COLUMBUS - Coach Jim O'Brien apparently got Tony Stockman's attention.

Ten days after O'Brien banning him from a team trip because of his attitude, Stockman piled up his second good game in a row to lead Ohio State to a 72-64 victory over Northwestern on Wednesday night.

''For two games in a row he's been magnificent,'' O'Brien said. ''He hit big shots and he certainly controlled the game for us. He was absolutely terrific again.''

Stockman had 22 points, five assists and six steal. In a stunning 65-59 upset of No. 21 on Saturday, he had 17 points, five assists and two steals.

''He played a heck of a game,'' Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. ''I'm thinking of suspending a couple of my guys, because it seems like it's worked pretty well for that guy.''

The Buckeyes (11-10, 3-5 Big Ten) made just 4 of 15 free throws in the first 39 minutes, but were 6 of 6 in the last 60 seconds.

Ohio State has won the last 10 games with Northwestern. The Wildcats (8-11, 3-5) haven't won in Columbus since 1977 - a string of 25 consecutive losses.

Stockman, a junior transfer from Clemson, made 8 of 12 shots from the field including 6 of 10 3-pointers to lead the Buckeyes to their best shooting night of the season. They hit 57.4 percent, making 27 of 47 from the field and 8 of 17 behind the arc.

''I felt like I had a nice little rhythm,'' Stockman said. ''I was very confident in my shot.''

The 22 points was Stockman's high at Ohio State. Terence Dials and Velimir Radinovic each added 14 points and eight rebounds, with Brandon Fuss-Cheatham scoring 11 points.

''When Tony's hot like that, they have to respect him,'' Dials said. ''It really clears up the lane a lot. We got a lot of 1-on-1s and it makes it hard to double-team.''

Vedran Vukusic scored 24 points - hitting 6 of 8 3-pointers - to lead Northwestern. Jitim Young added 13 points and Mohamed Hachad had 11.

Stockman scored the first eight points of the second half to give Ohio State a 39-28 lead.

''In the second half we came out flat,'' Vukusic said. ''We thought the only way of making it up was if we all started making some 3s.''

What grew to become a 15-point lead melted to six after big men Vukusic and Vince Scott each hit 3-pointers from the top of the circle to cut the lead to 50-44 with 7:29 remaining.

Stockman quelled that rally by hitting 3-pointers from each corner on Ohio State's next two possessions but the Wildcats came back - thanks in part to the Buckeyes' horrific free-throw shooting. They missed seven consecutive free throws in a 3-minute span in the middle of the second half.

''We were getting on each other a little bit,'' Stockman said. ''We could have put it away a couple of times if we had made our free throws.''

Vukusic hit three 3-pointers in a row and Scott added another to cut the lead to 61-58 with 2:52 left but again Stockman answered the surge with a 3-pointer. After a turnover by the Buckeyes, Scott hit another 3 to make it 61-58 and Stockman later added another 3.

Fuss-Cheatham, Radinovic and Dials each hit two free throws in the final minute to preserve the lead.

''I thought this was a critical game for us,'' O'Brien said. ''With Penn State losing, we could jump up two spots. We just don't want anybody to run away from us. I believe we're making progress. We're getting better. We needed to win this game.''