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Turner leads Ohio State to Big Ten title with rout of Gophers

Sun 14th, March 2010

Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - Evan Turner capped a dominant performance in the Big Ten Tournament with 31 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, as fifth-ranked Ohio State pulled away late to notch an impressive 90-61 win over Minnesota to secure the conference championship.

David Lighty was equally impressive with 20 points, seven boards and five assists, while Jon Diebler knocked down five three-pointers en route to 19 points. The balanced attack also included 13 points from William Buford as the Buckeyes (27-7) won their third Big Ten title.

OSU was later handed a No. 2 seed for the NCAA Tournament in the Midwest Region and will take on Big West champs UC Santa Barbara.

Lawrence Westbrook had 17 points and Devoe Joseph added 14 on four three- pointers for the sixth-seeded Golden Gophers (21-13), who were aiming for their first Big Ten Tournament championship.

Minnesota's incredible run through the conference bracket, which included wins over the likes of 11th-ranked Michigan State and sixth-ranked Purdue, secured an at-large bid in the NCAAs as the 11th seed in the West Region opposite Xavier.

The Gophers kept it close throughout the first half and early on in the second before the likes of Turner and Lighty ignited an incredible 23-5 run to shatter what was a two-point game.

Minnesota trailed by only three at halftime and was within a basket at 42-40 more than six minutes into the second half following a Devron Bostick three- pointer.

Turner then opened the game-changing OSU surge with a jumper and a trey, and Lighty scored the next six points. Diebler banged home a three for a 56-42 difference before Joseph countered with one of his own to slow the Buckeyes' roll.

The run continued, though, as Lighty and Diebler hit from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions, and Turner converted the conventional three-point play to open up a 20-point lead, 65-45, with a little more than seven minutes to play.

"I think as a unit we got hot, we made our run, and once we got a couple points ahead, we didn't want to let them back, just kept trying to hit shots and trying to get defensive stops," Turner said.

The Gophers were never able to recover down the stretch.

"They (OSU) proved why they're one of the best teams not just in this league but in the country. That's why they have one of the best players in the country in Evan Turner," said Minnesota coach Tubby Smith. "I don't know, we sort of hit the wall in the second half there. I thought we gained some momentum going into halftime, but that wasn't the case."

Things looked promising for another exciting Big Ten finish in the first half. Minnesota had it tied at 11-all just past the midway point after a Joseph three-ball found its mark.

The three-point shot dominated certain stretches, and Westbrook used two long distance shots to help keep the Gophers' deficit at 24-21 near the four-minute mark -- bookending one each by Turner and Diebler.

Joseph was able to fake off a defender and sink a three-pointer just before the horn for only a 33-30 Minnesota deficit at halftime.

Game Notes

OSU last won the conference tournament in 2007 and lost to Purdue in last year's finale...Ohio State shot an amazing 65.6 percent from the floor in the second half and 57.6 percent overall...Minnesota connected on 42.3 percent of its shots.