The No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0) beat the Washington Huskies (2-2) 77-66 in Uncasville, Connecticut Sunday night, claiming the Hall of Fame Tip Off tournament championship in the process.
Deshaun Thomas fueled the Buckeyes, hitting 12 of his 20 shots to tie a career high with 31 points. Thomas also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out three assists in the 11 point victory.
Washington coach Lorenzo Romar talked about Thomas’ outburst, "We haven't played against anyone like him this year. He came out, he was on fire. He couldn't miss anything."
The junior forward connected on his first seven shots from the field, scoring 15 of Ohio State’s first 19 points against Washington. Thomas cooled off a bit, but still managed to finish the first half with 21 points.
"When I knocked those first couple down it was on tonight," Thomas said. "I felt pretty good and confident. My teammates found me in the right positions."
Ohio State and Washington played each other relatively even through eight minutes of play, scorching the net as the Huskies led 18-17. That’s when the rest of the team got involved, and the Buckeyes closed the half on a 24-13 run. Ohio State didn’t commit a single turnover the first 17 minutes of the game, which helped the Buckeyes take a 41-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.
On a tough day for the nation’s unbeaten teams, the Buckeyes went to Madison and figured out a way to keep that zero in the loss column. Ohio State survived their most frustrating offensive game of the year with winning performances on defense and special teams to edge Wisconsin in overtime 21-14, and move to 11-0 on the season. 
- Saturday, November 17, 2012
The Big Ten is down to its last two weeks of action, and the contenders for the conference title game have been whittled down to three. Wisconsin will represent the Leaders Division in Indianapolis on December 1st, a spot they clinched with Saturday’s win at Indiana. The Legends participant may not be determined until the final week of the season, but either Nebraska or Michigan will be playing the Badgers for the championship.