Gameday Preview: Dayton at OSU
Butler has rediscovered driving the rock.
 Ohio State 21-13, 10-8 Big Ten Roster | Schedule |
March 26, 2008 9:00 PM ET - ESPN2 —— The Schott Columbus, OH |
 Dayton 23-10, 8-8 A-10 Roster | Schedule |
OPPONENT: Dayton got off to a hot start this season, going 14-1 including wins over Louisville and Pittsburgh, then they lost 8 of their next 11 and finished seventh in the A-10 with a 8-8 conference record. They got their dream match-up of Ohio State by taking down Illinois St. on the road 55-48 Monday night. As I write this, there are over 15,000 tickets sold and I’m sure Flyers fans got their share of tickets, ensuring a second straight intense atmosphere–finally!
The Flyers are scoring 68.3 points a game, while giving up almost 64. Overall they shot 47 percent from the floor, 64 percent at the line and 37.6 percent from deep. The three guard attack Dayton employs lead to 13 turnovers a game while only creating 13, but surprisingly they averaged only 11.7 assists and 5 steals.
KEY PLAYERS: Dayton is lead by first team all conference selection Brian Roberts, 6′2″ senior who is averaging 18.4 points, 3 boards and 3.5 assists a game. Roberts was 4-12 Monday including 4 of 6 from deep and managed to score 16 points, but he also managed to dish out zero assists. Marcus Johnson is a 6′3″ sophomore starter who scores 10 points a game, while grabbing just over 5 caroms.
Chris Wright came back from injury Monday night, scoring 9 points in 10 minutes. Before sitting out 18 games, the 6′8″ freshman was averaging 10.3 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest in the Flyers first fourteen games. Aside from this trio, Dayton is filled with role players. Andres Sandoval, a 6′4″ senior starter averages 6.5 points and 3 boards, while the 6′6″ junior Charles Little will come off the bench to score almost 8 points and grab 4.5 rebounds per game.
Jimmy Binnie, a 6′7″ senior also starts with 6 points and 4 rebounds per game, while the starting center 6′10″ sophomore Kurt Huelsman chips in with 6 points and 4 rebounds. London Warren is a 6 foot reserve who scores 4.4 points and snags 3 boards.
NOTES: Dayton is lead by Brian Gregory, 98-59 in his five seasons… These two teams have not meet since 1988… Brian Roberts has scored 10 or more points in a half 28 times this season… Dayton is 14-1 with Chris Wright in the lineup.
BUCKEYE BREAKDOWN: This Buckeye team has played loose the last two games and it is refreshing to know they have taken a winning mentality into this tourney. OSU has beaten their opponents by an average of 17.5 in the first two games, shooting 56 percent against UNC-Asheville and 50 percent Monday.
Jamar Butler has lead the way with 41 points and 13 assists. He is finally starting to take some shots inside the arc, hitting 16 of 29 shots overall, which has helped his three point shooting (9-19). Othello Hunter has also put in a senior like performance, going for 27 points and 19 rebounds. I think Monday may have been his best game as a Buckeye and I don’t see any reason why tonight will be any different.
Is Kosta Koufos finally growing up? Getting out of Big Ten play was the best thing for Koufos. He has used his arsenal of offensive moves to score 32 points, on 15-22 shooting and grab 10 boards. If Kosta comes back and he can bottle this type of play up, this team could be special. David Lighty has also stepped up is game, making 9 of 18 shots and scoring 21 points.
I’m giving Turner the benefit of some type of injury, his defense is still stellar. Diebler however is a lost cause this season. The poor kid has made only 6 three pointers in his last 8 games and is now shooting 28 percent from deep.
Ohio State’s defense has played lights out in the first two games. Dayton does have the 3guard system, so it will be interesting to see if the press will be effective. OSU no doubt has the better athletes, but will they continue this level of play or will being back in the Schott provide another slow start? I think OSU pulls away and books their second trip to NYC this season.
NOTES: OSU is 15-7 in eight NIT appearances… Ohio State is 3-2 all time against Dayton… Ohio State would play the winner of Virginia Tech and Ole Miss on April 1st.
30 Responses
I’ll be the first to say that I’m totally stoked for this game. Though Cinci ain’t what she used to be, Dayton and Xavier are two of Ohio’s finest. UD will definitely be looking to make a statement… Roberts seems to be the real deal from the little I’ve seen.
Dave - March 26th, 2008 at 1:37 am - #
Go Bucks!
Dayton is not a premier team in Ohio!
DottingtheI - March 26th, 2008 at 1:56 am - #
Dayton’s got a nice basketball team, and I think this will be a very tough game. Can’t wait to see it on television, since I missed out on tickets - again. The atmosphere should be electric.
Go Bucks!
Joe Fox - March 26th, 2008 at 9:02 am - #
Dayton travels really well, and don’t be surprised if a lot of that electric atmosphere will be supplied by the Flyer Faithful. OSU’s size is going to be tough to contend with, but with Chris Wright back, my Flyers are dangerous. I can’t wait for the game.
And Dayton is a premier team in Ohio.
—
Josephbauer.com
JoBu - March 26th, 2008 at 10:12 am - #
The wife, sister-in-law and I will be going nuts from the top of the arena tonight … can’t wait. We were on hold for an hour or more to get tickets, but it was definitely worth it.
Final home game for seniors. Big O and Butler will send the home fans home happy after another 15+-point victory.
