COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — There are lots of players who don't like conference tournaments. Ohio State's Evan Turner isn't one of them.



Turner loves it that the games come as if they're on a conveyor belt, that coaches don't have time to devise intricate defensive plans and that players can let their natural instincts flow.



The games at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis are like playground pickup games with capacity crowds.



"It's a great atmosphere. It's a showcase," said Turner, recently selected as the conference's player of the year. "You see Big Ten basketball at its best because they're not typical Big Ten games. Coaches don't have time to prepare for it, because you have to go back each day, (so) you're just playing basketball. You have a lot of high-scoring games and it's fun."



The fifth-ranked Buckeyes, winners of 13 of their last 15 games, try to back up their top seeding in the tournament when they play in the quarterfinals at noon on Friday. The Big Ten co-champions (with Purdue and Michigan State) will meet the winner of Thursday's first-round game between eighth-seeded Michigan and ninth-seeded Iowa.



Team captain David Lighty was unable to play in last year's Big Ten tournament, missing all but the first few games of the season after breaking a bone in his foot. He's looking forward to this year's tournament more than anyone else on the Ohio State roster.