Spartans Lose By Point In Big Ten Semifinals

March 15, 2003

By NANCY ARMOUR
AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO - Brent Darby carried Ohio State in the second half, and Charles Bass made the first free throw of his career with 6.1 seconds left Saturday as Ohio State held on for a 55-54 victory over Michigan State in the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament.

The Spartans' Chris Hill put up a last-chance jumper from about 15 feet, but the ball clanged off the rim. As the buzzer sounded, the Ohio State cheerleaders rushed the court as several Buckeye players collapsed on the floor.

Barely above .500 two weeks ago, Ohio State (17-13) will play for the tournament championship - and the Big Ten's automatic NCAA bid - for a second straight year. The eighth-seeded Buckeyes will play the winner of the Indiana-Illinois game.

Ohio State led by as much as 19 in the first half as it held the Spartans (19-12) to a woeful 15 percent shooting. But the Buckeyes let Michigan State back in at the end of the half and went cold in the second, making just two field goals in the last 17:09. Its last came with eight minutes to play.

Ohio State also played the last 5:58 shorthanded, as big men Shun Jenkins and Velimir Radinovic fouled out.

And the Spartans took advantage. Maurice Ager scored on a pull-up jumper, Erazem Lorbek scored on a putback and Ager drilled a 3-pointer to give Michigan State its first lead of the game, 51-50 with 3:43 to play.

Knowing Ohio State had no one inside, the Spartans concentrated on Darby, double-teaming him for most of the last five minutes. But Darby made them pay, going to the free throw line twice in the last 2:38 and making all four shots.

His last two gave Ohio State a 54-51 lead with 1:59 to play, but Hill came right back with another monster 3 to tie the game at 54 with 1:27 left.

Darby tried to feed Bass - who had replaced Radinovic - under the basket on Ohio State's next possession, but Bass' layup was blocked and Michigan State got the rebound. Hill missed a go-ahead 3-pointer, and Darby grabbed the rebound.

After an Ohio State timeout, Bass drew a foul from Jason Andreas with six seconds left. The freshman had never even gone to the free throw line before, but he banked his first shot off the glass.

As his teammates clapped, Bass turned around and pumped his left fist at the Ohio State fans.

Bass missed the second shot and the Spartans got the rebound, but Hill couldn't pull off the last-ditch jumper.

Darby finished with 23 points, including 11-of-13 from the free throw line, and also had five rebounds, three assists and four steals. Sean Connolly added 11 points for Ohio State, which has won four of its last five.

Ager led Michigan State with 15, and Hill added 12.

The game might have had a different outcome if Michigan State hadn't been so awful in the first half. The Spartans made only two of their first 19 shots, and finished shooting a dismal 15 percent.

It wasn't that they weren't getting shots, either. They took 20 shots, only four less than Ohio State, but they couldn't get anything to fall.

But Ohio State allowed them to stay in the game, shooting less than 46 percent and going 3-of-8 from the line.