Saturday, February 23, 2002
Buckeyes return home after tough road trip
Ohio State intends to regroup
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS — After losing three of four games on the road and falling out of first place in the Big Ten Conference, Ohio State is focused on winning at home.
“Even though it's a loss, I don't think the winner of this is (necessarily) going to outright win the Big Ten championship,” forward Zach Williams said Wednesday after the Buckeyes (18-6, 9-4) were beaten by Indiana 63-57. “They've got a tough schedule ahead of them. Now we've got to handle our business. We've got two at home.”
Ohio State, which trails Indiana by one game in the conference standings, is at home today against Purdue and Tuesday against Michigan State and finishes the season March 2 at Michigan.
Indiana plays Sunday at Michigan State, Tuesday at Illinois and March 2 at home against Northwestern.
Ohio State coach Jim O'Brien is confident his team can still win at least a share of the Big Ten title.
“The winner of this (Wednesday's) game is not going to be out of the woods and the loser is not going to be out of the picture, and we certainly are not out of the picture,” O'Brien said Wednesday night.
Ohio State and Indiana split their two meetings this season, with each team winning at home, so the tiebreaker for the No.1 seed in the conference tournament would be based on each team's record against the rest of the conference.
Both teams have gone 0-1 against Wisconsin and Minnesota. Indiana won earlier games with Illinois, Michigan State and Northwestern. The Hoosiers play all three teams again. Ohio State beat Northwestern and Illinois twice but lost in its only game against Michigan State.
Wisconsin and Illinois both have outside shots at winning a share of of the Big Ten title. The Badgers (17-11, 10-5) play Michigan at home and have head-to-head tiebreakers against Indiana and Ohio State. The Illini (20-7, 8-5) play Northwestern and Minnesota on the road and Indiana at home.
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Buckeyes return home after tough road trip
