Buckeyes Win NIT Title

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
Published: April 3, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) - In a locker room outburst equal parts joy and
angst, Jamar Butler finally dropped the charade Ohio State had been
playing for nearly three weeks and revealed its main motivating
factor for a roughshod run through the NIT.
“This is what happens when you put an NCAA tournament team in
the NIT,” Butler yelled, surrounded by his teammates after beating
Massachusetts 92-85 in the title game Thursday night. “Write that
down and send that to the committee.”
A year removed from a loss in the national championship game,
the Buckeyes have a trophy to carry home - even if it’s not the one
they had wanted.
“Kind of a sore loser,” coach Thad Matta said, when asked
whether he would watch the Final Four this weekend. “I don’t know
what I’m going to do. I think I’m going to rest.”
Butler had 19 points and eight assists in his final college
game, which culminated with the kind of raucous victory celebration
inside Madison Square Garden that he couldn’t have last year in
Atlanta.
The Buckeyes lost to Florida in the Final Four, and a snub by
the NCAA selection committee kept them from playing for another
trip there. They rebounded to dominate each of their four opponents
on the way to New York, then had enough to withstand every UMass
run.
“In 24 hours I’ve probably watched 10 or 12 games they
played,” Minutemen coach Travis Ford said, “and I never saw them
shoot like that.”
Kosta Koufos added 22 points and earned the tournament’s most
outstanding player award. Evan Turner finished with 20 for the
Buckeyes (24-13), who shot 63 percent (19-of-30) from the field in
the second half.
“They had their press coming at us,” Butler said, “and once
we broke out, I think we were fine on the open floor and I think we
made great plays.”
Ricky Harris scored 27 for UMass (25-11), hitting three
3-pointers in the closing minutes to help the Minutemen stay close.
The last of them made it 77-75 with 3:13 left, but Othello
Hunter scored moments later and after Harris missed another 3 try
at the other end, Butler drained a 3-pointer from the wing to give
Ohio State some breathing room.
Turner took care of things from the free throw line over the
final minute and a half, helping the Buckeyes wrap up the title.
“I’ve seen this team go through a lot,” Matta said, moments
before cutting down the net. “I’m happy for them.”
Etienne Brower, one of four players in the starting lineup who
grew up in New York, had 17 points and 12 rebounds for UMass. Gary
Forbes finished with 16 points and six assists, and Dante Milligan
scored 14.
Massachusetts dominated Ohio State on the boards, outrebounding
the bigger Buckeyes 49-37 and corralling a startling 30 on the
offensive end. But UMass figured to be in trouble when the frenetic
pace that it also enjoys kept up in the second half: Ohio State was
15-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points.
“We didn’t even know if we were up or down, we were just giving
it all we had,” Brower said. “They’re a solid team.”
Massachusetts put a scare into Ohio State from the moment the
last notes of the national anthem were played, rushing the entire
length of the court to shake hands with its stoic, startled Big Ten
opponent.
The Minutemen kept racing once the ball was thrown up, forcing
three turnovers in the first 2½ minutes and taking a 10-2 lead on a
basket by Milligan.
The Buckeyes came right back, with Hunter scoring four of his 17
points to cap a 13-2 run and take a brief lead. But the Minutemen
again edged ahead, and Forbes’ 3-pointer with 3:50 left before
halftime got the team’s assistant coaches so animated the referees
stopped to calm them down.
Fourteen busloads of people were ferried to New York from the
UMass campus in Amherst, but they represented just a fraction of
the partisan crowd. The school sold its allotment of tickets
quickly, and appeared to have far more dressed in its slightly
darker shade of red than its counterpart from Columbus.
“You can see by the fan support that came out, we made a
difference since I’ve been here,” said Forbes, a senior playing
his last game. “A lot of fans have come out, supported us, and
this has been a great roll.”
Now they all have to sit back and wonder whether the popular
Ford will stay in town. His name has popped up as a leading
candidate for the opening at LSU, which could offer the former
Kentucky player a chance to return to his roots in the Southeastern
Conference.
One fan, wearing a UMass jersey a couple rows behind their
bench, held up a sign that pleaded, “Please Stay Travis.” A
couple rows down was another sign that read, “Travis Ford, Forget
LSU.”
Ford said he hasn’t spoken with any other schools, but wouldn’t
say whether he would listen to offers in the coming days.
“I’m looking forward to coaching this team next year,” he
said. “I’ve been reading the same stuff as everybody else. It
makes me ask questions, to be honest, because I haven’t talked to
anybody.”