Villa Angela-St. Joseph's David Lighty scores 13 points inside three minutes in the second half to spark Ohio State to victory against Illinois.
Paul Vernon / Associated PressA dominant performer throughout the second half Tuesday, David Lighty (right) knocks the ball away from Illinois' Demetri McCamey as the Buckeyes pulled away from the Illini.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The beauty of college basketball is not the Next Big Thing, although everyone is always chasing after that player, eager for a glimpse, lingering if possible, before he is gone.
Such stars are here, touching fans lightly, then they are gone. What might have been is the discussion point for many of them at Ohio State -- Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Kosta Koufos, B.J. Mullens, even Daequan Cook.
The real beauty of college basketball, though, is the few who stay the course. They are denigrated as not skilled enough, big enough, quick enough, whatever enough, to have the NBA general managers throwing bullion their way. The good ones, returning year after year, are not static. They develop, hopefully they get their degrees, and they accumulate more layers of experience, further strata of wisdom, additional tiers of move and countermove.
No one ever wonders what might have been. They have given their all.
David Lighty, a fifth-year senior, has more staying power than most. The 6-5 swing man from Villa Angela-St. Joseph came in with Oden and Conley when they were all freshmen, and he will be leaving, perhaps, with Jared Sullinger, the Buckeyes' latest freshman Player of the Year candidate.
Lighty has been slump-ridden ever since the first Illinois game in Champaign, a narrow Buckeyes victory. That was exactly a month before the rematch Tuesday night. He shot 38.8 percent during his month in the wilderness.
Lighty played the first half of Ohio State's 89-70 victory over the Illini Tuesday night as if he did not want anything other than a point-blank shot. His offensive reputation is that of a slasher. A couple of his moves in the first half were trailers for a slasher flick. One contorted shot, surrounded by defenders, slammed off the underside of the backboard and deflected back at him, like a boomerang spiking itself.
"Blocking foul," Lighty said, matter of factly.
Wasn't called. That was a matter of fact, too.
At halftime, Lighty was 2-for-6 from the field for four points. Although he was contributing with four rebounds and two steals, his outside shot was both reluctantly taken and errantly executed.
Then in the second half, over a span of two minutes, 52 seconds, Lighty dunked and laid up, three-pointed (from the arc and the old-fashioned way) and stole, disjointed and disheartened. He scored 13 points in a literal rush. He stole the ball three times, once on a "swim" move similar to a pass rusher in football, which picked the pocket of Illinois' Crandall Head. The latter had no clue what was bearing down on him from behind.
"When someone beats you around the corner, the ball's on the outside. I got lucky," said Lighty, who scored after all three steals.
Illinois had to think there were four or five Lightys out there, each playing different roles. And why not? Lighty has been a starter and a bench player. He has been the defender no one wants to see shadowing him. He has been hurt. He has been down. Through it all, said Illinois coach Bruce Weber, "He has been their heart and soul."
Weber also said Lighty is the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player, "but he won't get it because people aren't smart enough."
Lighty started the binge with a three-pointer, which Illinois dared him to shoot. "They were leaving [Aaron] Craft and me open," he said. Then came a steal and two free throws from a 63 percent shooter at the line.
The "swim" move deep-sixed Head next. In an instant came Lighty's dunk as he rampaged to the rim, Head's foul on the play, Lighty's touchdown and the scream he bellowed into the awakened din of Value City Arena. He added the free throw.
Lighty jumped into the passing lane seconds later, Illini heads swimming now, and hot-footed it to a layup. Finally, he ripped another three-pointer.
"We made a run, and he just took over the game," said Weber. "If you have a Lighty, everything he does is what you need. That toughness was the difference."
"Dave's second-half performance was at a high level," said OSU coach Thad Matta, after Lighty scored 21 points, his season high in Big Ten games. "He's out there smiling, but something is ticking inside. He's been here five years, and he's never gotten close to the credit for the player he is."
A coach gets to know the ones who stay. "There's no doubt he's one of my favorites. There should be a statue of David Lighty outside the Schottenstein Center," Matta said.
They have seen it all, together. Including the night the one who stayed became the biggest one of all.
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