By: Steven Jung (Patch.com) -

Northwestern lost more than just a game Wednesday at Minnesota. John Shurna got hurt in that game suffering a concussion when he banged his head falling down on the base of a basket. Shurna returned to the game at Minnesota but was ruled out for the biggest game of the season thus far.

Without its star player, Northwestern welcomed the undefeated (21-0, 8-0) and top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes to Welsh Ryan Arena Saturday afternoon. Ohio State was coming off a convincing win over nationally ranked Purdue and was riding high behind National Player of the Year candidate, Jared Sullinger. The sensational freshman came into the game averaging 17.8 points and 10.0 rebounds per game.

“He’s a really good player, really mature,” Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody said. “He just knows how to play basketball.”

The game was especially important as the Wildcats were still without a signature win. What would be a better signature victory than to knock off the number one ranked team in the country? However, it was another close, heartbreaking loss after a valiant second half comeback. Ohio State remained undefeated (22-0, 8-0) with a 58-57 victory.

“They’re [Ohio State] 9-0 in conference and six of their wins were five points and below,” Carmody said. “They just find ways to win.”

“We had some spurts but give Northwestern credit,” Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said. “They [Northwestern] never cracked. They kept coming at us and got a rhythm going. I told our guys we got what we came for.”

About a week ago, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish knocked off the second ranked Pittsburgh Panthers on the road. The Irish slowed the game down to a snails pace. They limited possessions and made big 3-pointers in the end to grab a big upset victory. This is the formula Northwestern used in an effort to spring its own upset.

“We decided that we were going to control the game if we could with our offense,” Carmody said. “We just thought if we limited possessions and especially without John [Shurna]… We weren’t going to give our team a chance to win if we ran up and down.”

At halftime, Ohio State led narrowly 26-25. Despite 50 percent shooting from Ohio State compared to just 35 percent for Northwestern, the limited possessions kept the Wildcats in the game. Northwestern had a balanced first half attack. Six players scored and Cappoci led the way in Shurna’s place with seven points.

The slow pace did not surprise Matta at all.

“We talked about it in the staff meeting and I guaranteed them they’re going to go for 35 [seconds] every time,” Matta said. “We lost our concentration a couple times. They [Northwestern] did a great job of controlling it.”

Not surprisingly, Sullinger led the Buckeyes with 10 points. Despite the low point total, Ohio State was still efficient offensively shooting 50 percent from the field.

“Offensively, we weren’t getting a ton of possessions but we were over a point per possession,” Matta said. “We were pretty happy with that.”

In the beginning of the second half, Ohio State certainly looked like the top ranked team in the country. In the first 8:13 of the half, the Buckeyes outscored the Wildcats 22-9 and suddenly led 47-34.

“In the beginning of the second half was a difference where they jumped out on us,” Carmody said. “It was just too much.”

Then, as they have on so many occasions, Northwestern crawled back. The key moment in the comeback came with about eight minutes remaining in regulation. Trailing 51-39, Michael “Juice” Thompson nailed a 3-pointer. After the shot was released, Ohio State’s Dallas Lauderdale grabbed Northwestern’s Davide Curletti and threw him to the ground. The officials called an intentional foul on Lauderdale. As a result …..

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