Dec. 8, 2010

Final Stats

NORMAL, Ill. - D.J. Cooper matched a season-high with 29 points, including the winning basket with 31 seconds remaining, as Ohio defeated Illinois State 67-65 Wednesday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.

Cooper, an Illinois native playing in front of friends and family who made the trek from Chicago, also had eight assists, six steals and five rebounds for the Bobcats (5-3).

His backcourt mate, freshman Nick Kellogg, added a career-high 19 points. Together, the duo combined to make eight of Ohio's nine three-pointers in the contest with Kellogg going 5-for-7 from behind the arc.

The only other players to score more than one field goal for the Bobcats were DeVaughn Washington, who finished with six points and was one of three Bobcat big men to be in foul trouble throughout the night, and T.J. Hall, who added seven. Asown Sayles grabbed a season-high eight rebounds for the Green & White.

The Bobcats never led by more than three points in the game but had the advantage when it mattered most, at the final buzzer. There were 10 ties and seven lead changes in the contest.

Tony Lewis had 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Redbirds (6-3), who had only lost at home five times in the last three seasons. Jackie Carmichael led Illinois State with 16 points. The Redbirds took two three-point shots in the final 11 seconds but missed both.

ISU jumped out to a 7-0 before Ohio scored its first three points of the game on a three-pointer by Kellogg. A fast-break layup extended the Redbirds' lead to 9-3, before the Bobcats cut the lead to three when Cooper was fouled on his layup attempt and made the free throw to convert the three-point play and make the score 9-6.

Trailing 14-6 with 12:46 remaining in the first half. Ohio got a jumper from Washington and a layup from Hall to narrow the advantage to 14-10, but ISU answered with a traditional three-point play to extend the lead back to seven points at 17-10 with just under ten minutes left.

Ohio fired back with an 8-3 run, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers from Cooper, to cut the Illinois State lead to 20-18 and sliced the lead to just one point at 22-21 after a three-pointer from Kellogg at the 5:04 mark.

However, the Bobcats could not take the lead as the Redbirds maintained for the remainder of the half to head to the locker room with a 29-27 advantage. Cooper and Kellogg had 23 of Ohio's 27 points at the intermission.

The second half started as Ohio tied the game for the first time, courtesy of a pair of free throws from Kellogg before a Redbirds layup a minute later put them up once again. Anthony Cousin was then fouled on his layup attempt and made a free throw to extend the lead to five points at 34-29, before the Bobcats quickly tied the game at 34-34 after Kellogg's fourth three-pointer of the game.

Ohio finally got over the hump and took their first lead of the game at the 14:16 mark, when Washington stole the ball and ran the other way for the fast-break dunk to make the score 39-37. ISU answered with a jumper to tie the score for the fourth time in the first six minutes of the half.

Both teams traded baskets before the Bobcats extended the lead to three points at 45-42 after a layup by Hall, but a three-pointer tied it once again at 45-45 with 11:14 left in the game.

Illinois State regained the lead a minute later on a jumper by Carmichael, but it would not last long as Kellogg made his fifth three-pointer of the game to put the Bobcats up 48-47.

The seesaw battle continued as a layup gave the Redbirds a 49-48 lead with just over seven minutes remaining and Justin Clark converted a traditional three-point play to extend the lead to 52-48. Clark hit a three-pointer just a minute later from beyond the arch to give the `Birds a 55-50 advantage.

Once again, that lead would be short-lived as five-straight points from Cooper knotted the score at 55-55. The score was tied soon after at 57-57, before the Redbirds converted a three-point play and Carmichael connected on a jumper in the paint to widen the lead back to five points at 62-57 with 3:47 left in the game.

Ohio fought back and Cooper capped off an 8-0 run with a jumper to give the Bobcats a 65-62 lead with just 2:11 left. The Redbirds came right back and tied the game at 65-65 on a pair of free throws from Lewis with 1:26 left on the clock, but Cooper struck again and converted a layup to put the Ohio up 67-65 with just 31 seconds left in the game.

Ohio returns home on Sunday, December 12 for a non-conference contest against IUPUI. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. in The Convo

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