Men's Basketball: Bucks win but Big Ten loses to ACC

AP PHOTO The ACC continued its annual beatdown of Big Ten basketball in the 2008 ACC-Big Ten Challenge. ACC teams won six out of the 10 games throughout the week to overpower the Big Ten for the 10th consecutive year. Since the tournament's inception in 1999, the ACC has exuded its dominance every season.

Numerous 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 PHOTO Slap-happy Hurricanes

Miami 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 PHOTO Top-25 duels

The 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 PHOTO

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Zack Meisel can be reached at meisel.14@osu.edu.