David Lighty Lifts Ohio State Past Illinois

Jared Sullinger gets much of the attention when it comes to Ohio State Basketball 2011, but according to Illinois Head Coach Bruce Weber the ‘Heart and Soul’ of the Buckeyes is David Lighty. And that was apparent last night when Lighty put in 13 consecutive points with 3 steals in a three minute period to put Illinois away.

By Steve Patterson

Ohio State remains ranked high among the top 2 or 3 teams in country and the 89-70 win last night against the Illini places them one step closer to a one seed in the upcoming NCAA tournament. The race for the Big Ten title is also up for grabs with Purdue close behind Ohio State by one game. Only three games remain in the regular season so the Buckeyes need to win out to receive the title or hope Purdue also loses.

Scoring last night was well rounded with Lighty scoring 21 points, William Bufford having 17, Jon Diebler with 13 and the freshman Sullinger and Aaron Craft both scoring 12. The game was a nice rebound from the two loses they team suffered on the road over the last three games. They face Indiana, Penn State and Wisconsin in the final three regular season matches.