OSU pulls away in 2nd half

COLUMBUS (AP) — After helping No. 9 Ohio State to a 66-55 win over Michigan on Saturday, Evan Turner had some words of inspiration for his rooting interest in today’s Big Ten showdown.

“Try hard,” Turner said to the Michigan State Spartans. “There are no losers.”

Turner had 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists and William Buford had 24 points as the Buckeyes (23-7, 13-4) took care of their business. Now if the Spartans can just hold up their end of the bargain with a win at first-place Purdue, Ohio State could clinch a share of the conference title on Tuesday night at home in its final regular season game against Illinois.

Coach Thad Matta declined to offer any further encouragement to the Spartans.

“I’ve never been a guy who thought about a conference championship along the way. It’s more, ‘Let’s just play the next game,’ ” he said.

Dallas Lauderdale matched a career high with 14 points for Ohio State and had several highlight-reel slam dunks off alley-oop passes, including a one-handed jam off an assist from Turner.

“My teammates usually call me ‘Go Get It,’ ” said Lauderdale, a 6-foot-8 forward. “They throw the ball wherever in the air and I’ll just jump up and go get it.”

It was another crippling loss for the Wolverines (13-15, 6-10), who were considered an NCAA tournament team before the season got under way. They led by a point at the break while playing what coach John Beilein called one of his team’s best halves of the season.

But things fell apart in the final 20 minutes. They shot just 26 percent from the field and Ohio State, which shot 59 percent for the game, rolled to its 10th win in the last 12 meetings, including a sixth consecutive victory in the series at home.

“[That’s] very typical of this team, being in situations where the adversity hits a little bit and we go into tape delay,” Beilein said. “And that’s what’s been the frustration part of the year.”

DeShawn Sims, Darius Morris and Zack Novak each had 11 points for Michigan, which lost its third in a row.

Beilein raved about Turner’s ability one on one.

“Turner certainly is one of the few guys that you can just give him the ball at 17 feet and he can make a shot over somebody at 10 [feet],” he said.