Ohio State featured two of the top performers over the past several days.
Duane Washington Jr. and E.J. Liddell, the Buckeyes' junior guard and sophomore forward, earned spots on the Big Ten's All-Tournament team. The duo was joined by Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn (Illinois) and Luka Garza (Iowa) as part of a team announced shortly after they fell, 91-88, in the conference championship game.
In what will go down as one of the greatest Big Ten tournament runs in Ohio State history, Washington dropped 16 points on Minnesota, 20 points on Purdue, 24 points on Michigan, then 32 points on Illinois. He made a combined 34-of-67 shots, including 16-of-36 from 3-point range. Despite ultimately falling just short, Washington made a legitimate case to be named the Big Ten Tournament's Most Outstanding Player – which went to Dosunmu.
Liddell scored in double figures in all four games while averaging 15.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. His tournament-high was an 18-point performance against the Wolverines.
Washington and Liddell will be expected to fuel Ohio State's NCAA tournament, too, which begins on Friday as a No. 2 seed against 15th-seeded Oral Roberts.
