Special kids get chance to play
Benefit held for crash victim
WSU vs. Milwaukee
Minnesota hands Ohio State fourth straight loss
Sunday, March 02, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS — University of Minnesota's Lawrence McKenzie has had a streaky college basketball career, right down to his final regular-season home game.
McKenzie scored all 20 of his points in the second half, and the Gophers picked up their first victory over a team with a winning record, 71-57 over Ohio State on Saturday afternoon, March 1.
Extras
"When I get hot, I just get hot. That's how I would put it," said McKenzie, a little hesitant to accept the streak-shooter label. "When I get hot, watch out, because I can put it in from anywhere."
That's exactly what happened as Minnesota stretched a 24-23 halftime lead into its largest non-Northwestern victory of the conference season. McKenzie made three 3-pointers and, most importantly, went 7-for-7 from the foul line.
Lawrence Westbrook added 16 points and six rebounds for Minnesota as the Gophers (18-10, 8-8 Big Ten) grabbed a 37-24 rebounding advantage. They kept alive a slim chance of making the NCAA tournament after committing only three second-half turnovers.
Kosta Koufos had 17 points, and Jamar Butler added 13 points for the Buckeyes (17-12, 8-8), who lost their fourth straight game and fell into a fifth-place tie with Minnesota in the Big Ten standings. They just didn't play with the same emotion and cohesion the Gophers did, even though their NCAA tournament application is equally sketchy.
"I'm not thinking about it," Koufos said. "Just learn from our mistakes and get better."
Ohio State has an athletic team that's just not working well together right now. Barring an improbable run to the Big Ten tournament title in two weeks, Thad Matta will likely miss the NCAA tournament for only the second time in his eight seasons as a head coach. The other time, his first season with the Buckeyes, was because of self-imposed probation by the school in 2004-05.
"We emptied out the book today in trying to get guys to make plays," Matta said. "I think we're at that stage of 'let somebody else do it.'
"I think we're counting on somebody else to get it for us, and that's not going to happen."
