Buckeyes net NIT

NEW YORK – In a locker room outburst equal parts joy and angst, Jamar Butler finally dropped the charade Ohio State had been playing for nearly three weeks and revealed its main motivating factor for a roughshod run through the NIT.

“This is what happens when you put an NCAA tournament team in the NIT,” Butler yelled, surrounded by his teammates after beating Massachusetts 92-85 in the title game Thursday night. “Write that down and send that to the committee.”

A year removed from a loss in the national championship game, the Buckeyes have a trophy to carry home – even if it’s not the one they had wanted.

“Kind of a sore loser,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said, when asked whether he would watch the Final Four this weekend. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I think I’m going to rest.”

Butler had 19 points and eight assists in his final college game, which culminated with the kind of raucous victory celebration inside Madison Square Garden that he couldn’t have last year in Atlanta.

The Buckeyes lost to Florida in the Final Four last year, and a snub by the NCAA selection committee kept them from playing for another trip there. They rebounded to dominate each of their four opponents on the way to New York, then had enough to withstand every UMass run.

“In 24 hours I’ve probably watched 10 or 12 games they played,” Minutemen coach Travis Ford said, “and I never saw them shoot like that.”

Kosta Koufos added 22 points and earned the tournament’s most outstanding player award. Evan Turner finished with 20 for the Buckeyes (24-13), who shot 63 percent (19 of 30) from the field in the second half.

“They had their press coming at us,” Butler said, “and once we broke out, I think we were fine on the open floor and I think we made great plays.”

Ricky Harris scored 27 for UMass (25-11), hitting three 3-pointers in the closing minutes to help the Minutemen stay close.

The last of them made it 77-75 with 3:13 left, but Othello Hunter scored moments later.

After Harris missed another 3 try at the other end, Butler drained a 3-pointer from the wing to give Ohio State some breathing room.

Turner took care of things from the free-throw line over the final minute and a half, helping the Buckeyes wrap up the title.

Etienne Brower, one of four players in the starting lineup who grew up in New York, had 17 points and 12 rebounds for UMass.