Ohio State has won the Big Ten Tournament Championship five times since its inception in 1998, and over the years, some former Buckeyes stepped up and turned in huge performances.
One of those championships (2002) was vacated due to NCAA violations committed during the Jim O'Brien era, which ultimately brought Thad Matta to Columbus. The head coach elevated the Buckeyes basketball program to new and consistently competitive heights, and current head coach Chris Holtmann is trying to maintain that status.
As Ohio State enters the postseason looking to win its first championship since 2013, Eleven Warriors is looking back at some of the best individual performances from former Buckeyes in the Big Ten tournament.
Evan Turner, 2010
The consensus national Player of the Year came up huge for top-seeded Ohio State in the 2010 Big Ten tournament, and his heroics right out of the gate ultimately led to a championship.
In the Buckeyes' first matchup against eighth-seeded Michigan, Ohio State held a solid 13-point lead midway through the second half and looked like it was cruising to an easy win. That's when Michigan's Manny Harris got hot and pulled the Wolverines all the way back when he hit a jumper to take a 68-66 lead with 2.2 seconds remaining.
That's when Turner hit one of the most memorable shots in Ohio State basketball history.
Turner scored just 18 points against Michigan, but caught fire in the final two games of the tournament, posting 31 points and 10 assists in a double overtime win against Illinois in the semifinal and 31 points and 11 assists against Minnesota in the tournament championship.
Jared Sullinger, 2012
Coming off a freshman season that saw Ohio State go 32-2 entering the NCAA tournament, Jared Sullinger and the Buckeyes took a step back in the 2012 regular season. Ohio State was still a contender, but it missed the senior leadership of players like David Lighty and Jon Diebler.
The Buckeyes found a solid groove in the postseason, and a lot of that was due to Sullinger's stellar play. In the conference opener against Purdue, he piled up 30 points and 12 rebounds. He followed that up with 24-point, six-rebound performance in a 77-55 win over No. 10 Michigan.
The Buckeyes fell short in the Big Ten title game against Michigan State, but Sullinger was solid, scoring 18 points while grabbing nine rebounds against the tough Spartans defense.
Aaron Craft, 2013
Aaron Craft was always a player whose impact was felt by opponents much more than it showed up in the box score.
The defensive standout made games miserable for opposing point guards, and he anchored a surprisingly competitive Buckeye squad that had lost Sullinger to the NBA draft and William Buford to graduation the previous year.
Deshaun Thomas fueled the Ohio State offense, but Craft was the heartbeat of the 2013 team that won the tournament championship.
Craft posted eight points, seven assists and two steals in the conference opener against Nebraska, 20 points, nine assists and four steals in the semifinal against eighth-ranked Michigan State and nine points and six rebounds in the 50-43 win over Wisconsin in the conference championship.
His efforts landed him tournament MVP honors.
