Preview: #21 Ohio State vs. Butler
More drives, less threes please.
 #21 Ohio State 5-0, 0-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule |
December 13, 2008 12:00 PM ET – BTN —— The Schott Columbus, OH |
 Butler 8-0, 2-0 Horizon Roster | Schedule |
After taking a week off for finals, the #21 Buckeyes return to the hardwood, seeking revenge on a Butler team that put a 65-46 ass whooping on them in Hinkle Fieldhouse last year.
Butler comes in 8-0 for the third straight year, but lost most of their fire power from a season ago. Coach Brad Stevens starts 3 freshmen and a sophomore and their toughest test thus far has been Northwestern, a 57-53 home win.
The Buckeyes come into the contest with the nation’s longest winning streak at 10, dating back to last year’s NIT run. They enter a game ranked for the first time since the end of the Oden/Conley era and are one of two B10 teams who remain undefeated.
| # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST | POS | # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Jeremie Simmons | 7.2 | 2.4 | 2.2 | G | 5 | Ronald Nored | 4.6 | 3.3 | 2.6 |
| 33 | Jon Diebler | 10.6 | 2.4 | 1.6 | G | 1 | Shelvin Mack | 13.1 | 3.9 | 2.8 |
| 23 | David Lighty | 7.4 | 5.0 | 1.8 | F | 21 | Willie Veasley | 7.8 | 4.4 | 1.1 |
| 21 | Evan Turner | 16.6 | 7.8 | 3.4 | F | 54 | Matt howard | 12.9 | 6.4 | 1.6 |
| 52 | Dallas Lauderdale | 7.4 | 4.8 | 0.2 | C | 20 | Gordon Hayward | 11.9 | 5.8 | 1.6 |
Opponent
Butler comes in scoring almost 70 points a game, while giving up just 55, good for 12th in the country. They are shooting 44 percent as a team, including 37 percent from downtown and outrebound their opposition by only 1.8 per game.
The Bulldogs are lead by 2 freshmen, Shelvin Mack and Gordon Hayward, who each went for 20 in the 87-75 win over Bradley on Wednesday. The 6′3″ Mack added 8 boards and 6 assists, while 6′ 8″ Hayward hit 5 of 9 threes, to go along with his 6 rebs. and 4 dimes. 6′ 7″ sophomore Matt Howard will get his points inside or at the charity stripe, averaging over 6 attempts per game, including 15 in their win over Youngstown St. last week.
Butler will use a short bench of 7 or so players, with Avery Jukes and Zach Hahn leading the way. They are young, but they will bring the same tough nosed defense as teams of Butler past and will present the young Buckeye team with a great test.
Buckeye Breakdown:
Of course the hot words around town are Evan Turner and since Chris did a feature piece yesterday, we all know how important his role is.
Turner can’t do it on his own though and he might see his first double teams of the season tomorrow, therefore this needs to be the game where the other guard/wing players reemerge. The Bucks are dead last in the conference, shooting only 42.9 percent overall and 31.3 percent from behind the arc. Lighty, Diebler and Simmons are a combined 41 for 116 (35%) on the season, including 24 of 71 from deep and they went 4-25 overall last game against ND. Throw in the fact Crater is only 2 for 8 and has yet to attempt a 2 point shot.
Luckily for Thad and Evan, the Bucks are starting to develop an inside presence. BJ Mullins seems to be getting more comfortable with each game and has even showed a bit of a nasty streak. He has played 18 minutes each of the last two games and has combined for 16 points and 16 rebounds. Meanwhile, Dallas Lauderdale has cooled just a touch, going for 12 and 8 over the last two. His presence is felt on the defensive side though, still fourth nationally with 4.8 blocks a game.
Until the offense develops, the defense is going to keep OSU in games. They are still ranked in the top 10 for points given up (50.2) and defensive FG (34.9). And as Bob Baptist of the Dispatch pointed out yesterday, this team has focused on rebounding over the last two weeks and limiting possessions. The Bucks will be bigger inside and expect to see a lot more press tomorrow against the young ball handlers of Butler.
Etc
- Ohio State is 38-3 as a ranked team in Value City Arena.
- Last week was the first time an unranked OSU team pulled off two straight wins against ranked opponents.
- Thad’s teams are 99-4 when leading with 5 minutes left.
Oh God, I was at that Butler game last year. I was sitting in what looked to be the family section for the visitors. Diebler’s family was there (or lookalikes wearing Upper Sandusky lettermen jackets) and I’m 100 percent positive that Jamar Butler’s family was sitting right in front of me.
That game sucked, especially the second half. At least the Backyard Brawl was that same day as well.
Oh, not connected to anything Butler or hoops or anything, but rumor has it around these parts that Will Muschamp is Auburn-bound.
