Buckeyes Advance To Final Four
In Thad We Trust
Thad Matta’s troops earned the schoool’s 9th Final Four appearance and first since 1968 in a 92-76 demolition of Memphis. It was another total team effort - 4 Buckeye starters reached double figures and Daequan Cook and David Lighty combined for 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals off the bench.
Greg Oden was limited to just 24 minutes due to foul trouble (again) but he dominated the Tigers in his cameo appearances, especially in the second half. He finished with 17 points and 9 rebounds and keyed a 20-8 run in the second half that gave OSU a 71-64 lead with 5:41 remaining. In case you’re wondering, that jackass Joey Dorsey backed his call out of Oden with ZERO points and 4 fouls in addition to getting schooled 1-on-1 by Oden on numerous occasions. “Goliath”, indeed.
Ron Lewis led OSU with 22 points (10-10 FT) to go along with 6 rebounds while Mike Conley completely controlled the game scoring 19 points directing an offense that put up 92 points including 51 in the 2nd half. The Bucks also received a strong effort from Jamar Butler who tallied 12 points (6-6 FT), 3 boards and 4 assists against just one turnover is 39 minutes.
OSU was simply the more disciplined team and stuck with their strategy of driving to the basket to score or get to the line even with Memphis shooting 45% (10-22) from downtown. In an amazing stat, the Buckeyes hit 18 straight free throws in the last four minutes to punch their tickets to Atlanta. For the game, OSU converted a whopping 35-41 FT’s, good for 85%.
The Buckeyes will face the winner of UNC-Georgetown next Saturday night. I can’t believe it, OSU’s first official trip to the Final Four in my lifetime. I hesitate to say it, but this team continues to remind me of the 2002 Football Buckeyes and they’re peaking at the right time. 4 down, 2 to go.
6 Responses
Damn skippy…congrats on being the first OSU blog (as far as I can tell) to get any kind of post up.
Was Dorsey made available to the media after the game?
El Caballo de Sangre - March 24th, 2007 at 9:40 pm - #
I’m not sure? I didnt see any comments from him on espnews afterward. I read that his donut today was his first scoreless game this season.
Oden was his typical humble self when asked about Dorsey. If anything, it sounds like the team was more pissed about it than he was:
“My coaches told me about it and I was just like ‘Dang, he just called me out,”‘ Oden said. “I didn’t try to think about it. I just wanted to go out there and play my game and not let his comments get to my head. In the Big Ten, you have fans say it all the time.”
Conley said Dorsey’s comments “affected us as a team more than it affected Greg.”
“When somebody talks about Greg, they’re talking about all of us,” Conley said.
ttp://ohiostatebuckeyes.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/032407aaa.html
chris - March 24th, 2007 at 10:26 pm - #
Joey Dorsey must have thought he was Joey Porter for a moment….but then again, Porter usually backs his up.
Here are some of his post game quotes
“He’s a great, great player,” Dorsey said of Oden. “I didn’t know he was that strong. I tried to keep a body on him, but he came with a counter.”
“Of course he’s not overrated,” Dorsey said. “I was just getting myself fired up for a big game. Greg knew what I was saying. I was trying to get us both fired up.”
TLB - March 24th, 2007 at 10:40 pm - #
You gotta problem with me mini-horse?
Joey Porter's Pit Bull - March 24th, 2007 at 10:59 pm - #
For my next number, I’ll do the back-peddle two-step.
Dorsey - March 25th, 2007 at 3:50 am - #
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