Radinovic scores 11 to help Big Ten Squad to 3-0 start – Ohio State Buckeyes
8/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Aug. 14, 2002
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Liege, Belgium — Illinois’ Sean Harrington knocked down two crucial three pointers in the final three minutes, including one to give the Big Ten their first lead of the second half with 4:26 remaining to lead the Big Ten All-Stars to an 81-79 victory over Euphony Liege Basketball Club.
The victory is the ninth in a row by the Big Ten touring teams over the last two years, tying the Big Ten’s longest winning streak.
Harrington led the Big Ten with 14 points, making four of seven three pointers and was followed in the scoring column by Illini teammate Roger Powell with 13 points.
“They were playing in a zone and we were able to get some ball movement and I was able to knock down some shots,” Harrington said.
Indiana’s Tom Coverdale set up Harrington for each of the two crucial three pointers near the end of the game. Minnesota’s Ben Johnson converted two free throws with four seconds remaining to give the Big Ten a four point lead and seal the victory.
“When I was sat out before coming in there toward the end I saw that Sean was hot, and when someone is hot like that, you have to get him the ball,” Coverdale said. “He was hitting everything he put up, so I tried to drive and kick to him when he was open.”
Bill Self was pleased overall with the effort.
“We played better than we shot,” Self said. “Sean was able to knock down some shots, but Velimir and Roger both played very well tonight. It was a game where we had opportunities to break the game open, but for whatever reason never did so. We played very well in the last five minutes. It’s awfully hard to travel two hours on a bus and get right out and play. We were definitely sluggish at the start.” Ohio State’s Radinovic had his best shooting game of the trip, making five of seven shots and grabbing seven rebounds on his way to 11 points.
“I was able to get in low and make some layups,” Radinovic said. “We came out sluggish, but as we got our legs, we were able to control the lane and the boards. We forced the big guys outside a little bit. We had nine turnovers in the first quarter, which really made it an ugly start before we got our heads into the game.”
Coverdale also thought the defense by the Big Ten helped turn the game.
“In the fourth quarter, we stepped up and stopped giving up easy shots,” Coverdale said. “In the first three games, we have allowed a lot of open three pointers and that was no different tonight until we stepped up our defense in the fourth quarter.”
The Big Ten won the battle of the boards 47-38 and forced 21 Liege turnovers, including 10 by former Southern Utah Star Tony Monaco.
The Big Ten team has Wednesday off and is planning a day-trip to Paris before resuming play against Spirou Charleroi on Thursday.
