In his words: Ohio State's Deshaun Thomas talks on Buckeye win

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CHICAGO - Former Bishop Luers High School standout and current Ohio State junior forward Deshaun Thomas made several critical plays down the stretch to help seal Ohio State's win on Saturday over Michigan State in the semifinal of the Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament at the United Center.

He spoke with the media following the victory.

"I'm just being so aggressive. Coach always preaches rebounds against this team. We have to rebound. They've got great bigs, athletic, especially [Adreian] Payne, who gets a lot of rebounds. And I just attacked the rim and was just aggressive on the boards, blocking out, and make sure we get the ball."

"Really it was all this guy right here [Aaron Craft], just space out and let him go to work. I was being patient, and coach said you're going to knock one down, just to be patient. I got one off the dribble, pump fake, because I knew he was supplying at me, [Adreian] Payne. So I got shot fake, pull up off the dribble, and I knocked it down."

"Yeah, that shot I hit, that was a great play by coach and great screen by Evan Ravenel. It was one of those just being ready to shoot. Listening to coach on the sideline when we were running up and down, he said you're going to knock one down, just be patient. Finally I did, and it went in."

"It's a little juice. All we've got to do now is study it on film. We know what we've got to do and get our rest tonight and get ready to play. We've got to be ready from the tip off against them, because last game we weren't kind of ready. But now we've got to be ready and focused because we know Wisconsin is going to hold that ball and try to run the clock to the end. Every possession is a key, and we've got to be focusing on that."