Matt Terwilliger bared his teeth in a 8 point, 5 rebound effort off the bench. (AP / Al Goldis)
Once again, Jamar Butler did all he could to keep Ohio State in the game but in the end Sparty's superior depth, rebounding and a huge first half lead proved too much to overcome in a 66-60 defeat tonight in the Breslin Center.
The game got out of hand early as OSU missed 8 of their first 9 shots before Kosta Koufos hit a short jumper pulling OSU to 11-5 with at the 12:33 mark. Izzo's squad promptly responded with a 16-2 run featuring buckets by 5 different players to take a commanding 27-7 lead with 7:12 remaining in the half.
The MSU lead would swell to 32-11 before a Matt Terwilliger triple sparked a 10-2 run to close the half cutting the lead to 34-21. Still, it didn't appear OSU would make a game of it considering the Spartans led 19-12 on the glass and 16-6 in bench points while holding the Buckeyes to 33% from the floor including 14% (1/7) from distance.To Thad Matta's credit, however, OSU came out of the locker room looking to build on the momentum generated with the late first half burst.
Butler got it started with a three pointer to eclipse the 1,000 point mark for his career setting off a 15-5 run capped by another Terwilliger three slicing Sparty's lead to 39-36 at the 15:41 mark. Amazingly, the two runs combined allowed Ohio State to outscore MSU 25-7 over the 7 minute span.
After a horrid opening stanza, Othello Hunter scored 7 of his 8 points in the second half including a big bucket pulling OSU to 49-45 with 9:50 to go.
Unfortunately, the Buckeyes would go without a field goal over the next 4 minutes scoring just 3 points on a free throw from The Ghost of Jon Diebler before Butler hit a pair at the stripe making it 55-48 with 6:54 remaining. Butler got zero help the rest of the way scoring OSU's last 14 points twice cutting Sparty's lead to 5 in the final minutes.
In the end, this was a game Ohio State wasn't expected to win and certainly didn't deserve to win. The Buckeyes were outrebounded 39-28 including a ridiculous 17-6 on the offensive glass as Izzo wore down the outmanned OSU frontline by rotating his bigs throughout the night. At last count, MSU turned those o-boards into at least 21 second chance points.
Supporting Butler's 21 points and 7 assists, Terwilliger added 8 points and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes while Hunter chipped in with 8 points and 3 caroms. David Lighty also added 8 points and 5 rebounds however he missed two costly free throws with OSU trailing 59-53 with just over 3 minutes to play. Shockingly, Lighty had just 2 turnovers while fellow turnover machine Evan Turner had 3 miscues to go along with 7 points and 3 boards.
With another decent performance from PJ Hill (2 reb, 2 stl, 0 TO) in limited action, I'm beginning to wonder if he shouldn't get more minutes at the point so Butler can look to score even more from the 2 spot. Taking a few minutes away from either Lighty or Turner might decrease turnovers and give Butler a little on court rest. Plus, as Corey and I discussed, Butler doesn't run the high pick and roll with the same effectiveness as Conley did limiting his scoring opportunities off the bounce.
Trust me, I'm not saying Hill should get 20+ minutes but maybe 12-15, playing alongside Butler for most of those, might help generate a few more points.
Lastly, from the Who Gives A Damn file, the Buckeyes dropped to 27-1 in games where Terwilliger records at least 4 points. That said, give Da Wiggler his due. He played a pretty good game tonight especially compared to Koufos' 4 point (2/7 FG), 4 rebound, 3 block effort.
Comments
The Buckeyes going down while Terwilliger scoring 4+ is nearly as shocking as Tyson going down to Buster Douglas.
Hey, I had $50 on Douglas to survive that thing, so I collected.
It wasn't a pretty game, and it exposed a number of Ohio State's weaknesses, but I was proud of them for fighting back like they did, on the road, in a tough place to play.
Best right the ship soon, though.
Koufos is so soft that Matta could only play him for 22 minutes.....and he didn't even have a foul.
