In the huddle, head coach Chris Holtmann knew what he wanted. He planned to get Duane Washington Jr. going to the right side to use his dominant hand with an at-the-rim shot while putting E.J. Liddell underneath the basket to clean up anything errant. That, he thought, would get it done.
The Buckeyes had 12 seconds left and, trailing Northwestern by one point, all they needed was just one more bucket. Just one.
Holtmann had it play out in front of him almost exactly how he wanted. Washington, with the ball in his hands, raced around the right side of the lane, launched himself toward the rim and released the ball for a right-handed layup just outside of the restricted area arc.