On to New York …
krusecontrol - March 26th, 2008 at 3:20 pm - #
Don’t know if we have another comfort glide tonight with this game. Dayton was starting to put it together before the return of Wright. This will be the best Dayton will be since the 14-1 start before the injuries hit. You would think a trip to NY with the 3 seniors leading the way wanting their careers to continue would be enough along with playing on your home court to rise above. We’re in it, might as well win it….
Either way the experience is good for both those leaving and coming back. A couple more games with a trophy in tow sure won’t hurt. Here’s hoping the funeral parlor ( I mean the Schott ) will actually have some positive atmosphere tonight. Get the old farts with the knitting needles, newspapers and blackberry’s out of the way so the real fans can help push these guys to NY!!!! GO BUCKS!!!!!!!
Kelly - March 26th, 2008 at 3:46 pm - #
Corey, here are some important stats for you BEFORE you completely write off Jon Diebler:
Per Rivals.com Jamar Butler came in the #69 overall player in the country and the #14 Point Guard in the country. He was a 4-star recruit and was the 2004 Mr. Ohio in basketball.
Per Rivals.com Jon Diebler came in the #60 overall player in the country and the #14 Shooting Guard in the country. He was a 4-star recruit and was the 2007 Mr. Ohio in basketball.
These are Jamar Butler’s Freshman year stats (per ESPN):
SEASON MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T STL
2004-05 19.1 3.6 1.8 2.3 1.0 2.39 .7
BLK PF FG% FT% 3P% PPS
.0 1.1 .333 .875 .230 1.06
These are Jon Diebler’s Freshman year stats (per ESPN):
SEASON MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T STL
2007-08 21.4 6.1 2.3 1.2 1.2 .95 .7
BLK PF FG% FT% 3P% PPS
.2 1.2 .302 .784 .286 1.04
Why don’t we give Jon Diebler some time to develop. He seems to be very similar to Jamar Butler, they are both pure shooters and thus will need longer to develop than other types of players (at least that seems to be the opinion of most analysts).
Wil - March 26th, 2008 at 5:41 pm - #
I agree, Will. He’s going to be draining threes by the middle-half of next season.
Boeckman Fett - March 26th, 2008 at 5:48 pm - #
It’s definitely going to be an important summer for Diebler because if he doesn’t adapt to big time college basketball he could possibly find himself 4th in the wing rotation behind lighty, turner and buford.
Chris - March 26th, 2008 at 6:04 pm - #
Nice write up guys. Should be a great game tonight. I’m heading over now and Ive got great seats, too bad EA won’t be there till next year! Go Bucks!
We did an interview with Flyers Fieldhouse over at Dotting The “i” earlier today. Good stuff. Ya’ll should check it out:
http://dottingthei.com/index.php…ers-fieldhouse/
cl - March 26th, 2008 at 7:53 pm - #
my bad, the link is bad, sorry here it is:
http://dottingthei.com/index.php/check-out-our-interview-with-flyers-fieldhouse/
cl - March 26th, 2008 at 7:54 pm - #
hot crowd again (aided in large part by the number of Flyers fans there as well), really feels like a Final Four game. All there to watch a block party breaking out in the early goings.
vico - March 26th, 2008 at 9:30 pm - #
matta’s killin ‘em out of timeouts…how bout saunders and valvano accusing the osu coaches of not realizing the shot clock was ‘mistakenly’ reset after Turd’s block…guess they missed the fact lighty was called for a foul while they were glossing themselves for being on top of the mistake..
Chris - March 26th, 2008 at 9:32 pm - #
getting killed ourselves on the boards.
vico - March 26th, 2008 at 9:38 pm - #
This is going to be a 40 minute battle.
Jason - March 26th, 2008 at 9:46 pm - #
what a game into the half. Total boner by Butler (and Lighty, I think) near the end of the half. They have the clock in their favour and haven’t used a timeout all game. They should know better.
vico - March 26th, 2008 at 9:54 pm - #
Any chance we can truck the Dayton fans in during games next season?
Jason - March 26th, 2008 at 10:24 pm - #
I’m not sure there’s enough synonyms available to express my love for how the Bucks came out of the gates fired up, and all without Othello Hunter for the first 7 minutes of the half. Let’s Go Bucks!
vico - March 26th, 2008 at 10:25 pm - #
yeah…matta went with a small lineup inserting diebler for hunter…paying off so far…
Chris - March 26th, 2008 at 10:26 pm - #
if Diebler is going to catch a hot hand, I don’t see Dayton being in this game for much longer, certainly not at this pace.
vico - March 26th, 2008 at 10:31 pm - #
I think he read Wil’s pep talk in the comments above before the game.
Jason - March 26th, 2008 at 10:33 pm - #
17pt lead with 5 left. awesome. awwwwesome. The Buckeye offensive has been balls deep all half.
vico - March 26th, 2008 at 10:46 pm - #
This defense is sick.
Corey - March 26th, 2008 at 10:51 pm - #
Indeed. Funderburke approves.
Jason - March 26th, 2008 at 10:59 pm - #
Wallace!!!
Jason - March 26th, 2008 at 11:03 pm - #
I told you Wallace should receive more minutes. He is going to be a sleeper going into next year.
Corey - March 26th, 2008 at 11:08 pm - #
I like his bark.
Jason - March 26th, 2008 at 11:09 pm - #
Wil, I only gave up on Diebler for this season and will reserve further judgment until next season. However, if he continues what he did tonight, it could lead OSU to this title and will give him more confidence.
Corey - March 26th, 2008 at 11:19 pm - #
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