Aaron Craft smartly leads No. 18 Ohio State over No. 4 Michigan State: Bill Livingston

Ohio State's Aaron Craft drives against Michigan State's Keith Appling on Sunday in Columbus.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The best college basketball players these days rarely are the ones most suited to college life.

All around the land, including in the past at Ohio State, heralded freshmen came to a few classes in courses at the foot of the academic hill, saw their tutors for a semester, conquered the immediate world of transient and/or tramp athletes, then cashed in. They will have their "peeps" handle future life tasks for them, thank you.

On the flip side, there is Aaron Craft, the nation's top Academic All-American this year. The Buckeyes' junior was so named this past week in a competition restricted to upperclass starters who have a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.3 out of 4.0.

Craft, who was a member of the Academic All-American first team the past two years, carries a 3.92 GPA as a major in nutrition, a discipline with many of those daunting pre-med courses that are as popular with many revenue-sport athletes as a broken video game.

"It's been a solid week, but now it's over. So let's see if we can have another good one this week," said Craft.

Oh, it was more than that. Craft is the epitome of the heady, hustling point guard.

The play of the game in Ohio State's rally from a nine-point second-half deficit against Michigan State to a 68-60 win came from Craft. Upon -- this was a rarity Sunday -- missing a driving layup, Craft tracked down the ball after it rattled off the rim and teammate Evan Ravenel, then went flying through the air to seize it. In lieu of his sword, he subsequently fell on the Spartans' Adreian Payne, who tied him up.

The Buckeyes led, 63-60, with 94 seconds to play; the possession arrow pointed their way; and after two Ravenel free throws 25 seconds later, the Spartans were never as close again.

"You talk about his intelligence, he knew it was our ball (on the arrow,)" said Ohio State coach Thad Matta. "He was like, 'Yeah, it's our ball. Now, how many timeouts are left?'" Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said, "In the second half, he tore us apart. He did it every way he could beat us."

Craft scored 17 of his career-high 21 points in the second half, running past Spartan defender Keith Appling sometimes, beating him off ball screens other times, then darting around the tardy "help" defenders for layup after layup. Craft can get to the rim, but finishing, at only 6-2, is a chore against a long, athletic team like Michigan State.

Asked if he had ever seen Craft so aggressive offensively, Izzo said, "He didn't do that in the other games. I watched 23 other games on tape on them. I don't think think he's ever done it. I couldn't plan for something I've never seen before."

Craft made seven of his dozen shots from the field and seven-for-eight at the foul line, all of the latter in the second half. He added six assists, against two turnovers, and had one steal.

Matta said it was his floor leader's best offensive game since the NCAA Tournamewnt second-round triumph over Gonzaga during the Buckeyes' Final Four run last year. Craft made seven-of-nine shots for 17 points, with 10 assists, three steals and only two turnovers in a tense victory.

"He hesitates [with his dribble], he freezes people, he gets by them," said Matta, assessing Craft with a scout's eye.

Usually, Craft's strength is as a defensive savant, a player who is almost unscreenable, so familiar is he with the plays of the opposition and so quick is he in skirting the obstructions. "You know what you've got at the other end -- the best defender in college basketball, no question," said Matta.

Matta also knows what he's getting in smarts, which the coach considers a bench-mark of excellence.

"My best teams ever had have had the highest team GPA," Matta said. "The correlation is amazing in that regard. When you're as astute as [Craft] is, he wants to know everything, he processes it. But he doesn't play like he's out there thinking. He has a great feel for what a team is trying to do. He picks up [play] calls, and he knows what's coming. You wish that was contagious at times."

"We're just trying to break down jock stereotypes," said Craft. Then he gave what can only be termed a knowing chuckle.

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