Earlier in the year, junior David Lighty declared his goals for the remainder of the season.
A regular season Big Ten Championship was a start, Lighty said, but the Buckeyes had their sights set even further.

Tuesday night, Lighty and his teammates completed step one with a 73-57 win over Illinois — a win that earned OSU at least a share of the conference title. But not long after the celebration was over, Lighty spoke of what lies ahead.

“Our hard work, right now, is paying off,” Lighty said. “We brought everything together, but it’s not over yet.”

After more than a week off, the Buckeyes will return to the hardwood next week in Indianapolis in the Big Ten Tournament. After navigating through a brutal conference schedule, overcoming an injury to junior Evan Turner and earning the No. 1 seed in the tournament, OSU should be a considerable favorite to win. The NCAA Tournament begins the following week and the Buckeyes will likely be a No. 3, or even a No. 2 seed.

Turner said that, with everything his team has been through, they will enter the tournament season with the utmost confidence.

“All this hard work we put in, always persevering through tough times,” Turner said. “All the stuff we did growing as a team and going through all the controversy we went through. It’s just amazing.”

Turner has often said that, prior to this season, he has yet to accomplish anything of merit in an OSU uniform. As a possible top-five pick in this year’s NBA draft, he said he would hate to leave school without making his mark.

As fellow junior Lighty said after Tuesday’s win, they’re on a mission to do just that.

“We can’t leave without accomplishing anything,” Lighty said. “So far our mark was winning an NIT Championship [in 2008], losing in the Big Ten Championship and losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament [last year]. That leaves a sour taste in your mouth, and you don’t want to be remembered for that.”

Whether or not Turner and Lighty make the mark they want when it’s all said and done, remains to be seen. But with a regular season title under their belt, their mark is no longer a losing one. They won’t leave Columbus as runner-ups or first-round NCAA losers. They’ll leave known at least as 2010 Big Ten Champions.

For Turner, however, that isn’t quite enough.

“It just feels great, but it’s not over yet,” Turner said. “We have a couple more trophies to worry about.”