Buckeyes take rare home loss to Northwestern as woes continue

On Feb 10, 2023

Value City Arena hasn’t exactly been a house of horrors for Big Ten teams, but Northwestern has been the exception.

The Wildcats walked into Ohio State’s home arena on Thursday with just one win in 19 tries but as team with the better record. And like the rest of the league has experience against the Buckeyes this season, the Wildcats enjoyed their stay.

Northwestern (17-7, 8-5 Big Ten) took control midway through the second half, held off a late run and handed Ohio State (11-13, 3-10) yet another loss, 69-63.

“Obviously it’s been a difficult task for Northwestern teams, and I’m really proud of my guys for coming in here and getting the job done,” Wildcats coach Chris Collins said.

The Buckeyes have now lost five straight games for a second straight time this season and have dropped 10 of 11 since beating Northwestern 73-57 on New Year’s Day. Ohio State is 2-11 in games decided by single digits.

Justice Sueing led the Buckeyes with 19 points and Bruce Thornton added 12, but leading scorer Brice Sensabaugh struggled to find a rhythm and finished with 4 points on 1 of 8 shooting.

Northwestern made 12 of 29 shots from 3-point range. Ohio State was a crushing 1 for 14.

“For us to still be in the game still says a lot,” Buckeyes freshman guard Bruce Thornton said. “It’s just hard to beat somebody when they hit 12 3s and you hit one 3. Just do the math. We still could’ve won. We were all in the right positions to win the game, but we didn’t key on the small things. Until we figure out how to do the small things, then we’ll be all right.”

Ohio State led as late as the 10:12 mark when Thornton drove and connected on a Mike Conley-esque teardrop from the lane to push the Buckeyes ahead 47-45. Northwestern immediately answered on layup from Robbie Beran to tie the game, and after the Buckeyes went scoreless on their next three possessions the Wildcats went ahead on the 10th lead change of the game.

It came on a Chase Audige free throw with 8:27 left, and after Brice Sensabaugh traveled, Ty Berry drained a 3-pointer to make it a two-possession lead. And after a Thornton bucket made it 54-52 with 6:06 left, Boo Buie wound end the next two Northwestern possessions with two free throws and Brooks Barnhizer would sink a 3-pointer for a 61-52 lead with 4:44 to play and casually shrug his shoulders after doing so.

It gave him 18 points, tying his career high, and marked his fourth 3-pointer of the game. He finished with 19, tying Buie for the team lead.

“We couldn’t get enough stops,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said. “They had a kid who has not shot the 3-ball well all season who made four 3s. He’s a 23% 3-point shooter. Played really well. Give him credit. Just too many missed opportunities.”

As has recently been the case, Ohio State fell behind early. This time, though, the Buckeyes would claim a lead, and when Zed Key finished an and-one with 18:29 left in the half it put them ahead 5-2. The lead was Ohio State’s first in 110:02 of game action dating back to the first half of a Jan. 28 loss at Indiana.

Unlike the last time these teams played, Northwestern had some early answers. Ohio State had opened up a 34-8 lead through the first 15½ minutes at Welsh-Ryan Arena on New Year’s Day, but the Wildcats scored on four straight possessions, the final three of which were all on 3-pointers, to climb ahead 15-13 with 12:58 left in the half. Ohio State tied it on a Brice Sensabaugh drive and dish to Key at 11:54, but from there everything went cold for a while.

The two teams would combine for just one made field goal in the next 4:45, and it was an under-the-rim finish from Northwestern’s Brooks Barnhizer to give the Wildcats a 17-15 lead. When freshman guard Roddy Gayle drove and hit a floater in the paint with 7:09 left, it tied the game and ended an Ohio State drought that saw it miss four shots and commit three turnovers.

Gayle started an offensive flurry, as the Buckeyes scored on five straight possessions to take their biggest lead of the game at 25-19, but Northwestern would chip away in the final minutes starting with a 3-pointer from Barnhizer to halve the Ohio State lead with 3:17 left. It started a 9-2 Northwestern run that gave the Wildcats a 28-27 halftime lead thanks to a last-second basket.