College basketball

SEC: Buckeyes score last dozen to stun LSU

By wire services
Published January 1, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio - There's something about big games and last-minute shots that seem to bring out the best in Matt Sylvester.

It was the Ohio State swingman who made the 3-pointer that dashed No. 1 Illinois' unbeaten season in March.

Shooting 31 percent this season, Sylvester hit another big 3 with 5.5 seconds left Saturday to cap a furious comeback and keep the 21st-ranked Buckeyes undefeated with a 78-76 victory over LSU.

"I don't know what I was thinking; my mind was pretty much blank, hoping that I'd make the shot," Sylvester said. "But when I let that one go, I felt pretty good about it."

Ohio State (10-0) trailed by 15 with just more than 51/2 minutes left and was down by 10 with 21/2 minutes left before making every big play imaginable, and scoring the final 12, down the stretch.

"What a game!" Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "I'm still a little bit numb."

Terence Dials led the Buckeyes with 24 points, Sylvester and Ron Lewis each added 14 and Je'Kel Foster had 12.

"We never gave up," Lewis said. "The whole thing, the whole time, we were saying we couldn't give up, that we had to stay together. We knew we could get a victory if we put our minds to it."

After trimming a 76-66 deficit to 76-75, Ohio State called timeout and tried to work the ball inside to Dials, but Foster ended up sandwiched between defenders at the free-throw line. The ball popped loose for an instant and he regained it, awkwardly passing to Sylvester, who was unguarded in the left corner.

Sylvester set his feet, took his time and swished the 3-pointer.

NO. 14 OKLA. 68, ALA. 56: The frontline duo of Taj Gray and Kevin Bookout combined for 31 points and senior guard Terrell Everett had a career-high 10 assists for the Sooners, who won their 46th straight nonconference home game, the longest streak in Division I. Oklahoma (8-2) outrebounded the Crimson Tide (6-5) 40-18.

AUBURN 87, JACKSONVILLE ST. 83: Josh Dollard had 29 points and Rasheem Barrett 28 to lead the host Tigers (7-3). Quantez Robertson hit a 3-pointer with 5:11 to play to give Auburn a 75-74 lead, its first since 38-35 with 2:24 left in the first half.

S. CAROLINA 65, DETROIT 35: Renaldo Balkman scored 14 and Brandon Wallace added 10 points and seven rebounds as the host Gamecocks (8-4) won behind their best defensive performance since a 31-30 overtime loss to Maryland in January 1971.

UGA 89, W. CAROLINA 65: Channing Toney had a season-high 18 points as the host Bulldogs (9-3) surpassed last season's win total.

[Last modified January 1, 2006, 00:29:14]