Lighty Leads Buckeyes Past Dolphins
Lighty drove early and often (T. Gilliam)David Lighty led four Buckeyes in double figures with 21 points to go along with 10 rebounds in an 81-68 victory over a game Jacksonville Dolphin squad.
Evan Turner (17 pts, 5 reb), Jon Diebler (14 pts) and Jeremie Simmons (10 pts) combined with Lighty and the rest of the Buckeyes to shoot a blistering 64% from the floor including a 10/17 (58%) night from beyond the arc though the Buckeyes continued to struggle from the stripe converting just 63% (17/27) of their charity tosses.
The contest featured a barrage of runs from both teams including an 18-2 run giving OSU an early 18-6 lead with 12:22 left in the first half before Jacksonville countered with a 14-4 run of their own cutting the OSU lead to 22-20.
Shortly thereafter, the Buckeyes went on a 13-4 run keyed by two threes and an assist from Wil Buford before a Lehmon Colbert triple cut the OSU lead to 45-34 at intermission.
Lighty had 14 points on 5/6 shooting with Buford (3/4 FG) and Turner adding eight each in a first half that saw the Bucks shoot 74%. The Buckeyes also assisted on seven of their 17 first half field goals after recording just six total assists in the win over Butler.
Ohio State would stretch the lead to 56-37 with 17:09 left thanks to an 11-3 run to start the second stanza featuring triples from Diebler, Lighty and Simmons but soft defense and turnovers allowed Jacksonville to chip away and cut the lead to 69-64 with 5:04 left.
Fortunately, Lighty, Turner and Dallas Lauderdale combined to convert 7/8 free throws over the final five minutes as OSU closed the game on a 12-4 run pushing the final margin to 13 points.
While the Buckeye defenders looked sluggish and disinterested at times, allowing Jacksonville to shoot 50% (26/52) for the game, they were able to lock down the Dolphin shooters when necessary and held a slight 26-23 edge on the glass thanks to Lighty’s 10 caroms and Turner’s five.
Besides the stellar play from Lighty, positives included Diebler taking three shots inside the arc (2/3), Simmons shooting over 50% (4/7) for the first time this season and Buford recording 8 points (3/6) and a nice assist after getting shut out versus Butler.
Anthony Crater also saw a little more action and though he failed to score, he did drop three dimes and grabbed two boards after seeing just six minutes against Butler thanks to the flu.
Though the Buckeyes scored their most points to date, they got very little down low as Lauderdale (8pts, 3 reb) and B.J. Mullens (3pts, 1 reb) combined for just 11 points and 4 boards.
Next up: the Iona Gaels this Saturday at Noon EST.
Lighty needs to continue this type of contribution to make this team dangerous. Turner will get his, but he needs others around him to step it up. Last night Lighty and Diebs did. Good to see.
Its nice to see this team put up some points. To bad the d fell asleep at times during the game and gave up 68 points. Have to give it to the fish though for not quitting and giving them a pretty good game.
I hate the fact that ESPN controls the sports world…. My cable company does not offer ESPNU and this is the second game that I have missed. Thanks alot ESPN. At least this Saturday’s game will be on Big-11 Network.
I’ve always thought that ESPNU was a strange channel. ESPN holds it back encouraging people to call their cable company and demand it. Outside of a handful of OSU games, there is no reason to have this channel. Did anybody see their “lineup” of games for December? No thanks.
I really, really dislike ESPN. When they were smaller, and more folksy, it was charming. Now they make news where they may be none, or monopolize sports programming. Want to boost ratings? Tick off someone’s fan base. Want to sell a channel? Get an OSU game or two on some obscure channel.
They have college games that will soon include the BCS, NFL games, NBA games, auto racing, baseball – enough already. Enough.
I could have gone to my fiancee’s house to watch the game last night, but I elected to stay at home, listen to the Bucks on radio, and start a new painting. Delightful.
I have gotten ESPNU for quite a while and its a bunch of nothin, besides a few Buckeye bball games and recruiting insider show. The problem here in Ohio was the Big Ten network, the cable company here held it hostage just until this seasons kick-off. I live an hour from Columbus and just now got the channel, I really didnt know wheather to be mad at the cable co. or the B10. It should be the Ohio St. conference since we make all their money.
I wish Lighty would play more like this, but i know it will not happen, he is always going to be a role player. I think Diebs and the development of Swatterdale and Mullens offensively will be the key to a run at the B10 title. I think Turner might be the most underrated player in the country, for me personally i don’t love his game but every time i look at the box score its pretty damn impressive. I don’t know what everybody thinks, I think Thad is the best coach of any sport at OSU during my time. He gets so much out of his team. This year’s team to me is doing way better then i expected and has only one legit player and he is not yet a superstar but we just keep winning and for that fact i can’t remeber any other coach who’s teams win from coaching, i believe alot of the success this year comes from coaching. Sorry man crushing on Thad but i love the shape our b-ball program is in right now. We go from a run of the mill recruiting team to a recruiting powerhouse under Thad.