Mobile, AL’s FOX affiliate is reporting this: http://www.fox10tv.com/dpp/sports/MuschampCouldBeGoingToAuburn
who else was excited when during the awards show lauranitis reach up and grabbed ahold of colt mccoy’s shoulder with a devlish smile on his face? premonition…i’m excited
It may not be official yet, but wow at the Muschamp news. He gets a successful program in Texas pretty much giftwrapped for him–put McCoy returning for his final year as the cherry on top–and he’s going to Auburn? I’d be surprised but not shocked. SEC country knows that money talks, coaches listen.
Wasnt he gauranteed the job once Mack Brown left?
The game is the 13th not the 12th right?
right
I can’t imagine Butler giving Ohio State the kind of competition that Miami or Notre Dame provided the last two games. Would like to see the freshman get more playing time as Mullens and Bufford both looked good against the Irish.
Yep, he had the head job at Texas waiting on him for when Brown left. But just in case anyone thinks this rumor may mean good things for the Buckeyes in the Fiesta, keep in Ming LSU was losing their DC as well.
Ming = mind
Damn iPhone
STEPPING UP: Butler improved to 11-2 in its last 13 games against schools from the BCS conferences with a victory over Northwestern on Nov. 26. The two losses during that stretch were to Tennessee in overtime in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament and national champ Florida in the 2007 Sweet 16. Since 2006, the Bulldogs have posted wins over Indiana, Purdue, Northwestern, Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Maryland, Florida State, Tennessee, Texas Tech and Virginia Tech.
Butler has 10 straight regular season wins over BCS schools.
LSU’s defense wasn’t the problem for us, OhFoSho. We put up 24 points. In a perfect Tresselball world, that gets you a win every time. We couldn’t stop them from scoring.
Anyhow, rumor has been squashed.
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/big12/0-5-114/Muschamp-says-he-s-not-going-anywhere.html
For awhile that didnt make since. Why leave if you have already been guaranteed a job where you are now? If I was him I would rather stay in the Big 12. For one year they were the top conference in College Football. The SEC is almost always very strong. He would have more of a chance at a championship at Texas then Auburn. Unless of course the Big 12 screws texas over again.
Why no article about Jenkins winning the Thorpe?
Maybe a pic at least?
Is the Big Ten Network channel 610 on Direct TV regardless on geographic location?
On the topic of Butler, I gotta say that I like this matchup. I haven’t been impressed by a single victory yet.
Should be anonymous. 439 on Dish Network….
This football related: Anyone read this delightful piece of toilet paper:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=weinreb/081211
This team is shockingly good. I’ll confess, I wasn’t expecting a tourney appearance this year given the lack of seniors on the team and the general lack of cohesion last year’s team exhibited with plenty of seniors to go around. Thad is solidifying his position as one of the five best coaches in college basketball.
Want to get paid the big bucks at ESPN? Say something bad about the Big Ten, but fail to mention other conferences mired in piles of fail just as massive as the Big Ten’s (the ACC, the Big East, probably the Pac-1).
That’s what happens when you give a Penn State fan an ACTUAL voice.
Why has virtually no one mentioned that Oklahoma has lost 4 straight BCS games?? 1 To Boise State (gulp) and one to a Dick Rod less West Virginia (gulp x 2)………… and how come no one mentions that Florida chocked the big one Vs. Miiiiiiiichigan last year after we beat their ass?? And Florida lost 4 games last year??? And how ’bout USC losing to Stanford (gulp), Oregon State(gulpx2) and failing to beat UCLA 2 years ago to get the second spot in the title game instead of FLorida (gulp x 3 …choke)????
very convienient memories…report the facts sports monkeys!
If Texas was that good, they wouldn’t have lost to the Hawaii Rainbows East!!
Graham Harrel is just a roided up Colt Brennan, plus their friggin’ QB leads them in rushing and they have a “dynamic offense”.
I hope Colt McCoy wins the Heisman and goes 4 of 14 passing with an interception and Texas only nets 81 yards of offense.
Please.
They look like 2006 Texas, but no Jamaal Charles or Limas Sweed. And correct me if Im wrong but Brian Orakpo is more impressive in the weight room than on the football field.
Also, Brian Hartline is slow and is leaving because he loses PT next year.
Hey Eleven Warriors,
Any chance on getting a “Hitting Rewind” feature on the “dynamic” Texas offense. Just a little brain candy to munch on while we wait. Please???
I’ll correct you iball, Orakpo is a monster and is cut from the same mold as the Gun Show. Both share the same blood line with Zeus himself.
Honestly, I will agree that we have a very good shot at winning this game and I believe we match up pretty good with Texas. Having said that, we have absolutely ZERO reasons to be overconfident about this game.
Chaos,
Well, that was some article, wasn’t it? Only a couple points this morning:
-My first car was a ‘64 Valiant (push-button transmission, no less) and it was one helluva car.
-The jackass riffs on the “notable” Big 10 coaches; two of which are dead and the third isn’t far behind?
- His literary work of note is a book about high school chess? Are you kidding me?
Redemption time for Thad and the Bucks.
any way i can watch this online? i didn’t see it on justintv, but i haven’t really used it, so i don’t really know how to find anything on there.
iball, if you can get us some Texas game footage, we’ll cut it down.