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  Wednesday, Feb. 23 8:00pm ET
Redd's 25 points leads Ohio State
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Michael Redd scored 25 points and No. 6 Ohio State broke open a close game at the halftime to beat Northwestern 69-49 on Wednesday night.

Redd hit all five of his shots from the field in the second half for the Buckeyes (19-5, 10-3), who stayed within a game of the top spot in the Big Ten with three games remaining.

George Reese added 16 points and Brian Brown had 10. Ken Johnson had 11 rebounds and six blocked shots along with seven points.

Ben Johnson led the Wildcats (5-21, 0-13) with 17 points with Steve Lepore adding 11.

Northwestern led 10-6 early and trailed just 29-27 at the half as seven players scored. The 27 points was dramatic improvement from the Wildcats' last game, when they mustered just six points at the half in a 63-30 home loss to Illinois on Saturday.

Ohio State opened the second half on a 9-2 spurt with Redd scoring five points. Brian Brown got it started when he rebounded his own miss and Penn added a steal and layup.

After a Lepore 3-pointer drew the Wildcats to 48-40 with 9:15 left, Redd scored the next five points.

Northwestern, which shot just 29 percent, never got closer than 11 points again. The Wildcats had as many shots blocked (5) in the second half as they made.

The loss was the Wildcats' fourth in a row and 16th in their last 17 games.

Three-time All-American Jerry Lucas, who won championships in high school, college, the Olympics and the NBA, was honored at halftime when his No. 11 was retired. It was the first time that Ohio State had retired a basketball number and only the second time overall. Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin's No. 45 was retired last football season.

 


ALSO SEE
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Northwestern Clubhouse

Ohio State Clubhouse


AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Scoonie Penn with the steal and the slam.
avi: 443 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 George Reese gets the slam after forcing the turnover.
avi: 598 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Tavaras Hardy makes the dunk off of the airball.
avi: 535 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1