining before making every big play imaginable -- and scoring the final 12 points -- down the stretch.
"What a game!" Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "I'm still a little bit numb."
Dials leads Bucks
Terence Dials, a Boardman High graduate, led the Buckeyes with 24 points, Sylvester and Ron Lewis each added 14 and Je'Kel Foster had 12.
"We never gave up," Lewis said. "The whole thing, the whole time, we were saying we couldn't give up, that we had to stay together. We knew we could get a victory if we put our minds to it."
LSU (7-4), rattled near the end with a lineup dominated by freshmen, was led by Glen "Big Baby" Davis' 25 points. Darrel Mitchell added 16, Tyrus Thomas had 14 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots and Tasmin Mitchell had 12 points.
"It's not Christmas, it's New Year's," LSU coach John Brady said. "But maybe we gave them a game."
Davis' basket off a backdoor lob pass with 3:23 left gave the Tigers a 76-66 lead. But that was the final points for an LSU team that had three freshmen in the starting lineup and six among its top nine players.
Foster hit a 3-pointer from the right wing with 2:25 left and, after a miss by Davis, Sylvester's 3-pointer bounced around the rim before falling with 1:44 remaining, cutting the lead to 76-72.
Buckeyes close to within one
Darrel Mitchell's 3-pointer was off the mark and Dials rebounded. The Buckeyes pulled within a point on point guard Jamar Butler's only 3-pointer of the game as the clock hit the 1-minute mark.
After a timeout, the Tigers tried to regroup but Thomas' off-balance driving layup missed and the ball ended up going out of bounds off an Ohio State player with 36 seconds left. LSU inbounded again and guard Ben Voogd patiently dribbled out front. He passed quickly to Davis, whose hurried air ball from 18 feet resulted in a shot-clock violation with 22 seconds left.
Ohio State called a timeout and then tried to work the ball inside to Dials, but Foster ended up sandwiched between two defenders at the free throw line. The ball popped loose for an instant and he regained it, awkwardly tossing a pass to Sylvester who was unguarded in the left corner.
"I knew Syl was open, and I was hoping to get him the ball," Foster said. "They were doing a great job with their defense."
Sylvester set his feet, took his time and hit nothing but net on the 3-pointer as a crowd of 16,136 erupted.