Dave Lighty reminds me of Eric Davis. Every time I went to a Reds game, Davis underperformed – strikeouts, lack of effort defensively, that ridiculous “cobra” swing, missing the game entirely with a “stiff neck” – whatever. I once saw Bob Kipper strike him out three times. The next Willie Mays? Please.
At the end of the season, when you were tallying up your fantasy points, there was Eric Davis, batting .282 with 30 or so homers and 90 RBIs. How did you miss it?
Lighty’s like that. You don’t see him, but he’s solid defensively and a sneaky scorer. You don’t notice him (except last night), but there he is in the box score, with 30+ minutes, 12-14 points and solid defense. Weird.
Do we think Mullens is one and done? He’s being projected as a first round pick; I don’t see him being close to ready, but I guess teams will make him a project?
I don’t think he’s one-and-done, but you can’t tell. ESPN still thinks he’s a lottery pick, and Darko seems to demonstrate that there’s someone in the NBA stupid enough to make a “project” out of almost anyone.
The Dolphins put up more of a battle than I anticipated. In the first half it looked like the starters for Ohio State could have their way but as the substitutes allowed Jacksonville to stay in the game their confidence grew. In the 2nd half even the starters were having trouble with Jacksonville.
The only problem with the game was all the fouls called. Very much overkill for an unimportant preleague match up.
I think Mullens is definitely one and done. Seems the NBA execs find it a lot more allowable to draft a big man (lottery picks) based on what they’ve seen combined with the expectation of untapped potential to emerge with age/experience versus a wing/guard who they expect to be much further along from a development standpoint.
I should have clarified what I wrote above, Chris. I agree with you that Mullens thinks he’s one-and-done. I just don’t think he’s “one-and-done” ready, at this point.
Your take on the NBA’s perverse insistence on taking on big men as developmental projects is spot on.
Kufos was a first round draft pick last year. That should pretty much tell you all you need to know about the NBA’s demand for big men. Mullens will only improve over the season and will be making bank next year.
Good call, OSB. I meant to rant about the whistle-happy refs in my recap but it was late, I was tired, and it was Jacksonville. Totally agree, though. Ticky tack nonsense. I dont think the 12k in attendance came to watch the refs but maybe I’m wrong!
12K in attendance? Is that a fact? I actually do get ESECPN-U in my digi cable package so I get to see all these games. It sure didn’t look like the Schott had too many in attendance. At least not at the end of the game when I noticed it anyways. This was when they pulled within 5 no less.
Anyways “The-U” channel isnt all so bad. It sucks if you dont get it, but thats how I fell about the B11 network. Would MUCH rather have that
No…definitely not fact. I have no idea how many were actually there. On TV, it looked like even less than 12k but I hadn’t looked for any published attendance since they just fluff if up and report it Tickets Sold instead of actual asses in seats.
After further review, I see the official Ohio State site claims 12,250 in attendance.
http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/downloads1/74205.htm?ATCLID=3634767&SPID=10421&DB_OEM_ID=17300&SPSID=87813
Did anyone else see the Deb’s two-handed throwdown? Who knew the kid knew how to not shoot a three, certainly didn’t know he could jam it like that.
Have to say, I struggled to avoid strangling all the Chicken Littles who screamed that the sky was falling down every time JU made a run to get back in the game.
I had to constantly point out that Jacksonville is a team that constantly gets down big and makes big runs. They do it against everyone. I had to point out that they have not been blown out, despite playing great teams like Baylor and Georgetown. And when the game was over, I had to point out that we handed them the largest defeat they had all year, even if it did seem kinda weak to us.
Anyway, it’s great to see Lighty open up and flex his full game muscle. Hopefully he discovers himself.
Im def. coming around to liking B-ball a lot more since the beginning of the season. I think its the pregame writeups that give me a reason to watch. LOL
Swatterdale is just a beast defender. They said last night that hes averaging 1 block out of every 4 shots an opponent takes. Thats sick. Like Hakeem Olajuwon sick. Also, being a defensive player in every sport I ever played (just came natural) I love that our squads for football and b-ball PRIDE themselves on good D. not too many schools can make that claim
I know there have have been whistle happy refs the last two games, but that is a result of OSU being aggressive on driving to the rim. 25+ free throw attempts in back to back games was unheard of last year. The number of three point attempts have dropped as well.
If Lighty and Diebler can play that way all year, the season is going to get sweeter. I like the spark from Simmons last night too.
Damn it! Lighty w/ broken bone in his foot – surgery today & he’ll be out the next 6-12 weeks!
jeesh!