Final Four Bound! – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/20/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 20, 1999
Box Score%^$
By STEPHEN HAWKINS%^$
AP Sports Writer%^$
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Ohio State’s little guard helped seal its biggest%^$victory as the Buckeyes took another step in one of the best turnarounds in%^$college basketball history.%^$
Scoonie Penn forced a key turnover in the closing seconds and had 22 points%^$and eight assists to lead the Buckeyes to a 77-74 victory over St. John’s in%^$the NCAA tournament South Regional final Saturday night.%^$
Guard Michael Redd added 20 points and five assists for Ohio State, which%^$earned its first Final Four berth since 1968.%^$
Just last year, in coach Jim O’Brien’s first season, Ohio State was only%^$8-22 – including a 1-15 Big Ten record. That was the fifth straight losing%^$season for the Buckeyes.%^$
Ohio State (27-8) never trailed, but had to hold on as St. John’s – in its%^$first regional final since 1991 – got within a point in the final minute. The%^$Red Storm was down just 76-74 with under 10 seconds left when Erick Barkley%^$lost control and had his only turnover in 37 minutes of action.%^$
Redd grabbed the loose ball, dribbled to the other end of the court. Fouled%^$just before the buzzer, he ended the scoring with a free throw with just%^$seven-tenths of a second remaining.%^$
Penn, the South Regional MVP, was the only new starter this season for Ohio%^$State, having followed O’Brien from Boston College to Columbus. The 5-foot-10%^$guard sat out last year after he and the coach had participated in the NCAA%^$tournament together in 1996 and 1997.%^$
Both Ohio State and St. John’s blew scoring chances in the closing 90%^$seconds.%^$
St. John’s, which trailed by as many as 13 points earlier, was down just%^$73-67 with 1:24 left when Boban Savovic traveled in the backcourt. But the Red%^$Storm was unable to capitalize when Reggie Jessie traveled.%^$
No one scored again until Ron Artest’s driving one-handed shot with 48.5%^$seconds left. Penn hit two free throws at the other end to extend the lead back%^$to six.%^$
Ohio State then failed to put the game away when Redd and Brian Brown both%^$missed the front-end of a bonus.%^$
The Buckeyes had a 75-71 lead when Redd missed short, and Artest drove for a%^$layup at the other end. Brown missed with 19.2 seconds left, and Chudney Gray%^$hit the first of two free throws to make it 75-74 seven seconds later.%^$
Penn made the second of his free throws before Barkley’s huge mistake.%^$
Ohio State, which advanced to the regional final by beating top-seeded%^$Auburn 72-64, shot 54 percent (29-of-53) and overcame a 45-28 disadvantage in%^$rebounding.%^$
Lavor Postell had 24 points, including four 3-pointers, and nine rebounds to%^$lead St. John’s, which got within one game of the Final Four under first-year%^$coach Mike Jarvis. Bootsy Thornton had 18 points and Barkley 13.%^$
Earlier in the second half, Ohio State twice built 13-point leads, only to%^$have St. John’s quickly get back within six points.%^$
Savovic’s open 3-pointer, after getting a pass from Redd, put the Buckeyes%^$ahead 61-48 with 9:06 left.%^$
Postell and Artest followed with consecutive 3-pointers for St. John’s,%^$which forced four turnovers in less than four minutes. Ohio State had just four%^$total before that.%^$
Ken Johnson, Ohio State’s 6-foot-11 center who finished with 12 points,%^$scored inside on consecutive possessions to put the Buckeyes up 53-40 with just%^$under 14 minutes left.%^$
The Red Storm responded with seven straight points, including a layup and a%^$3-pointer by Postell in a 37-second span.%^$
After scoring nine points in the first seven minutes of the game, including%^$a three-point and four-point play, Penn was held scoreless the rest of the%^$half. But his backcourt teammate picked up the slack.%^$
Redd, who hadn’t scored since a dunk for the game’s first score, had 15%^$points in the final 11:46. That included a 3-pointer from the top of the key at%^$the buzzer to give Ohio State a 41-33 halftime lead.%^$
Ohio State never trailed after scoring the game’s first five points, on the%^$Redd dunk and Penn’s three-point play, as St. John’s missed its first seven%^$shots.
