E.J. Liddell has career high in first five minutes against Northwestern
Ohio State jumped out early over Northwestern after junior E.J. Liddell set a new career high in just the first five minutes of the game. Liddell began the game shooting 5-for-5 from three-point range, scoring 17 of the Buckeyes’ first 19 points. The five made three-pointers is a new career record for Liddell, a new mark he set in just five minutes of game time.
Liddell sets new career high against Northwestern
After starting off with three-straight made shots from deep, Liddell began to test how hot his shooting arm was early. From the top of the arc, Liddell hit a pair of shots from well behind the line to make it five-straight. As he ran back down the court after another made three, he jokingly stared at his hand like he didn’t know what was happening.
Liddell’s offensive burst to open the game set the tone early for Ohio State as they built up a 15-point lead after just eight minutes. After a timeout by Northwestern, the game appeared to settle down a bit for the Wildcats as they began to chip away with Boo Buie put back in the game.
Buie picked up two very quick fouls that sent him to the bench, but Northwestern counted on him to help them get back into the game. Shortly afterwards, Liddell missed his first field goal attempt of the night while Northwestern brought the game back to within ten points.
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Liddell is the leading scorer and rebounder for Ohio State this season, averaging 18.9 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. When Liddell got his first break of the half, he already had 17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks. The Buckeyes will need Liddell to keep his career-high pace as Northwestern picked up the intensity to match them, cutting the lead down to just four points in the second half.
Ohio State looking to bounce back
The No. Buckeyes are likely to fall in the rankings after their loss to Indiana on Thursday, and are attempting to rebound against the Wildcats. Offensively, they did just that, scoring 51 points in the first half on Sunday. Ohio State only managed 51 points the entire game in their loss against Indiana.
The loss was their first in conference play as they fell to 9-3 overall on the season and a 3-1 record against the Big Ten Conference. Michigan State and Illinois remain the only unbeaten teams in conference play this early in the season.