B1G Basketball Diaries: No Shockers This Time

Ohio State 63 Northwestern 53

For a few minutes it looked like we'd have yet another insane upset in the Big Ten but because this is Northwestern we're talking about, it didn't happen. Still, the Wildcats were able to come back from an 11-point deficit early in the second half to take a 41-40 lead with just over ten minutes left.

But like love, that lead was fleeting.

Ohio State would quickly retake the lead and outscore Northwestern 23-12 the rest of the way with Deshaun Thomas -- who else? -- doing most of the damage down the stretch. What was different was that Thomas did not lead Ohio State in scoring, as that honor went to Lenzelle Smith who finished with 24 points.

Though it would have been 26 points had he not blown a wide-open dunk in the first half. My guess is the rim rejected Smith's dunk. I mean, these rims are used to Northwestern players, so they aren't dunked on all that often and they're tight.