I thought they would have more scoring potential than what they have shown. Lighty is simply not a scoring threat and Diebler, well who knows. Also, when I heard Koufos was MVP of the summer tourney in Europe, I was geeked, but he needs at least one or two more years of seasoning. There is no way he is ready for the NBA.
I do appreciate their effort and I will always enjoy watching Thad coach. He is simply amazing and Buckeye fans need to start realizing this. Unfortunately most of the fans have not been able to watch this year due to lack of BTN in households. Ohio State needs to do whatever it can to keep him here.
Corey, I agree. But the more he is in the more I'm a fan of getting P.J. Hill some more playing time. He has the speed to be able to penetrate the lane like Mike Jr. could last year and that Butler either can’t or doesn’t seem to want to this year. Don’t get me wrong, Butler needs to be in there because he has the best shot on the team…..but I would like to see more time with him as the 2 guard and Hill as the 1 guard. I think this would get Butler more open looks from the outside too.
Wil, Chris and I discussed getting P.J. in more. You are right, that will free up Butler to run off double and triple screens and then the Bigs can roll to the hoop. Also, this allows P.J. to get valuable experience for next year, because it scares me to have a freshman PG.
Why do you think Wallace doesn't see more time?
My guess is as good as yours.....but from the little I've seen of him I would say he looks a little lazy (or just not very good) on defense. Thad is a huge fan of defense so that might make some sense.
I have trouble believing he is worse at defense than Diebler, but I have heard Diebler has a scoring upside.
I am a huge Wallace fan, simply because of his jumping ability and would think that could help OSU's rebounding.
I don't doubt Thad one bit though and I'm sure Wallace will have his place in this program.
I think it is amazing how spoiled I have become in four short years of Thad, this team is just young. Remember when getting blown out by MSU was the norm during that cheater's tenure?
I touched on Hill in the recap. No doubt he deserves more minutes based on recent play. I just hope he gets his minutes WITH Butler instead of replacing Butler.
As for Wallace, I think you're right, Wil...Wallace must not show enough on defense in practice to offset his currently limited offensive capabilities. Thad is more accepting of weak D from Diebler because of that (ultra streaky) jumper.
I try to block those memories out. (Mateen Cleaves still haunts my dreams)
You might be right, remember how much J.J. Sullingers jumping ability helped our rebounding? Thats the only area I question Matta's coaching. They don't seem to crash to the basket when Lighty or Hill drive & that upsets me because it doesn't give Lighty or Hill the option to pass when they get doubled teamed at the basket AND if they miss, there is no one down low to rebound because they're all standing out at the 3 point line.
Good point. There definitely isn't enough crashing of the basket for support on this team. I swear Lighty has attempted the "Fletch" a few times this year because he got into trouble driving the lane. You know the "Fletch"...the around-the-back, through-the-legs, & finger-rolled lay-up. I attempt one every time I play horse.
I go around my back, between my legs, and off McDonald's golden arches when I play horse. (Take that Jordan & Bird! Ahh, the fond memories of when the NBA mattered)
I really think Thad can have a tougher team on the floor with Wallace rather than Deibs, and it is my only problem with Matta is that he seems like he plays favorites or maybe if he doesnt like something about a player he wont give them any clock.
I dont know if I agree with that britton...I think matta is about trying to win games. period...my guess is he knows this team struggles to score so he give diebler minutes in hopes he'll catch fire from deep whereas wallace isn't going to give you much offensively...im not advocating the move, i'd actually like to see wallace get some time to see what he can do in conference with the regular rotation guys, but i definitely think matta is trying to win games versus play favorites...are you sure you arent still holding a grudge for when matta nailed daequan to the bench last season when he finally tired of the continuous on court brain lapses? :)....I think an example of matta's desire to win over playing favorites was reflected when he benched koufos last night even though he had 0 fouls because he was tired of koufos hanging on the perimeter on offense while getting overpowered at the other end..
I just think Wallace would add alot more toughness to the court, draw more fouls on the opposing defense and give tou more athleticsm as well all the things this team seems to be lacking.
[...] like the loss to Sparty on Tuesday, the Buckeyes started the second half on fire posting an 18-6 run fueled by 10 points [...]