Sunday, March 03, 2002
Buckeyes claim share of Big 10 title
Savovic, Brown lead OSU past Michigan
The Associated Press
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Boban Savovic and Brian Brown each scored 19 points as Ohio State beat Michigan 84-75 Saturday night, becoming the third team — and possibly not the last — to clinch a share of the Big Ten title.
The 18th-ranked Buckeyes (20-7, 11-5) joined Wisconsin and Indiana as conference champions.
Wisconsin locked up its share Wednesday by beating Michigan 74-54. Indiana staked its claim to the conference crown with a 79-67 win over Northwestern on Saturday. Illinois has a chance to make it four champions when it plays at Minnesota today.
The Wolverines (10-17, 5-11 Big Ten), who have lost six in a row and seven of eight, were led by Dommanic Ingerson with 21 points.
Ohio State has won 17 conference titles, the previous one in 1999-2000 when it shared the championship with Michigan State. The win also gave Ohio State its fourth straight 20-win season, matching the school record set from 1960-63.
Buckeyes players and the fans who made the trip from Ohio took to the court and jumped up and down screaming “O-S-U! O-S-U!”
“This shows how great our fans are,” said Brown, who added eight assists. “It feels good that they were there to support us.”
The Buckeyes posted their largest margin of victory in a Big Ten contest this season in a 69-47 rout of the Wolverines on Jan.24, but Saturday's game was much more competitive.
Michigan erased a 13-point Ohio State lead and pulled to within 72-68 at 2:40 on a field goal by Robinson. But the Buckeyes pulled away with a layup and then a pair of free throws by Terence Dials.
With Michigan trailing 58-49, Robinson scored and was intentionally fouled by Brent Darby — a Detroit native — with less than 9 minutes remaining. Robinson made both free throws to make it 58-53.
But the Wolverines were called for a double dribble on their next possession, and Ohio State ran off eight straight points to take a 66-53 lead.
“This is something I'll never forget, playing in front of a lot of family and friends” said Darby.
After Robinson scored from the paint to close Michigan to within two at 45-43, Ohio State scored seven straight points to take a 52-43 lead with 13:54 remaining.
The Wolverines took a 25-22 lead on a 3-pointer by Ingerson at 4:25, but Ohio State ended the half on a 12-4 run to lead 34-29.
A running one-hander by Robinson tied the game at 20-20 and capped a 9-2 Michigan run with 5:46 remaining in the half.
Savovic scored Ohio State's first seven points, staking the Buckeyes to a 7-2 lead.
For the Wolverines' last regular-season game, coach Tommy Amaker started five seniors: Young at center, former walk-ons Rotolu Adebiyi and Herb Gibson at forward and former-walk-on and fifth-year senior Mike Gotfredson and Leon Jones as guards.
OHIO ST. (20-7) — Savovic 6-9 5-5 19, Williams 4-8 0-1 8, Radinovic 0-0 4-4 4, Brown 6-14 6-8 19, Darby 5-7 5-5 17, Dials 4-6 3-4 11, Connolly 1-4 0-0 3, Fuss-Cheatham 1-1 1-2 3, Dudley 0-1 0-0 0, Martin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-50 24-29 84.
MICHIGAN (10-17) — Gibson 0-1 0-0 0, Adebiyi 0-1 0-0 0, Young 5-7 7-7 17, Gotfredson 0-0 0-0 0, Jones 1-5 0-0 2, Blanchard 4-7 0-0 9, Robinson 8-15 4-4 20, Queen 0-1 2-2 2, Groninger 0-1 2-2 2, Bailey 1-2 0-0 2, Ingerson 8-14 1-1 21, Garber 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-54 16-16 75.
Halftime—Ohio St. 34, Michigan 29. 3-point goals—
Ohio St. 6-10 (Savovic 2-3, Darby 2-3, Brown 1-2, Connolly 1-2), Michigan 5-16 (Ingerson 4-8, Blanchard 1-3, Groninger 0-1, Queen 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Jones 0-2). Fouled out—Robinson. Rebounds—Ohio St. 29 (Williams, Brown 6), Michigan 22 (Blanchard 5). Assists—Ohio St. 13 (Brown 8), Michigan 11 (Queen 3). Total fouls—Ohio St. 21, Michigan 23. A—11,784.
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