Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff points down the court during the Ohio State-Miami game on Dec. 10. Ohio State won 104-65. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
Ohio State failed to keep a near-historic run rolling Monday in Evanston, Illinois.
No. 22 Northwestern (10-3, 8-3) jumped out to a lead in the first quarter and never relinquished it, defeating No. 11 Ohio State (10-2, 6-2) 69-57 at Welsh-Ryan Arena Monday night.
The loss snapped a three-game Buckeye winning streak, all over AP Top 25 teams.
Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said that it was a tough game to win after surrendering the early lead to Northwestern.
“We spotted Northwestern such a big lead and you can’t do that against a good team like them on the road,” McGuff said.
The Buckeyes recorded a season-low 8 points in the first quarter, shooting 20 percent from the field and 0-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Ohio State went on an 0-of-7 dry spell from the field to finish the first quarter.
Neither team would score a 3-pointer until Ohio State junior forward Dorka Juhasz hit one with 1:15 remaining in the first half.
McGuff said that the sluggishness on offense was due to lack of focus.
“We’ve played with such focus and intensity in the last couple games and we did not have that today,” McGuff said. “I’m not disappointed that we lost. We lost to a good team, but I am just disappointed in the way we played.”
The Wildcats were led to victory behind the stellar play of junior guard Veronica Burton, who fell just short of a triple-double on the night with 20 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists.
Northwestern was dominant on defense, shutting down an Ohio State offense that was third in the Big Ten averaging 84.6 points per game.
The Buckeyes turned the ball over 16 times, allowing the Wildcats to score 16 points off of giveaways.
McGuff said that turnovers proved fatal for his team, and Northwestern deserved credit for their zone defensive scheme.
“They played well so give them credit. I thought their defense was really good,” McGuff said. “We turned it over a little too much. Normally when people play in zone, our turnovers are in the single digits, and we had bad turnovers that led to easy points for them.”
The struggles continued on offense for some of Ohio State’s leading scorers, sophomore guards Jacy Sheldon and Madison Greene.
Juhasz said that when her teammates have off nights, it is everyone’s responsibility to step up.
“Obviously, there are those games where somebody has a bad game and other people have to take responsibility and just step up,” Juhasz said. “Today it just didn’t happen.”
After the road loss, Juhasz said that her team will need to reset before the upcoming rematch with the Hawkeyes.
“We have to forget all of the bad negative energy and everything. We have to make sure that we prepare because Iowa is a really tough game,” Juhasz said. “We have to make sure that we are back on our little way and just fight and swing in that game.”
The Buckeyes return home on Thursday to the friendly confines of the Schottenstein Center to take on Iowa at 6 p.m.
