Russell’s 33 points lead Buckeyes over Wildcats

Associated Press

EVANSTON, ill.

Northwestern’s Tre Demps paid Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell the ultimate compliment on Thursday night.

After one of Russell’s 12 field goals, a key one in the second half, all Demps could do after failing to defend him was trot up the court and shake his head.

“He’s going to make a lot of money in the NBA,” Demps said of the freshman after Russell’s career-high 33 points led Ohio State to a 69-67 victory over Northwestern. “We tried to adjust, but he carried ‘em.”

Russell also pulled down seven rebounds and had six assists as the Buckeyes (15-5, 4-3) bounced back from Saturday’s loss at Iowa. They trailed by 11, led by 11, and finally had to fend off a final charge by the Wildcats. Russell was instrumental in that regard.

“Fortunately they gave me a lot of space and a lot of opportunities to take over, and that’s what I tried to do,” Russell said of his teammates. “I felt like I couldn’t miss. I was making them at great turning points of the game. During their runs, I was still making them to silence the crowd.”

Russell’s 12 of 17 showing from the floor included 6 of 11 shooting from 3-point range.

Even Ohio State coach Thad Matta was dazzled.

“Have you ever seen a performance like that from a freshman?” Matta said. “We told him at the end, just get open.”

Northwestern coach Chris Collins was mad about a pair of calls at the rim that went against the Wildcats, especially a block of Demps’ shot by Shannon Scott just after a Russell 3-pointer made it 63-60 with 3:34 left. He thought it was goaltending.

“I saw everything you guys saw,” Collins said. “Somebody’s got to be held accountable.”

Russell followed with another 3-pointer, and Ohio State never trailed again. A 3-pointer by Demps with 1.8 seconds left made the margin closer than it felt to the Buckeyes.

“No matter what happened, the adversity that hit, we still were up like three or four at the time,” Russell said. “We just had to finish the game no matter if it was ugly.”

The Wildcats jumped out 21-10 before Ohio State could get untracked. Four offensive rebounds in that stretch helped the Wildcats, with Alex Olah (16 points) scoring three of NU’s first five baskets.