AP News, January 18th, 2007
Ohio State's point-guard tandem of Mike Conley Jr. and Jamar Butler showed they could do more than pass in leading the seventh-ranked Buckeyes past Northwestern 73-41 on Wednesday night.
Conley scored a career-high 17 points, Butler added 16 and both had big baskets in the opening half as the Buckeyes (15-3, 3-1 Big Ten) pulled away to continue their home domination of the Wildcats.
Northwestern (10-8, 0-5) has not won in Columbus since Feb. 24, 1977 _ a string of 24 consecutive losses on the Buckeyes' home court.
Othello Hunter added 10 points for the Buckeyes, who have won five of their last six. Conley had 10 assists _ two more than Northwestern.
Ohio State freshman Greg Oden finished with five points, six rebounds and five blocked shots.
The Buckeyes have won the last 14 meetings with Northwestern, dating to 1998.
Craig Moore had 11 points for the Wildcats, who lost their fifth straight. They were coming off a 56-50 loss at home to No. 2 Wisconsin in which they led for much of the game.
The Wildcats played without leading scorer Kevin Coble, who missed his second game with a sprained ankle.
Leading 34-15, the Buckeyes opened the second half with a 13-3 run.
The Buckeyes took the lead early and never backed off. Conley and Butler, who have fought through shooting woes in the first half of the season, were both 2-for-2 on 3-pointers and led the Buckeyes with eight points apiece.
Butler scored on an inbounds pass from Conley to give Ohio State the lead for good at 4-2, then hit a 3-pointer the next time down the court. Daequan Cook and Conley then hit shots behind the arc and Hunter made two foul shots to make it 15-4.
Northwestern seemed befuddled on offense, having trouble at the outset against Ohio State's man-to-man defense and then fighting to get any kind of open shot when the Buckeyes switched to a trapping 2-3 zone. The Wildcats' two baskets in the opening 8-plus minutes were on steals that led to breakaway layups by Tim Doyle.
Oden was not a factor at the offensive end _ barely touching the ball _ but nearly shook the building off its foundation at the end of the half. Conley, his high school teammate, dribbled for several seconds before driving the lane and lobbing a blind alley-oop pass that Oden caught high above the rim for a jam that rocked the capacity crowd at Value City Arena.
