Butler attempts toughness-tranfer via osmosis
The basketball Buckeyes ended a painful 2 game losing streak against the Gators posting a 62-49 blowout victory yesterday in front of a bloodthirsty 19,000+ in The Schott.
As expected, the fanbase had revenge on its mind following the bad memories created last January and April. While I personally don't understand how revenge was exacted, the crowd was at its passionate best in what was a very meaningful game for Matta's young but maturing squad.
It didn't look good early as Florida exploited the baseline, aka the soft spot of the Buckeye zone, for some easy buckets while the Buckeyes were busy missing 8 of their first 9 shots creating a 9-2 deficit at the 14:35 mark. Then, for the second straight game, David Lighty stepped up in the first half to help jump start the Buckeye offense.
Lighty worked a nice give and go with Matt Terwilliger leading to an old fashioned 3 point play before hitting a jumper on the next possesion to cut the lead to 9-7. His inspired play served as the launching point of a 30-13 Buckeye blitzkrieg turning the 9-2 deficit into a 32-22 halftime lead.
Lighty scored all 11 of his points (4/6 FG) in the first half while Jamar Butler and Jon Diebler offered support bagging two threes apiece. Butler's 2nd three of the half gave the Bucks a 32-19 lead with :39 to go but Kosta Koufos once again showed his softness letting Nick Calethes strip him of a rebound and record a put back off a Jai Lucas free throw attempt with :05 left shrinking the lead to 10 at intermission.Koufos' mistake aside, the Buckeye D was relentless in the opening stanza forcing Florida into 1/10 shooting from downtown while holding the Gators to just 1 FG in the last 9 minutes. The second half proved more of the same as OSU limited Florida to 3/13 from behind the arc with constant pressure on the Florida guards. Unable to generate offense, Florida couldn't cut the lead to under 10 points.
Looking to rebound from a lackluster first half (5 pts, 2/7 FG), Koufos finally got in gear with 12 second half points. The big fella did his damage from the perimeter showing off his smooth stroke hitting jumpers from the top of the key while toughening up defensively on his way to a game high 10 rebounds. I know it seems like I'm hating on the guy, but he better become more willing and able to bang down low or he will continue to fade in and out of games once the conference season begins. As Billy Donovan noted, none of the "big shots" were hit by Koufos, they were hit by the experienced guys like Butler, Lightly, Othello Hunter and Matt Terwilliger.
And how 'bout Terwilliger yesterday? He officially earned his last name back (for now) with a rugged 7 point, 5 rebound, 2 assist and 1 block performance that I still can't believe happened. To his credit, he stepped up defensively in the first half due to Hunter's foul trouble and he scored 5 straight points in the second half including a 3 pointer pushing OSU's lead back to 13 at the 12:59 mark. Terwilliger's effort combined with those of Diebler and Dallas Lauderdale combined to give OSU 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
As for the rest of the starters, Butler shot just 4/12 but again ran the show effectively with 13 points, 5 assists and 4 rebounds to support Koufos' double double (17, 12) and Lighty's noted 11 points to go along with 4 assists and 3 boards. Hunter played just 15 minutes due to foul trouble and was a non-factor with 2 points and 2 boards. Freshman Evan Turner (4pt, 4 reb) also saw limited action due to foul trouble and Diebler's effectiveness.
Defensively, the Buckeyes held Florida to just 17% from deep (4/23) as the swarming 3-2 matchup zone combined with the 3/4 court trapping press to take the legs out form under the Gator shooters in addition to forcing 13 turnovers. OSU also won the battle on the boards (34-33).
The victory pushed OSU's win streak to 4 with one game to go before the Big Ten opener. It's been a little rocky, but the 9-3 non-conference record looks pretty good considering the amount of talent turnover from April to now. What do you think..You satisfied with where this team's at?
Comments
As I expected Thad has improved this team by leaps and bounds over the last three weeks. You can tell he has made the most out of their parctice time. I have no problems going into the Big Ten season 9-3, after the schedule we have played. If we can pull off a 11-7 conference record, we will be a shoe in for the tourney.
With tha said, Lighty, Diebler and Terwilliger have to continue their steped up play in order for this team to be successful.
Something has to be done about the baggy shorts these guys are wearing. We look like a bunch of mopes.
ya, combined with the for fitting jersey tops the shorts do look pretty goofy
The "shorts" are getting out of control in NCAA basketball. They look ridiculous. News flash, Nike: these garments are NOT for aerobraking!
They have not been consistent, but all of the losses are against very good competition. I'm pretty happy with the record considering all of the new players getting adjusted to college as well as the stiffer competition of the college game. Thad has definitely got them headed in the right direction.
MSU looked nasty yesterday so they've got a ways to go before we can start thinking about another big 10 title, but it should be another exciting season if they keep improving.
The only thing that could have made this better would have been if Noah was on the floor. I respect a lot of Gators, but never Noah.
Gator fans can no longer claim that they own us.
they dont own us but they have a firm grasp on our balls when it counts
They just happened to have a great 2 fluke. That's basically what that was.
Thats what it was? Really? Because to me it felt like the broke in and took a dump in my cereal every morning for this last year.
im currently in gator country for vacation on the beach and i finally was able to bust out the osu gear when i went out to a sports bar after the game
I agree totally, Wil...winning one basketball game in December does very little or nothing to erase what happened last January and April...I, unfortunately, would still have very little to argue if I stumbled upon gator fan today...
Wil, that was actually me. The dumping in the cereal part.
We're over it guys... honestly. At least I am, and most everyone I know. Those were fond memories for us, this past January and April. But honestly: if it hadn't been OSU, it would have been someone else, and that team would have gone down too. Those Gator teams were absolute buzzsaws in those games.
I just didn't care for all the talk about the Gators last December when the theme was that we didn't belong in the BCS title game and that we were going to be blown out. I think most Gator fans felt the same way... we had a lot of respect for Ohio State going into that game and it was frustrating to have so little of it reciprocated, by both Bucks fans as well as the media. I'm all for friendly trash-talking, but it was outta control last year, and it really pissed Gator Nation right off.
Nowadays I think we're back to where we were before that whole discussion started. Ohio State is a tradition-rich school and we'd be pleased to play again someday.
Good luck in the upcoming title game against LSU.
I agree Gatorpilot, there was way to much talk about Florida not belonging in the game when they clearly proved that they did.
It seems like the roles are reversed now with Ohio State not getting any respect and everyone saying they are going to get blown out.
Actually, Najeh Davenport, you're taking a dump in my cereal this year.....not last year.