COLUMBUS, OHIO -- One half marked offensive futility for Ohio State, the other a crisp ball-moving attack.
Sophomore forward Kaleb Wesson racked up 22 points en route to a 63-49 Ohio State (17-9, 7-8 Big Ten) victory over Northwestern (12-14, 3-12) Wednesday night in the Schottenstein Center.
"Pleased with our guys' approach, really from start to finish," coach Chris Holtmann said.
The Buckeyes followed up a first half shooting 38% from the field and 17% from three by going 53% and 25% in the second.
Turnovers, an issue that plagued Ohio State in multiple games this season, were down significantly with one in the second 20 minutes.
"I thought our guys were a little more conscientious," Holtmann said. "[The players] would tell you that's the number one thing I've talked about since the first two weeks of the season. It's obviously fallen on deaf ears [the previous Big Ten games]. I'm pleased tonight."
Snails outraced the pace to start Wednesday’s contest. Ohio State and Northwestern shot a combined 1-for-14 in the opening 4:56, the Wildcats taking a 3-2 lead into the first media timeout.
Northwestern even missed a dunk.
It didn’t stop for awhile. That same score held until freshman guard Duane Washington knocked down a three-pointer to give the Buckeyes a 5-3 lead at the first half’s 12:39 mark.
Ohio State opened the game’s first real advantage at 14-8 a few minutes later, but Northwestern closed down the gap off a three-pointer by sophomore guard Anthony Gaines. With 5:31 to go before the break, the tally was 14-14.
Enter Wesson.
Converting a dunk and polishing off an and-one, Wesson grabbed a personal 5-0 run to give the Buckeyes a lead then re-extended it before halftime with two free throws. Going into the locker room, Ohio State led 24-20. Both sides combined to shoot 4-for-23 from behind the arc and 33% overall.
Wesson's scoring was huge Wednesday night, but so was his passing. The big man finished with four assists. It negated a lot of Northwestern double teams and opened up his post game.
"My teammates hit shots when I was finding them," Wesson said. "That helped out a lot as far as them being able to double team me and being able to spread out the floor."
Holtmann deviated from the typical starting lineup to open half two. Freshman forward Justin Ahrens took the place of sophomore guard Musa Jallow, scoring four points, two rebounds and an assist in his first five minutes of action.
"I'd been thinking about potentially even starting him this game," Holtmann said. "I felt like he was really engaged, honestly, [on] the bench in the first half."
It sparked the offense in a needed way. Wesson added six more, and revived ball movement left sophomore forward Kyle Young open twice for layups to give the Buckeye a 42-35 lead with 12:09 to play.
Redshirt senior guard C.J. Jackson and Wesson drained threes, Wesson followed with a lay-in, and Ohio State started pulling away at 50-38.
A dunk from Wesson and four points from redshirt senior guard Keyshawn Woods later, the Buckeyes pulled out to a 61-42 advantage and never looked back.
For Ohio State, the win snaps a two-game losing streak and places them back within a game of .500 in the Big Ten. It served as a near must-win for NCAA Tournament hopes, losing to Northwestern at home likely being viewed as a "bad loss."
"We knew that we really needed this game," Washington said. "We all bought into a good day of prep, and went hard, really hard yesterday, and realized that we can be really good when we lock in and do what we're supposed to do.
