Ohio State Routs Michigan – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/5/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 1999
Box Score%^$
By NANCY ARMOUR%^$
AP Sports Writer%^$
CHICAGO (AP) – The Ohio State Buckeyes know all too well how miserable life%^$is at the bottom of the Big Ten. Now that they’ve climbed out, think they have%^$any sympathy for the cellar-dwellers?%^$
Think again.%^$
The 11th-ranked Buckeyes, whose 12-4 finish in the Big Ten set a record for%^$turnarounds, turned a close game with Michigan into a blowout Friday. They%^$dunked, drilled shots and denied the Wolverines everything for the 87-69%^$victory in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.%^$
Ohio State will play the winner of the Illinois-Indiana in the semifinals%^$Saturday.%^$
Michael Redd led four Buckeyes (23-7) in double figures with 19 points.%^$Slobodan “Boban” Savovic, who was limited to two minutes in the last three%^$games because of an ankle injury, played well defensively, getting four steals%^$and five rebounds.%^$
Scoonie Penn, the Big Ten’s co-MVP, had 14, making him and Redd only the%^$sixth duo at Ohio State to score 500 points apiece in a season.%^$
Louis Bullock scored 19 for Michigan (12-19) and Reid added 13, but the%^$Wolverines were just overmatched. Michigan was held without a field goal for%^$the last 9:05 of the first half, and had just two in the first five minutes of%^$the second.%^$
Michigan, which lost three starters from last year’s Big Ten tournament%^$championship team, will miss a postseason berth for the first time since 1983.%^$
Reid and Bullock did everything they could to keep Michigan in the game, and%^$Reid’s jumper cut Ohio State’s lead to 49-43 with 14:39 left to play. Then the%^$Buckeyes got nasty.%^$
Jon Sanderson hit a layup and made two free throws. Savovic beat Reid for a%^$layup with a stutter-step and then stole the ball. That led to two free throws%^$from Neshaun Coleman, and Ohio State suddenly had a 57-43 lead with 12:30 left.%^$
Brandon Smith got the Wolverines within 10 with 10:21 left, only to have his%^$teammates go into meltdown. When Josh Asselin was ruled out of bounds as he%^$drove to the basket with 9:49 left, he slammed the ball on the floor and was%^$called for a technical, Michigan’s second of the game.%^$
The Wolverines made just three field goals the rest of the game, while Ohio%^$State started tossing in 3-pointers, jumpers and layups. A free throw from%^$Brian Brown with 1:07 left gave the Buckeyes a 25-point lead, their largest of%^$the game.%^$
The game didn’t look this easy early on. Coleman cut Michigan’s lead to%^$16-10 on his school-record 146th career 3-pointer, only to have the Wolverines%^$rip off six quick points. But Michigan didn’t score another field goal the rest%^$of the half.
