Deshaun Thomas scored 22 points and No. 13 Ohio State used a late 12-0 run to beat Northwestern 69-59 on Thursday night, the Buckeyes’ 32nd consecutive home win against the Wildcats.
Lenzelle Smith Jr. added 12 points – all in the first half – with Sam Thompson getting 11 and Amir Williams had a career-high 10 for the Buckeyes (18-6, 8-4 Big Ten).
Pesky Northwestern (13-12, 4-8) led throughout the second half despite having only seven scholarship players due to injuries.
Tre Demps led the Wildcats with 16 points, Reggie Hearn had 12 and Dave Sobolewski 10.
No one would have been surprised to see the Buckeyes blow out the Wildcats. They held a 111-45 upper hand all-time against Northwestern, including 65-14 in home games.
The last time a Northwestern team had won in Columbus was Feb. 24, 1977 – when the original Star Wars was up for best picture and the Cincinnati Reds reigned as World Series champs.
Also, the Wildcats were wounded. They recently lost starter Jared Swopshire, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee after being hurt Feb. 9 at Iowa. Drew Crawford, who is on the cover of the media guide after averaging 16.1 points a game last season, has missed the entire season with a shoulder injury. Also sidelined are Sanjay Lumpkin (wrist), 7-foot-2 Chier Ajou (knee) and 7-0 Alex Olah (upper body).
Only seven scholarship players were available to coach Bill Carmody due to the injuries and another player lost to a disciplinary problem.
But the Wildcats led by four points for several minutes down the stretch. They led 54-52 on a three-point play by Kale Abrahamson, who had driven the left baseline and then tossed in the layup while being fouled with 5:15 left.
Ohio State countered with Thomas, who had struggled with his shot and with sticky defensive coverage all night, getting fouled after he muscled in a bucket. His three-point play put the Buckeyes ahead 55-54. The lead grew to three moments later when, after a Northwestern miss, Thompson scored on a layup.
But Demps, who was 4 of 6 behind the arc, drilled one from the right wing to tie it again with 3:24 remaining as an uneasy crowd of 15,842 at Value City Arena took a break.
And the Buckeyes took over.
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