#24 Louisville defeats Ohio State in overtime, 72-64
There was no overtime miracle for the Ohio State Buckeyes today. One
day after defeating the Miami Hurricanes for the BCS National Championship on a
phantom pass interference call in overtime, the Bucks simply didn't have the
fire power to overcome the #24 Louisville Cardinals today in overtime.
And for the entire first half it didn't look like the Buckeye's would need a
miracle, as they built an impressive 17 point lead, 27-10 late in the first half
and took a 32-18 lead to the break. The 18 points were the Cards lowest
point total for a half so far this season.
In the first half, the Cards offense was anemic, making just 6-26 shots for
23% shooting. However, the Cards saving grace was their defense as they
held the Buckeyes, who had defeated 11 of the last 13 ranked opponents that
ventured into Value City Arena, to only 9-24 first half shooting.
Failing to look inside during the first frame, center Marvin Stone, who came
into the game averaging 18.7 points per game, went scoreless in the first 20
minutes of action. Stone would foul out in the second half 0-5 from the
field. Stone grabbed 7 rebounds on the day.
In the second though, the Cards came to life and got back into the game early
in second frame by turning up it's pressure defense and getting some hot
shooting from junior guard Byrant Northern.
Northern, who hit two clutch 3 point field goals against Kentucky last
weekend to cut the UK deficit to 3 at the break, came out shooting once again in
the second half against Ohio State. Northern, who played 28 minutes, hit
5-9 shots, including 3-6 threes in the contest. He also displayed nerves
of steel by knocking several clutch free throws in the OT period to ensure the
Cards their 7 straight win and 8th overall on the season. Northern
finished with a team high 18.
Gaines struggled again with his scoring as the Buck's defenders focused their
efforts to stop him. Gaines hit just 3-11 shots from the field and
finished with 14 points.
But it was defense that the Cards used to get back in the game during the
second half, holding Ohio State to 6-21 from the field and just 4-14 from the
three point stripe for the game.
Brent Darby and Sean Connolly, Ohio State's leading scorers on the year, both
played 45 minutes of action. Darby scored 24, while Connolly pitched in
13.
In overtime, Louisville's depth proved superior as the Cards pulled away for
a 72-64 victory, outscoring the Buckeye's 15-7 in the extra frame.
For the day, the Cards bench proved too much for Ohio State to compete with,
out scoring the defending Big Ten Champions 41-3. Besides Northern's 18,
Kendall Dartez pitched in 8 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocked shots and junior
forward Luke Whitehead contributed 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
Whitehead drained a key three pointer with 4:04 left in regulation to tie the
score at 51.
"Kendall was having a great week of practice and he has the quickness to
guard the interior people," Pitino said, referring to the key role the
transfer played today.
Despite it's poor first half showing and lack of offensive execution, the
Cards were able able to overcome scoreless efforts of three of it's leading
scorers, Stone, Dean and Garcia to pull out a hard fought victory in a hostile
environment of crazed Ohio State fans.
"This was a big time road win for us. It's a character win.....and
we'll go home and take it and the best part about it [will make us] more ready
for our next road game, which will be very tough playing Charlotte, because of
this poor performance....but we won and...I'm real excited that we showed
tremendous heart and character," Pitino said during his post game radio
show.
With the win, the Cards moved to 8-1 on the season and ensured their place in
next weeks top 25 poll. The win will likely move Louisville into the ESPN/
USA Today poll for the first time this season. The Cards open up
conference play on Wednesday as they face Charlotte at Halton Arena. The
Niners lost to Indiana today 65-50. Game time is 7:30 p.m. and the contest
will be televised live by WDRB.
- ITV Player of the Game: Bryant Northern
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Officials: Rick Hartzell, Paul Janssen, John Higgins
Technical fouls: LOUISVILLE-MYLES, Ellis. Ohio State-None.
Attendance: 16,941
LOUISVILLE vs. Ohio State
01/04/03 2:05 pm EST at Value City Arena, Columbus, Ohio
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VISITORS: #24 LOUISVILLE (8-1)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 MYLES, Ellis........ f 4-5 0-0 4-6 3 1 4 5 12 0 1 0 1 27
32 GARCIA, Francisco... f 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 4 0 2 1 1 1 12
21 STONE, Marvin....... c 0-5 0-0 0-0 2 5 7 5 0 1 2 0 2 20
22 GAINES, Reece....... g 3-11 2-8 6-8 0 0 0 3 14 3 5 0 3 42
33 BROWN, Erik......... g 1-2 1-1 2-2 1 3 4 0 5 0 0 0 1 19
01 DARTEZ, Kendall..... 3-4 0-0 2-2 2 0 2 3 8 0 0 3 0 21
03 NORTHERN, Bryant.... 5-9 3-6 5-6 0 1 1 1 18 1 0 0 1 28
05 DEAN, Taquan........ 0-4 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7
13 MOHAMMED, Alhaji.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
15 NAYDENOV, Simeon.... 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 1 1 0 1 5
24 WHITEHEAD, Luke..... 2-9 1-3 4-6 3 5 8 5 9 0 0 0 2 22
34 O'BANNON, Larry..... 1-4 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 3 3 4 0 0 1 18
52 GEORGE, Otis........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 20-58 9-25 23-30 11 23 34 29 72 12 10 4 13 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 6-26 23.1% 2nd Half: 11-27 40.7% OT: 3-5 60.0% Game: 34.5%
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 7-14 50.0% OT: 0-1 0.0% Game: 36.0%
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 10-12 83.3% OT: 9-12 75.0% Game: 76.7%
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HOME TEAM: Ohio State (7-4)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 Williams, Zach...... f 3-11 0-0 5-10 4 3 7 4 11 2 4 0 1 39
14 Radinovic, Velimir.. c 2-8 0-0 9-11 5 4 9 5 13 0 2 0 0 28
03 Connolly, Sean...... g 5-12 2-6 1-1 1 5 6 1 13 2 3 0 0 45
04 Darby, Brent........ g 5-13 2-5 12-15 0 4 4 4 24 2 4 0 1 45
40 Sylvester, Matt..... g 0-2 0-2 0-0 2 2 4 1 0 2 1 0 1 14
02 Fuss-Cheatham, B.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 3 0 1 1 0 0 21
20 Jernigan, Emonte.... 1-3 0-1 1-3 0 2 2 0 3 1 1 0 0 13
24 Smith, Shaun........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0+
50 Jenkins, Shun....... 0-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 5 0 0 2 0 1 20
TEAM................ 4 7 11
Totals.............. 16-53 4-14 28-40 16 29 45 25 64 10 18 0 4 225
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-24 37.5% 2nd Half: 6-21 28.6% OT: 1-8 12.5% Game: 30.2%
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 1-3 33.3% OT: 0-3 0.0% Game: 28.6%
F Throw % 1st Half:11-15 73.3% 2nd Half: 12-17 70.6% OT: 5-8 62.5% Game: 70.0%
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Score by Periods 1st 2nd OT Total
LOUISVILLE.................... 18 39 15 - 72
Ohio State.................... 32 25 7 - 64
Points in the paint-LOU 14,OSU 18. Points off turnovers-LOU 20,OSU 7.
2nd chance points-LOU 9,OSU 11. Fast break points-LOU 0,OSU 4.
Bench points-LOU 41,OSU 3. Score tied-7 times. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-LOU OT-01:49, OSU OT-00:27.