Northwestern Beats Ohio State 72-69

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Kevin Coble and Craig Moore carried the load, but it came down to freshman John Shurna to win the game.

Shurna hit a fallaway 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left to give Northwestern a 72-69 win over Ohio State on Wednesday night. The freshman scored 9 points.

Coble scored 26 points and Moore added 23 to lead Northwestern to a rare win over the Buckeyes. Northwestern had lost 11 in a row to Ohio State going back to 1998.

Moore hit seven 3-pointers and Coble went 10-of-15 for the Wildcats (14-10, 5-8 Big Ten), who fought back from an early deficit with a 21-3 run in the second half.

"We knew it would be close, back and forth, but we did a good job of closing it out," Coble said.

The Buckeyes (17-7, 7-6) lost their second straight, falling into a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference.

"It's inexcusable," said Buckeyes guard Jon Diebler, who led all scorers with 28 points. "We knew they were going to make a run, especially on their home floor. It just shows how hard it is to play in the Big Ten. We didn't come out and have the intensity we needed to in the second half."

Diebler hit 8-of-10 3-pointers for Ohio State, which squandered a 37-28 halftime lead. Evan Turner had 14 points, but also eight turnovers. B.J. Mullens added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

"We weren't as smart as we needed to be to win the game," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "We didn't have the energy we needed defensively to win."

Diebler couldn't miss, a far cry from his last game. He scored just two points in the Buckeyes' 55-50 loss to Wisconsin.

"That Diebler can really shoot," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "He's unbelievable."

Ohio State had a 21-9 rebounding advantage at the half, but Northwestern had a 15-9 edge in the second - thanks to six team rebounds. The Wildcats played more 1-3-1 zone in the second, which seemed to confuse their opponents.

"We were more aggressive in the second half and it seemed like they weren't going as hard to the basket, almost conceding rebounds to us," Coble said.

Ohio State still shot 61.1 percent in the second half, but had nine turnovers - five by Turner.

"We felt we were coming in for a war," Matta said. "It was a game of runs in the second half. Unfortunately they had the last run."

The two teams played at a furious pace at the end. Coble's 3 with 3:49 left put the Wildcats up 63-61 and they never trailed again, but it was close.

After Moore's last 3, Buckeyes guard William Buford hit a 3 of his own to cut the lead to 69-67 with 58 seconds to go. Diebler had a steal and a layup to tie the game with 26 seconds left.

That set up the final play, where Shurna got the pass from Michael Thompson, who had seven assists.

"I didn't draw it up," Carmody said. "That was Michael finding it. We spread it out and it was his call."

Shurna, a lanky 6-foot-8 forward, had been weakened by an illness and was a gametime decision. He wound up scoring all of his points in the second half.

"A lot of guys play sick, but not all guys play well sick," Carmody said.

Diebler's first 3 of the second half made it 40-28 with 18:31 to play, and that's when Northwestern turned it on.

Center Kyle Rowley converted on a three-point play, Jeremy Nash scored on a layup and Shurna made a scoop shot and hit a free throw.

Coble then made an off-balance steal on the sideline, keeping possession by throwing the ball off P.J. Hill. Shurna split a pair of free throws to cut Northwestern's deficit to 40-37.

Mullens split a pair of free throws and Kyle Madsen scored on a layup to push Ohio State's lead back to six, but Moore hit a 3 and Coble hit a baseline runner to make it 43-42.

Coble hit a pair of free throws to give the Wildcats the lead, Nash a layup and Moore a 3 to make it 46-43.