Kevin Coble and Craig Moore carried the load, but it came down to freshman John Shurna to win the game.

Shurna hit a fallaway 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds left to give Northwestern a 72-69 win over Ohio State on Wednesday night. The freshman scored 9 points.

Coble scored 26 points and Moore added 23 to lead Northwestern to a rare win over the Buckeyes. Northwestern had lost 11 in a row to Ohio State going back to 1998.

Moore hit seven 3-pointers and Coble went 10-of-15 for the Wildcats (14-10, 5-8 Big Ten), who fought back from an early deficit with a 21-3 run in the second half.

‘‘We knew it would be close, back and forth, but we did a good job of closing it out,’’ Coble said.

The Buckeyes (17-7, 7-6) lost their second straight, falling into a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference.

‘‘It’s inexcusable,’’ said Buckeyes guard Jon Diebler, who led all scorers with 28 points. ‘‘We knew they were going to make a run, especially on their home floor. It just shows how hard it is to play in the Big Ten. We didn’t come out and have the intensity we needed to in the second half.’’

Diebler hit 8-of-10 3-pointers for Ohio State, which squandered a 37-28 halftime lead. Evan Turner had 14 points, but also eight turnovers. B.J. Mullens added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

‘‘We weren’t as smart as we needed to be to win the game,’’ Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. ‘‘We didn’t have the energy we needed defensively to win.’’

Diebler couldn’t miss, a far cry from his last game. He scored just two points in the Buckeyes’ 55-50 loss to Wisconsin.

‘‘That Diebler can really shoot,’’ Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. ‘‘He’s unbelievable.’’

Ohio State had a 21-9 rebounding advantage at the half, but Northwestern had a 15-9 edge in the second — thanks to six team rebounds. The Wildcats played more 1-3-1 zone in the second, which seemed to confuse their opponents.

‘‘We were more aggressive in the second half and it seemed like they weren’t going as hard to the basket, almost conceding rebounds to us,’’ Coble said.

Ohio State still shot 61.1 percent in the second half, but had nine turnovers — five by Turner.

Ohio State box

NORTHWESTERN 72, OHIO STATE 69

OHIO STATE (17-7)

Turner 5-9 4-7 14, Lauderdale 1-1 2-2 4, Simmons 1-5 0-0 3, Diebler 9-11 2-2 28, Buford 1-8 0-0 3, Madsen 3-3 0-0 6, Mullens 3-6 5-6 11, Hill 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-44 13-17 69.

NORTHWESTERN (14-10)

Shurna 3-8 2-3 9, Curletti 0-1 0-0 0, Coble 10-15 2-2 26, Moore 8-15 0-0 23, Thompson 1-5 0-0 3, Nash 2-5 0-0 4, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan 0-1 0-0 0, Rowley 3-8 1-1 7. Totals 27-58 5-6 72.

Halftime—Ohio St. 37-28. 3-Point Goals—Ohio St. 10-19 (Diebler 8-10, Simmons 1-3, Buford 1-4, Turner 0-1, Hill 0-1), Northwestern 13-25 (Moore 7-12, Coble 4-6, Shurna 1-2, Thompson 1-2, Ryan 0-1, Nash 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Ohio St. 30 (Mullens 11), Northwestern 24 (Coble 4). Assists—Ohio St. 16 (Turner 6), Northwestern 21 (Thompson 7). Total Fouls—Ohio St. 13, Northwestern 18. A—4,312. —4,312.