Oklahoma 83, West Virginia 70
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - Romero Osby scored 26 points, Steven Pledger chipped in 23 and Oklahoma led wire to wire for the fourth straight home game, beating West Virginia 83-70 on Wednesday night.
The Mountaineers (13-17, 6-11 Big 12) trimmed a 17-point deficit down to three in the opening minutes of the second half and were within four with 5 minutes left before Andrew Fitzgerald converted a three-point play off a driving layup before hitting a jumper on back-to-back possessions. Pledger followed with a 3-pointer that circled the rim before falling in to make it 76-64 with 3:16 remaining.
Sam Grooms tied his career best with 10 assists for the Sooners (20-9, 11-6), who moved another step closer to an NCAA tournament bid.
Eron Harris had four of his five 3-pointers in the second half and led West Virginia with 23 points. Deniz Kilicli scored 20.
TUESDAY
Fact Box
OKLAHOMA 83, WEST VIRGINIA 70
WEST VIRGINIA (13-17)
Kilicli 9-13 2-8 20, Humphrey 1-1 1-2 4, Noreen 1-1 1-1 3, Staten 0-2 0-0 0, Harris 8-17 2-2 23, Rutledge 0-0 0-0 0, Hinds 2-4 0-0 4, Browne 1-1 0-0 3, Henderson 1-3 0-0 3, Murray 4-8 0-0 10, Miles 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-51 6-13 70.
OKLAHOMA (20-9)
M'Baye 2-7 1-2 7, Osby 9-14 7-8 26, Grooms 3-3 1-1 8, Pledger 7-14 4-4 23, Hornbeak 2-4 4-4 9, Hield 0-0 0-0 0, Fitzgerald 2-6 1-3 5, Cousins 0-1 0-0 0, Neal 0-1 0-0 0, Clark 1-2 3-5 5. Totals 26-52 21-27 83.
Halftime-Oklahoma 39-28. 3-Point Goals-West Virginia 10-21 (Harris 5-10, Murray 2-5, Humphrey 1-1, Browne 1-1, Henderson 1-3, Hinds 0-1), Oklahoma 10-18 (Pledger 5-10, M'Baye 2-3, Grooms 1-1, Osby 1-1, Hornbeak 1-3). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-West Virginia 25 (Harris, Kilicli, Murray, Staten 4), Oklahoma 33 (Pledger 8). Assists-West Virginia 13 (Staten 4), Oklahoma 15 (Grooms 10). Total Fouls-West Virginia 21, Oklahoma 15. Technical-Henderson. A-9,857.
No. 14 OHIO ST. 67, No. 2 INDIANA 58
OHIO ST. (22-7)
Thomas 6-17 5-6 18, Thompson 4-5 0-0 9, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Craft 7-10 1-1 15, Smith, Jr. 2-9 1-3 5, Scott 2-5 4-6 8, Ross 2-5 0-0 4, Ravenel 4-8 0-0 8. Totals 27-59 11-16 67.
INDIANA (25-5)
Watford 4-10 2-2 12, Zeller 5-9 7-8 17, Hulls 3-6 0-0 8, Oladipo 3-6 0-0 7, Ferrell 3-10 1-1 7, Sheehey 1-6 0-2 2, Creek 1-2 0-0 3, Abell 0-1 0-0 0, Elston 0-1 0-0 0, Hollowell 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-53 10-13 58.
Halftime-Ohio St. 28-25. 3-Point Goals-Ohio St. 2-8 (Thompson 1-1, Thomas 1-3, Smith, Jr. 0-1, Ross 0-3), Indiana 6-15 (Watford 2-5, Hulls 2-5, Oladipo 1-2, Creek 1-2, Ferrell 0-1). Fouled Out-Oladipo. Rebounds-Ohio St. 37 (Thomas 8), Indiana 32 (Oladipo 6). Assists-Ohio St. 9 (Craft 4), Indiana 9 (Zeller 3). Total Fouls-Ohio St. 17, Indiana 14. A-17,472.
OHIO 72, BUFFALO 69
OHIO (22-8)
Hall 1-5 0-0 2, Keely 4-8 1-2 9, Offutt 0-3 3-4 3, Cooper 9-16 1-2 24, Kellogg 2-5 2-2 7, Johnson 0-0 1-2 1, Smith 3-4 0-0 6, Taylor 3-4 0-0 6, Baltic 6-12 0-0 12, Wilkins 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 29-60 8-12 72.
BUFFALO (12-18)
Regan 9-14 0-0 20, McCrea 9-17 1-4 19, Watson II 1-5 8-8 11, Skeete 2-8 2-2 7, Nuiriankh 3-6 0-0 6, Thomas-Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Raley-Ross 1-1 0-2 2, Downing 1-2 2-2 4. Totals 26-53 13-18 69.
Halftime-Ohio 42-37. 3-Point Goals-Ohio 6-22 (Cooper 5-10, Kellogg 1-3, Baltic 0-2, Wilkins 0-2, Offutt 0-2, Hall 0-3), Buffalo 4-12 (Regan 2-3, Skeete 1-4, Watson II 1-4, Nuiriankh 0-1). Fouled Out-None. Rebounds-Ohio 22 (Keely 6), Buffalo 43 (Watson II 11). Assists-Ohio 11 (Cooper 5), Buffalo 16 (McCrea, Watson II 5). Total Fouls-Ohio 17, Buffalo 13. A-3,132.
No. 14 Ohio St. 67,
No. 2 Indiana 58
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - No. 14 Ohio State crashed No. 2 Indiana's big party plans Tuesday night.
Instead, it wound up celebrating its own resurgence.
The Buckeyes made things tough on Cody Zeller inside, took Indiana's shooters out of their comfort zone and relied on Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft to deliver the late knockout punch in a 67-58 victory. It doesn't any get sweeter than that - even if the Buckeyes don't want to make a big deal out of it.
This wasn't just a victory for Ohio State (22-7, 12-5 Big Ten). It kept at least half of the league's teams in a title chase that will now go down to the final day of the regular season.
Sunday's losses by Wisconsin and Michigan State gave Indiana (25-5, 13-4) a share of its first conference championship in 11 years. A win over the Buckeyes would have given the Hoosiers their first outright Big Ten crown since 1993. They will get another chance Sunday at No. 7 Michigan.
But Thomas and Craft weren't going to let the celebration take place at their expense.
Thomas finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Craft added 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. And they combined for the first nine points in the decisive 11-2 run that forced Indiana to spend the rest of the game playing catch-up.
TUESDAY
Ohio 72, Buffalo 69
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - D.J. Cooper reached a pair of milestones for Ohio in a 24-point performance that included the winning 3-pointer in a 72-69 victory over Buffalo on Tuesday night.
Cooper hit 5 of 10 3-pointers to become the all-time leader with 264 for the Bobcats (22-8, 13-2 Mid-American Conference), breaking a tie with Tommy Freeman (2008-11). The senior guard also surpassed the 2,000-point mark in his career, reaching 2,018.
Cooper's 3-pointer with 1:34 remaining, which made it 70-69, capped Ohio's comeback from a 69-63 deficit with 3:51 to play.
Ohio had led by nine, 60-51, with 9 minutes left before the Bulls (12-18, 7-8) ran off 12 consecutive points.
Buffalo led 12-2 after less than 3 minutes of play, but the Bobcats came back to lead 42-37 at halftime.
Will Regan scored 20 points and Javon McCrea 19 for Buffalo, which also got 11 points and 11 rebounds from Tony Watson.
