Feb. 29, 2012

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POSTGAME NOTES
No. 10 Ohio State 75 (24-6, 12-5) Northwestern 73 (17-12, 7-10)
Feb. 29, 2012
Welsh-Ryan Arena – Evanston, Ill.
Attendance: 8,117

•    The Buckeyes move to 111-45 all-time vs. Northwestern, the most wins for Ohio State vs. any opponent. They have won six-consecutive games in the series and 17 of the last 18.
•    As a ranked team, the Buckeyes are 34-2 vs. the Wildcats, having now won 14 in a row and 23 of its previous 24 dating back to 2/20/71.
•    Ohio State is 45-31 vs. Northwestern in Evanston, having won 7 of its last 8.
•    Ohio State moves to 736-667 overall in the Big Ten.
•    As a ranked team, Ohio State is 419-114 overall and when ranked in the AP Top 10, the Buckeyes are 298-65.
•    As the Associated Press No. 10 team, Ohio State is 13-7 overall.
•    Ohio State has had a player record a double-double in 838 games. The Buckeyes are 577-261 in those contests. Jared Sullinger (22 points, 18 rebounds) had his 30th career double-double, while Deshaun Thomas (19/10) had his second career double-double.
•    It is the first time this season that two players had a double-double in the same game.
•    This is the 292nd-consecutive game Ohio State has made at least one 3-point field goal (1/10/04 vs. Penn State was the last game with zero made).
•    The starting lineup of Buford, Craft, Smith, Jr., Sullinger and Thomas is 22-5 this season.
•    Ohio State went 11-16 from the free-throw line. They now have attempted 647 free throws this season, while only allowing its opponents to attempt 439 from the stripe. The margin is 353-253 in the Big Ten.
•    The Buckeyes have now amassed 218 assists in the Big Ten while only allowing 176 from their opponents. For the season, Ohio State has 456 assists, while its opponents only have 293.
•    20 of Ohio State’s 25 wins have been by double-figures, with 16 wins by 20 or more points.
•    Ohio State outrebounded Northwestern 22-5 in the first half and 44-18 for the game.
•    The Buckeyes had 20 second chance points, compared to seven for Northwestern.
•    Ohio State had a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint.
•    The Buckeyes began the game on an 11-2 run.
•    Ohio State and Northwestern both finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field.
•    Thad Matta moves to 13-1 all-time vs. Northwestern (2-0 this season).
•    Matta’s career record moves to 316-94 overall and 214-63 at Ohio State.
•    With the win, Matta moves to 114-46 in the Big Ten during his 12-year coaching career.
•    Matta has a record of 110-42 vs. the Big Ten (regular season and conference tournament) since he became Ohio State’s head coach in the 2004-05 season.
•    Ohio State is 178-21 under Matta vs. unranked teams, including 19-1 this season. (5-1 on the road).
•    Matta’s .773 winning percentage at Ohio State is the best among Big Ten coaches since Matta became the Buckeyes’ head coach in 2004.
•    Ohio State is 39-19 in February under Coach Matta.
•    Ohio State is 22-1 this season and 180-21 under Matta when leading at the half.
•    When leading with five minutes remaining, the Buckeyes are 24-0 this season and 199-5 under Matta.
•    The Scarlet and Gray are 132-21 when grabbing more rebounds than the opponent, including 21-4 this season (OSU outrebounded Northwestern, 44-18).
•    When Ohio State shoots 50 percent or better from the field, it is 12-0 this season and 106-7 under Matta.
•    When scoring more than 70 points in a game, the Buckeyes improve to 20-2 this year and 148-13 under Matta. Ohio State scored 75 points vs. Northwestern.
•    The start was William Buford’s 128th donning the Scarlet and Gray, the most by any Buckeye in history.
•    Buford has been a part of 109 of Coach Matta’s 214 career wins at Ohio State.
•    The game is the 136th that Buford has played in, fifth all-time at Ohio State in games played.
•    Buford has been a part of 109 wins at Ohio State, which is third all-time by senior class.
•    Buford is just the fourth Buckeye in recorded history to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists. Buford’s current totals are 1,867/620/346.
•    Buford scored six points for the Buckeyes, improving his career total to 1,867, 12 behind Michael Redd (1,879) for fifth place in Ohio State scoring history.
•    Buford has now scored 1,007 points in the Big Ten. He is currently the second among active scorers in Big Ten regular season games.
•    Buford had six rebounds to push his career total to 620. He is one of 17 former Buckeyes in the prestigious 1,500 point and 500 rebound club.
•    Buford became the fifth player in Ohio State history to join the 400 (made field goals) and 4,000 (minutes played) Club. After the Northwestern game, Buford has now tallied 705 made field goals and 4,399 minutes played in 136 career games (J. Diebler, D. Lighty, J. Butler and H. Williams are the other Buckeyes to achieve this feat).
•    Buford had four assists in the game for a career total of 346.
•    With three made field goals, Buford now has 705 for his career, the fifth most in Ohio State history.
•    Jared Sullinger had 22 points for the Buckeyes. It is the 25th time this season and 59th time in his career he has scored in double figures.
•    It is the ninth time this season and 19th time in his career, Sullinger has scored at least 20 points.
•    With 22 points, Sullinger added to his 1,000 point club total (1,111). He is one of seven total players in Ohio State history to score at 1,000 or more points in two years.
•    Sullinger had a season-high 18 rebounds to push his career total to 636.
•    Sullinger was one rebound short of tying his career high of 19 (South Carolina, 12/18/10).
•    With 22 points and 18 rebounds, Sullinger earned his 30th career double-double and 12th this season. It is also the 17th time against a Big Ten opponent.
•    Ohio State is 27-3 in games Sullinger scores a double-double.
 •    Deshaun Thomas finished with 19 points. It is the 37th time in his career he has scored in double figures and 26th time this season. He now has 715 points in his two-year career.
•    Thomas has scored in double figures in 26 of the Buckeyes 30 games this season.
•    Thomas also chipped in 10 rebounds for the Buckeyes to earn his second career double-double (2/18/12, vs. Michigan).
•    Aaron Craft had 14 points. It is the 14th time this season he has scored in double figures and eighth time vs. a Big Ten opponent. He has 514 points in his career.
•    Craft had two assists to push his season total to 144 and his career total to 311.
•    Craft had four steals. He has 144 for his career. He has had at least one steal in 28 of 30 games this season.
•    Craft was 4-6 from behind the 3-point arc, tying a career high (Penn State, 1/15/11). It is only the third time this season he has made more than two 3-point field goals (Duke, 11/29/12 and Illinois, 2/21/12).
•    Lenzelle Smith, Jr. had a career-high seven assists, with four coming in the first half (5-twice, last vs. Valpo, 11/25/11).
•    Smith, Jr. also chipped in 12 points. It is the fourth time in his career he has scored in double figures.