Saturday, March 04, 2000
Buckeyes happy to share Big Ten title
The Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — After a grueling final six games, Ohio State is perfectly happy sharing the Big Ten basketball title with Michigan State.
“We are thrilled that we were able to get at least a share of the championship of this conference,” Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien said after the Buckeyes beat Minnesota 82-72 on Saturday.
“For our guys to get through these last three weeks is an incredible accomplishment.”
George Reese matched his career high with 25 points, and Michael Redd scored 17 as the Buckeyes (22-5, 13-3 Big Ten) won their fifth straight game to win a share of the league title with No.7 Michigan State, which beat Michigan 114-63.
“We'll share it with them, sure,” Redd said. “Who cares? Congrats to them, but we won, too.”
The Buckeyes have won 10 outright Big Ten titles, the last in 1992, and have shared six.
Ohio State lost at Michigan State 83-72 on Feb.15 but then reeled off five straight victories, including road defeats of Indiana and Penn State.
Ohio State will be the top-seeded team in next weekend's Big Ten tournament by virtue of a tiebreaker formula.
Redd said the Big Ten regular-season crown meant nearly everything to him, no matter what happens during the tournament in Chicago.
“We only lost three conference games, that speaks a lot,” Redd said. “This is better than anything except the Final Four.”
“I think it's more significant, because you have to do it against everybody, on the road and over the long haul,” O'Brien said.
O'Brien said his players didn't know the Michigan State score until after their own game.
“It was all about us versus Minnesota,” he said. “We didn't talk about it until after the game. Then everyone was happy and jumping around the locker room.”
The loss was the sixth straight for Minnesota (12-15, 4-12) and was its second in three days to a top-10 team. Minnesota lost at Michigan State 79-43 on Thursday.
“I think we feel a whole lot better than we did Thursday night,” Minnesota coach Dan Monson said. “Nobody likes to lose, but these young men can be proud of what they did against one of the top teams in America. Life isn't about everything being good for you.”
Scoonie Penn added 11 points for Ohio State, including a 3-pointer early in the first half that gave him 144 for his career, three shy of Neshaun Coleman's record.
OHIO ST (82)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Redd 32 5-11 6-8 3-7 1 3 17
Reese 38 10-12 5-9 1-3 1 2 25
Johnson 36 4-5 4-5 0-3 0 3 12
Brown 34 0-3 2-4 1-5 5 3 2
Penn 37 4-11 2-5 0-3 4 2 11
Dudley 4 0-0 1-2 0-1 0 1 1
Darby 6 1-2 2-2 0-0 2 3 5
Ocokoljic 2 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
Robinson 10 4-4 0-0 2-5 1 1 9
Steele 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 28-49 22-35 8-28 14 18 82
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.571, FT-.629. 3-Point Goals:
4-9, .444 (Redd 1-2, Brown 0-1, Penn 1-4, Darby
1-1, Robinson 1-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked
shots: 9 (Johnson 8, Redd). Turnovers: 10 (Penn
4, Brown 3, Dudley, Redd, Reese). Steals: 7 (Penn
3, Redd 2, Brown, Reese).
MINNESOTA (72)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Schilling 33 6-18 3-4 2-2 1 2 16
Rychart 25 4-6 2-2 5-12 2 4 10
Wildenborg 16 1-4 0-0 2-5 1 4 2
Ohnstad 29 4-11 2-2 3-4 3 2 11
Simmons 35 6-13 1-2 0-2 4 2 15
Sanden 21 4-8 0-0 3-4 1 4 9
Burleson 16 4-8 0-1 3-3 0 5 9
Sinville 16 0-1 0-1 1-1 1 3 0
Keating 7 0-0 0-0 0-2 2 0 0
Bickerstaff 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 29-69 8-12 19-35 15 26 72
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.420, FT-.667. 3-Point Goals:
6-17, .353 (Schilling 1-4, Ohnstad 1-5, Simmons
2-4, Sanden 1-1, Burleson 1-3). Team rebounds: 4.
Blocked shots: 1 (Schilling). Turnovers: 13
(Sinville 3, Wildenborg 3, Ohnstad 2, Simmons 2,
Bickerstaff, Keating, Schilling). Steals: 3
(Ohnstad, Sanden, Simmons).
__________________________________
Ohio St 42 40 - 82
Minnesota 31 41 - 72
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Minnesota 1 (Coach). A: 13,876.
Officials: Tom Rucker, Sam Lickliter, Tim
Hutchinson.
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