Sullinger lifts No. 10 OSU over Northwestern

Associated Press

Evanston, Ill.

Jared Sullinger banked in a turnaround shot with 3.1 seconds remaining Wednesday night and No. 10 Ohio State recovered after squandering a 13-point second-half lead to beat Northwestern 75-73.

Sullinger’s game-winner completed a 22-point, 18-rebound night for the Buckeyes’ sophomore star.

Northwestern’s Alex Marcotullio tied the game on a 3-pointer with 7.7 seconds to go as the Wildcats went on a late 8-0 run.

But after a timeout, Aaron Craft got the ball to Sullinger and he hit the go-ahead shot from the right of the basket. Northwestern’s John Shurna came down court and threw up a desperation shot that hit the rim at the buzzer.

Ohio State (24-6, 12-5), which had lost three of five, has a chance to tie for the Big Ten title if it can win at No. 5 Michigan State in Sunday’s regular season finale. The Spartans already have at least a share of the championship, despite losing to Indiana on Tuesday night.

Deshaun Thomas added 19 points and 10 rebounds and Craft scored 14 points with four 3-pointers for the Buckeyes, who outrebounded Northwestern 44-18, including 20-6 on the offensive boards.

Drew Crawford scored 23 points and Shurna, Northwestern’s career scoring leader playing in his last regular-season home game, had 22 for the Wildcats (17-12, 7-10) as their hopes for the school’s first-ever NCAA tournament took another hit. They have one regular-season game left, at Iowa.

Ohio State had beaten the Wildcats 87-54 in the league opener in late December, but this one was certainly more competitive — just not on the boards.

The Buckeyes led 73-65 with about 3 minutes left before Northwestern rallied as Dave Sobolweski hit a 3-pointer and Reggie Cobb made two free throws. Cobb later came up with a steal and called a timeout, setting up Marcotullio’s game-tying 3-pointer.