With Hibbert and Oden both hampered by foul trouble, it was Mike Conley Jr. and the rest of the Buckeyes who carried Ohio State to its first national title game since 1962 with a 67-60 victory over Georgetown today.

Conley finished with 15 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Oden added 13 points -- all in the second half -- and eight rebounds.

Hibbert scored 19 and had six rebounds for the Hoyas, and more than held his own in the much-anticipated matchup with Oden. Problem was, he spent too much time as a spectator.

So did the rest of the Hoyas.

Jeff Green, the Big East player of the year who had been scoring a team-best 15.8 points in the NCAA tournament, had just nine points, and took only five shots the entire game. He did have 12 rebounds, but it wasn't enough -- not with Hibbert out. The Georgetown bench finished with no points. Zippo.

At 7-2, Hibbert had two inches and two years on Oden. And the difference showed. Whenever Hibbert was in the game, Georgetown played with confidence, speed and rhythm. Without him, they looked clunky, slow and disorganized.

He left the game with about 16 minutes left after picking up his third foul. When he returned 3½ minutes later, he reeled off a quick five points and Jonathan Wallace hit a 3 to tie the game at 44 with 9:44 left.

But Hibbert picked up his fourth foul 20 seconds later, and as he was heading back to the bench, Oden was returning. Just like that, the momentum switched again.

The Buckeyes got used to playing without Oden when he missed the first seven games of the season recovering from wrist surgery. But they're a better team with him.