COLUMBUS, Ohio — Michigan State coach Tom Izzo says that’s not a bubble Ohio State is sitting on — it’s a rock.
Senior Jamar Butler said goodbye to the home crowd with 20 points and Ohio State beat No. 17 Michigan State 63-54 Sunday, closing out the game with a 15-2 run to enhance its prospects of landing an NCAA tournament berth.
“Do I think Ohio State is deserving of being in the tournament? Hands down,” a disappointed Izzo said. “The problem is our league gets so maligned by people — and for what reason I don’t know. But, yeah, I think Ohio State deserves to be in. They beat two ranked teams down the stretch and they played one of the tougher schedules early.”
Othello Hunter added 13 points, including a pivotal one-handed jam of a rebound in the closing minutes, David Lighty scored 12 and Kosta Koufos 11 for the Buckeyes (19-12, 10-8), who most experts think are touch and go to get into the tournament.
“They’ve done what they had to do,” coach Thad Matta said of his players. “You knock off two top teams, these guys are playing very good basketball right now. You hope people remember kind of where we started and now how we’re finishing.”
Ohio State’s NCAA hopes were considered dead after it lost four in a row before beating No. 15 Purdue 80-77 in overtime on Tuesday night.
Raymar Morgan had 19 points for Michigan State (24-7, 12-6), which was frazzled by Ohio State’s defense down the stretch, missing its last six shots from the field with three turnovers.
No. 4 Tennessee 89, South Carolina 56: At Knoxville, Tenn., Chris Lofton scored 28 points, including six 3-pointers, and the Vols routed the Gamecocks, prompting fans to engage in a delayed celebration of the school’s first outright SEC title since 1967.
JaJuan Smith fouled out with 17 points and four 3s, receiving a hearty standing ovation from the crowd on his and Lofton’s final home games as Volunteers.
It was the final regular season game for South Carolina coach Dave Odom, who will retire after a 22-year head coaching career after the Gamecocks play in the SEC tournament.
No. 9 Texas 62, Oklahoma St. 57: At Austin, Texas, D.J. Augustin scored 20 points and the Longhorns captured a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship, and clinched the top seed in the league tournament because of a victory over co-champion Kansas in February.
Damion James added 13 points and 18 rebounds for Texas (26-5, 13-3), making four free throws in the final 36 seconds to help maintain the lead. Texas has won a share of the conference title two of the past three seasons and three overall in 10 years.
No. 13 Connecticut 96, Cincinnati 51: At Storrs, Conn., Stanley Robinson scored 18 points and had eight rebounds as the Huskies swept the regular-season series, in a game postponed a day because of a Midwest snowstorm.
The Huskies (24-7, 13-5 Big East) put it away with a 30-0 run in the first half. UConn held the Bearcats (13-17, 8-10) scoreless for nearly 11 minutes.
No. 15 Purdue 72, Michigan 58: At Ann Arbor, Mich., E’Twaun Moore and Keaton Grant each scored 17 points, and the Boilermakers put together a 21-4 run midway through the second half to finish alone in second in the Big Ten.
Robbie Hummel had 11 points for Purdue (24-7, 15-3), which finished off its best regular season in a decade by winning 14 of the last 16 games.
Penn St. 68, No. 18 Indiana 64, OT: At State College, Pa., David Jackson tied the game in regulation with a 3-point play and hit a decisive bucket in overtime to help the Nittany Lions overcome Eric Gordon’s 26 points.
Stanley Pringle hit one of two foul shots to put Penn State up 67-64 with 15 seconds left in overtime, and Indiana’s D.J. White secured the rebound. Armon Bassett missed a 3 from the wing, and Pringle lunged out of bounds to try to save the ball but ended up throwing it to Gordon, who missed a 3 to tie.
No. 20 Drake 79, Illinois St. 49: At St. Louis, Adam Emmenecker added the conference tournament MVP to his regular-season MVP, finishing with 16 points and six assists as Drake won its first postseason championship in the 32-year-old Missouri Valley tournament. No. 24 Clemson 70, Virginia Tech 69: At Clemson, S.C., freshman Demontez Stitt hit two free throws with 3.8 seconds left, and the Tigers held on to lock up third place in the ACC, its best finish since 1990.
No. 25 Davidson 82, UNC Greensboro 52: At North Charleston, S.C., Stephen Curry had 26 points and the Wildcats won their 21st straight game to reach the Southern Conference tournament championship. Davidson (25-6) has won its past 35 games against SoCon opponents, including this year’s 20-0 romp through the regular season.
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