Prior to the game, the lights went off and a video montage played in tribute to both teams path to the championship. In the end we all really knew this was Ohio State’s from the beginning.
The Buckeyes defeated six-seeded Penn State 71-60 to nearly guarantee themselves a number one seed in the NCAA tournament and win their second-straight tournament title.
In a conference full of parity, there are three class of separation. 1) Ohio State, 2) Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan State, 3) and everybody else. With their seventh consecutive win after the Big Ten Tournament championship, the Buckeyes are 32-2 heading into the big dance. Compare that with Indiana’s 28 victories in the three years with Tom Crean.
For the last time after a very long week weekend of basketball of the week, Ohio State and Penn State would tip-off prior to the NCAA tournament—here, vying for the automatic tournament. From the outset, both teams look under control and had their legs under them despite playing now three and four games in a row respectively.
Ohio State went on a 11-0 run to go up 16-6 fairly early but Penn State responded to edge closer but the Buckeyes took a 29-23 lead into halftime thanks to John Diebler’s buzzer-beater.
Ohio State has the veteran leadership that helps keep them at the top. So many teams struggle with recovery and overcoming obstacles. They have the experience, talent and athleticism to compete for a championship. Although the roster consists of five freshman, three big seniors offset the youth. And youth can be a great thing.
David Lighty, Jon Diebler and Dallas Lauderdale are a strong trio of seniors providing a tremendous influence to the rest of the team. All starters, each player has a special unique talent, adhering to the role player. When you think of Ohio State, you think of freshman Jared Sullinger. Add in William Buford and that’s one hell of a starting lineup.
Conseco Fieldhouse felt like a home game for the Buckeyes. Although it’s only a three hour drive, these fans made the trek west to support their team win the conference tournament. Whether it’s football or basketball, they always travel well but it doesn’t hurt that they are winning and ranked number one in the country.
As for Penn State, Talor Battle is such a fun player to watch. He takes over a game like no one I have seen lately. He has the killer-instinct and attack skills necessary to be a star player. The thing that stood out about the Nittany Lions as a whole was their size and athleticism. There’s a lot that can contribute to a team making it this far and Ed DeChellis is finding the perfect package of guys to build the program. The basketball program has never been strong but after a solid conference season and overachieving in the tournament, Penn State can be associated with basketball even at a football school.
It was a great week of basketball in Indianapolis. As usual, the city did a fantastic job putting on a good show and demonstrating Indiana’s commitment to the tournament. If you missed here, watch my video I recorded Friday about the tournament and downtown.
Conseco Fieldhouse has one more year on their contract to hose the Big Ten Tournament and then it will be up for bid, most likely with Chicago competing. It would be a shame for the tourney to go, even temporarily.
Conference tournaments are now completely nationwide and the selection show will get underway. Enjoy another year of March Madness.
The attendance for the Big Ten championship game is 15,770. Overall for the four-day tournament, 86,767 fans came through Conseco Fieldhouse in addition to the 1,000 media members and staff.