CHICAGO — Ohio State is the champion of the Big Ten tournament — again.
Deshaun Thomas scored 17 points and the 10th-ranked Buckeyes used their stout defense to beat No. 22 Wisconsin 50-43 for their conference-best fifth tournament title on Sunday.
Thomas was six for 19 from the field but made some big free throws down the stretch as Ohio State won the championship for the third time in the past four years. Aaron Craft had nine points and six rebounds, and LaQuinton Ross delivered a couple of huge plays.
The Buckeyes (26-7) were rewarded with a No. 2 seed in the West Region for the NCAA tournament and a second-round game in Dayton, Ohio, against Iona. Wisconsin is in the same region, with the fifth-seeded Badgers to play Ole Miss in their first game in Kansas City, Mo.
Traevon Jackson scored 10 points for the Badgers (23-11), who shot 38.3 percent from the field. None of his teammates reached double figures, with Sam Dekker next up at eight points.
“It's a disappointment," senior Ryan Evans said. “We definitely wanted to leave here with some hardware, but moving forward, we've got the NCAA tournament. It's a bigger thing, and I'm looking forward to that."
Also on Sunday:
No. 9 Miami 87, North Carolina 77: GREENSBORO, N.C. — Shane Larkin scored a career-high 28 points, eight in the final 2½ minutes, and Miami beat North Carolina for the program's first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship to go with its first regular-season title.
Mississippi 66, No. 13 Florida 63: NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Murphy Holloway scored 23 points and Marshall Henderson had 21 as Mississippi gave coach Andy Kennedy his first NCAA tournament berth with the upset in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship.
No. 16 Saint Louis 62, No. 25 VCU 56: NEW YORK — Kwamain Mitchell scored 19 points, including a huge 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down, and tournament MVP Dwayne Evans added 16 for Saint Louis, which won its first Atlantic 10 tourney title.
