Notebook: Turner takes offense to Illini trash-talking

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The friendship between Evan Turner and Demetri McCamey has been well-documented, and it goes back to junior high. But the former AAU and high school teammates have a bit of a rivalry going these days.

Their emotions nearly reached a boiling point at the end of the first half when Turner got into the face of McCamey and shouted at his friend.

So, what did Turner say?

"Yeah, it was just talking. I don't like people talking," Turner said. "I just told him 'Don't get crazy, don't get crazy. We're playing a game, don't get crazy.' "

For his part, McCamey didn't engage in much of the trash talk that was going on all over the court between the Illini and Buckeyes. He didn't even acknowledge Turner during that outburst at the half, even though official Ed Hightower brought the two together at midcourt for a talking-to before the second half began.

But Turner, the Big Ten Player of the Year, didn't take too kindly to the rest of the Illini players jawing throughout.

"When stuff's going well for them, they're gonna start talking and this, that and yadda, and all this other nonsense," Turner said. "You've seen it versus Wisconsin, you've seen it versus Michigan State. When you're beating them, they won't say too much."

Who started all the talking?

"You know Evan's gonna talk, he's always talking," Illinois junior Mike Davis said. "Every time there was a bump here and there he said 'Get off me.' Everybody was talking trash and it was fun, one of those competitive games you want to play in."

As far as Turner is concerned, the Illini had no business opening their mouths in the first place.

"We beat you guys twice, don't lose your mind," Turner said. "They were talking in passing and talking now because they hit shots, that wasn't cool.

"I started doing talking after a while, I knew our run would start. Just play ball, they weren't trying to play ball, they were just trying to talk more and more."

PPP

Illinois players felt like the Buckeyes, who beat them twice by an average of 17.5 points in two meetings during the regular season, didn't respect them entering Saturday's Big Ten tournament semifinal.

"They definitely didn't respect us. Those guys are cocky, you can tell. Just looking at their swagger, the way they walk around and talking all that trash," Davis said. "They're a good team, they won (11 of their last 12). They're Big Ten champs and I guess you've got to respect them in that way."

Turner refuted the notion that his team didn't respect Illinois.

"I always had great respect for them, they're a great-coached team," Turner said. "To win at a game like that at Wisconsin, it's hard to win at Wisconsin. I always had respect for them, I don't know where that came from. They respect us now, too."

Even thought emotions ran high Saturday and plenty of words were exchanged, Davis wishes the Buckeyes well in the NCAA tournament.

"We gave them all they can handle, (I) hope they respect us now," Davis said. "I hope in the tournament they do good, do good for the conference. We'll see them again next year."

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Turner played 14 minutes, 13 seconds with four fouls. The Illinois players said they were aware of the situation, but it took until one minute remained in the second overtime before he committed his fifth.

"One of our coaches brought it up right after regulation. We did it a little too late, he did a lot of damage," Illinois freshman Brandon Paul said.

"We tried to give it to whoever he was guarding, we wanted to get it inside a little more," Jeff Jordan said. "They played great defense and they locked up down the stretch and we tried to go at them and we did, but it was a little bit too late."

The problem with that strategy was that Turner checked a different Illini on just about every trip down the floor, a move Ohio State coach Thad Matta thought would prolong Turner's time on the floor.

"We kept moving him from position to position to position," Matta said. "We were well aware they were going to try o do that and the one time I looked up and Mike Davis has him in the post, I was like, 'That wasn't supposed to happen that way.' So to Evan's credit, he avoided the foul.

"We were watching for it to make sure. We kept him off Demetri as much as we could. But out of the press, sometimes we scrambled back into it."

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After the Illini built an 11-point lead with about 13 minutes remaining in regulation, the wheels fell off. The Buckeyes went on a 20-0 run over the next five minutes to build their largest lead of the game at 59-50.

"We panicked a little bit, guys were looking around, didn't want the ball," said Davis (13 points, career-high 18 rebounds). "We've just got to slow down. Coach talked to us and said 'Just one more push, just one more push.' We gave them that push, tied it up took it to overtime and just couldn't finish the game."

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Illinois played the final 13 minutes without the services of Paul and the final eight minutes without Mike Tisdale. Both fouled out.

That put Illinois at a sizeable disadvantage.

"We have a deep bench but I feel me and Tiz definitely could have brought some more energy if we were still in there," Paul said. "I definitely would have been going for rebounds if I was still in there. You've got to have guys step up and I think Tyler (Griffey) did a good job and Jeff did a good job."

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Griffey and Jordan both lifted Illinois during the game at points in the first half, the second half and overtimes.

Jordan kept the Illini afloat when McCamey picked up his second foul late in the first half and Griffey provided an offensive spark off the bench, scoring a career-high 13 points. Jordan, who typically doesn't look to shoot from the outside, drilled an open three-pointer.

"We all played really well. We just wanted to come off the bench and bring toughness and energy as much as we could," Jordan said. "We did good and played really smart. Tyler knocked down some big shots for us and we're excited with what he did. Hopefully we can do it in the tournament if we make it."

It was that kind of effort from some unusual suspects that Illinois needed against the Buckeyes.

"Coach brought it up yesterday, you might not have played a lot of minutes the first game but you never know when it's your time to step up," said Paul (three points, four assists, four rebounds). "They definitely took advantage of getting in and Tyler stepped up and hit some big shots and made a few plays on defense."

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For the 16th time this season, Jon Diebler played 40 minutes in a game Saturday. But this time around, that meant he spent 10 on the bench. The Ohio State workhorse and dead-eye shooter spent 10 minutes on the pine after getting in first-half foul trouble.

The view was a little strange.

"It was frustrating from a personal standpoint, but we were very confident, (Jereme Simmons) came in and hit a big shot," Diebler (14 points) said. "He did a great job in there. We know we have guys who can come in and play and I was just trying to help my team out, whether it was talking them on defense, or what not."

Turner played 49 minutes before fouling out and David Lighty and William Buford each played 50 minutes.

"You know, I was a little tired and fatigued at the end, but tomorrow is a new day," said Buford (22 points, 10 rebounds). "I'll just give my body some nice rest tonight and that'll be it, come in tomorrow and play hard."

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Turner, who this season has two of the three triple-doubles in Ohio State basketball history, recorded another Saturday. But this isn't one for the record books or one he'll want to remember.

He finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 turnovers. He offered some credit to D.J. Richardson, who guarded him the majority of the game.

"I wasn't hitting shots and I was just trying to, sometimes you've got to will your points. I was just trying to make plays and just play hard," Turner said. "He played good defense, I think the whole unit, the whole squad played good defense. They really clogged the lane, we weren't hitting shots and they played great as a unit."

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