AP PHOTONumerous nailbiters
Six of the 10 games in the tournament were decided by five points or less.
Junior Trevon Hughes' jumper with less than one second left lifted Wisconsin (6-1) to a 74-72 victory over Virginia Tech (4-3) Monday.
Tuesday night's schedule featured several frantic finishes. Clemson (8-0) used a second-half surge to capture a 76-74 win over Illinois (6-1). Boston College (5-2) squeaked by Iowa (6-2), 57-55.
Penn State (7-1) held off a late run by Georgia Tech (4-1) to win 85-83, and Maryland (5-2) knocked off Michigan (5-2), 75-70.
Ohio State took No. 22 Miami's best hit (literally and figuratively) in the first half, but dominated the second half to win 73-68.
AP PHOTOMiami senior Jack McClinton scored 12 points in just eight minutes against Ohio State Tuesday. But the leading Hurricane started an unnecessary storm when he reacted to a reach-in foul by taking a swipe at Buckeye freshman guard Anthony Crater.
McClinton was assessed a flagrant foul and immediately ejected. His absence allowed Ohio State to turn a 14-point halftime deficit into a five point victory, as Miami struggled to hit shots down the stretch. Jon Diebler and Evan Turner led the Buckeye attack with 20 and 19 points, respectively.
Ohio State (4-0) holds a 3-5 record all-time in the tournament. Miami (4-2) has lost all three of the contests it has played in the competition.
AP PHOTOThe 2008 edition of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge featured two matchups of a pair of teams ranked nationally in the top 25. No. 4 Duke (8-0) suffocated No. 10 Purdue (5-2) Tuesday in West Lafayette with a stifling defense to claim a 76-60 victory.
In the highly anticipated duel of versatile forwards, Duke's Kyle Singler outshined Purdue's Robbie Hummel. Singler finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, as the Blue Devils out-rebounded the Boilermakers 44-26. Duke remains the only undefeated team in the tournament's brief history, at 10-0.
Top-ranked North Carolina (8-0) overpowered No. 12 Michigan State (4-2) Wednesday in East Lansing, 93-68. The Spartans committed 21 turnovers, as senior Tarheel point guard Ty Lawson accounted for seven steals.
UNC certainly looked like the best team in the nation, as they quickly extended a 14-point halftime lead into a 25-point cushion. Preseason Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough led all scorers with 25 points.
AP PHOTOZack Meisel can be reached at meisel.14@osu.edu.
Be the first to comment on this article!