VASJ grad has 20 points in Northwestern win over OSU

EVANSTON, ILL. >> Dererk Pardon (VASJ) had 20 points and 13 rebounds as Northwestern snapped a 10game losing streak with a 68-50 win over Ohio State on March 6.

Vic Law and A.J. Turner had 10 points apiece and Pardon was 8 for 10 from the field as the Wildcats (1317, 4-15 Big Ten) won for the first time since beating Indiana 73-66 on Jan. 22.

Keyshawn Woods had 15 points and seven rebounds for Ohio State (1812, 8-11), which lost its second straight without Kaleb Wesson. The Buckeyes have dropped five of seven.

Wesson was suspended indefinitely by Ohio State last week for an unspecified violation of athletic department policy. The 6-9 sophomore leads the team in scoring

(14.6 points) and rebounding (6.7). He had 22 points and eight rebounds in the Buckeyes’ 63-49 win over Northwestern on Feb. 20.

Ohio State was blown out 86-51 by Purdue on Saturday in the first game of the Wesson suspension. Things weren’t any better at the start of this one.

The Buckeyes missed their first 14 field-goal attempts on Wednesday before C.J. Jackson scored on a driving layup with 11:09 left in the first half. Still, they trailed only 12-4 at that point.

Ohio State was 4 of 27 (14.8 percent) from the field in the first half for a seasonlow 17 points.

Northwestern wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard either — 11 of 28 (39.3 percent) from the field — but took a 28-17 halftime lead.

Ohio State played much better on offense in the second half and trimmed the deficit to 47-42 with just less than nine minutes left. Northwestern, though, answered with 10 straight points for a commanding 57-42 advantage — its largest to that point — with six minutes to go.

Pardon capped the run with a 3-point play on a dunk.

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OHIO STATE >> The school has said that Wesson will return this season, although no specific date was given. There’s been speculation that he’ll miss one more game before returning for the start of the Big Ten tournament next week in Chicago.