Ohio State tops Northwestern, 71-65

Chris Holtmann became the first coach in 95 years to win his first seven Big Ten games as No. 22 Ohio State defeated Northwestern 7165 on Wednesday night.

C.J. Jackson had 12 points, eight assists and three steals, Micah Potter scored 13 points off the bench, Jae’Sean Tate added 12 and Keita Bates-Diop had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Buckeyes (16-4, 7-0), who won their sixth straight overall.

Holtmann is the third Big Ten coach to win his first seven conference games, joining Wisconsin’s Walter Meanwell (1911-12) and Iowa’s Sam Barry (1922-23). Holtmann replaced Thad Matta, the program’s all-time wins leader, this season.

Vic Law scored 14 points and Scottie Lindsey added 13 for Northwestern (11-9, 2-5) as the Wildcats suffered their second straight doubledigit loss.

Picked to finish 11th in the Big Ten in a preseason media poll, the Buckeyes have been the story of the conference so far this season.

Coming off successive routs of then-No. 1 Michigan State, Maryland and Rutgers, Ohio State led Northwestern by as many as 15 in the second half before holding off a late Wildcats charge.

Northwestern got within three at 68-65 on a 3-pointer by Lindsey with 43 seconds left, but Jackson sealed the the victory from the foul line.

NBA

LEONARD OUT INDEFINTIELY » Kawhi Leonard is headed back to the sidelines, and he’ll stay there until his leg is ready.

The San Antonio Spurs decided to shut their All-Star forward down Wednesday, saying Leonard would be out indefinitely as he continues his recovery from injury.

“We didn’t feel he was ready. His confidence level wasn’t there, so we decided to give it some more time,” coach Gregg Popovich said before the Spurs played the Brooklyn Nets.

Leonard has played in just nine games after missing the beginning of the season because of right quadriceps tendinopathy. He also was sidelined briefly because of a shoulder injury.

ARIZA, GREEN SUSPENDED » Trevor Ariza said nothing happened. The NBA strongly disagreed.

Ariza and Gerald Green will both be suspended for Houston’s next two games, with the NBA coming down hard on both Wednesday for what the league said was their “hostile, verbal altercation” with several players in the Los Angeles Clippers’ locker room earlier this week.

No other players were disciplined, including Rockets guards James Harden and Chris Paul both of whom left the Houston locker room with hopes of defusing the situation, the league said.