Preview: #13 Ohio State vs. West Virginia
 #13 Ohio State 9-0, 0-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule |
December 27, 2008 4:00 PM ET – CBS —— The Schott Columbus, OH |
 West Virginia 9-2, 0-0 Big East Roster | Schedule |
Ohio State and West Virginia meet for the first time since 1995, starting a home and home series that will conclude next year in Morgantown. The Buckeyes won that ‘95 meeting 77-68 and hold a 9-5 series advantage, but have lost 5 of the last 6 between these two teams.
Of course, this also marks the return of Bob Huggins to the Buckeye state, who in is two years at WVU has guided the Mountaineers to a 35-13 record.
Huggy Bear was born in Morgantown, but played his high school ball in Ohio, which was followed up by a playing career at WVU, along with coaching stints at Ohio State, Akron and Cincinnati.
This game could be rough of the eyes for a while, so don’t be surprised to see this one in the 50’s. Huggins teams are always tough nosed, with great defense and outstanding rebounding abilities, while OSU is still figuring out new roles for everyone since Lighty’s injury.
| # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST | POS | # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Jeremie Simmons | 7.1 | 2.8 | 2.7 | G | 25 | Darryl Bryant | 11.3 | 2.2 | 2.8 |
| 33 | Jon Diebler | 10.4 | 2.9 | 2.0 | G | 22 | Alex Ruoff | 17.0 | 3.6 | 2.8 |
| 44 | William Buford | 7.4 | 3.1 | 0.7 | F | 1 | Da’Shean Butler | 15.5 | 6.2 | 1.5 |
| 21 | Evan Turner | 16.9 | 6.8 | 3.1 | F | 35 | Wellington Smith | 6.5 | 4.1 | 1.1 |
| 52 | Dallas Lauderdale | 8.0 | 4.9 | 0.2 | C | 3 | Devin Ebanks | 7.5 | 6.7 | 1.4 |
Opponent
West Virginia got an early Christmas present when Alex Ruoff returned from injury last Saturday. He went for a school record 9 three’s and scored 38 points in their victory over Radford on Tuesday. The lone senior on this team, Ruoff has averaged double figures in each of the past two seasons and attempts over 8 three pointers a game. Ruoff and Butler provide a dynamic 1-2 scoring punch, combining for 92 points over their last two games.
As a team, WVU is scoring 74.6 points a game, on 43.6 percent shooting overall and 33.3 percent from downtown. The stat that scares me the most is their 43.2 rebounds per game, with a little bit less than half of those coming on the offensive end.
On defense, they are allowing just 56.1 points a game, ranking them 13th in the country and are outrebounding their opponents by almost 10 per contest. They give up just 10.5 assists and teams are shooting 40.2 percent against them.
Huggins will primarily use 7 players, unless Joe Mazzulla returns from his injury. Kevin Jones and John Flowers will lead the way off the bench, scoring 5.9 and 6.5 points respectively. WVU has beaten Iowa (by 19) and Ole Miss, but has lost to Davidson and Kentucky.
Buckeye Breakdown:
The Buckeyes will have another chance to dominate in the paint, after outscoring UNC-Asheville 40-20 from there on Monday. The Mountaineers have four starters between 6′6″ – 6′9″, but Dallas and BJ combined for 30 points and 15 rebounds Monday. Neither one started and I expect Dallas to be back in the lineup Saturday, but as Chris said earlier this week, perhaps Matta will start Madsen again in order to steal early minutes and keep the twin towers out of foul trouble.
There are a couple of keys to Saturday’s game that the Buckeyes will have to do in order to keep the nation’s longest winning streak alive. First, the team rebounding effort must continue, especially on the defensive side. Ohio State has given up 31 offensive boards in the last two games and have outrebounded only three opponents thus far.
Secondly, the balanced scoring has to be there Saturday. OSU put four players in double figures Monday, Mullins (19), Turner (17), Buford (16) and Swatterdale (11), while Diebler and Simmons struggled to a combined 2-9. There are 6 players that could go for 15 any night and as long as at least 3 are reaching that mark each game, their season will continue to be a success. They simply must continue to drive the ball and put pressure on the defense.
One other thing to look for tonight is Evan Turner controlling his game from the elbow. Against most defenses, that space is constantly open and Turner started utilizing his abilities from there this week. If WVU allows him to catch the ball there he could put up another monster game, but the funny thing is, that is what we have come to expect from this rising star anyhow.
Etc
- This is the fifth 9-0 start in OSU history (Thad has two of them) and the Bucks have reached the tourney the previous four, including two titles games in ‘61 and ‘62.
- The Buckeye have not lost as a ranked team versus an unranked team at home since Dec. 16. 1980, a span of 41 games.
- Verne Lundquist and Clark Kellogg will call the game for CBS.
- This is a huge sports day for WVU, taking on North Carolina in their bowl game at 1pm.
Loving the outfit.
Yeah. It looks like something Rita Rod would wear had she not had that operation years ago.
That suit’s only job is to hide vomit stains.
Mountaineers by 30. By the way, Lauderback is a bum.
Thanks for stopping by. By the way, your blog is an insightful mess of quoted articles with absolutely no commentary. You should trade in one of your three remaining teeth for some writing lessons.
Ernie, pretty stupid of you. Mountaineers by 5, by 10, whatever. But 30? Get real.
Sorry…I was wrong. Only 28 today.
Obviously nobody here knows me, but I was mainly joking anyway. I work with Chris and just wanted to rouse him.
Good victory for the ‘eers. The Buckeyes are much better then what they showed today.
Good luck the rest of the way.
Where do you buy yellow shoes? Maybe Ringo Starr has an extra pair that he can sell.
I think those are his Lugz.
Please, this is possibly the finest, most updated OSU blog out there, visiting fans, don’t foul it up with stupid taunts, keep it real.
That being said, the key in my mind is to get the threes working today, both teams are fairly young, with some good bench players. Height also matches up well with us having the advantage of a seven foot back up center who’s only getting better each game. Getting Diebs back on track will be really important.
I <3 Chris Spielman. West Virginia is easier to like now that Rich Rod is gone. They aren’t half as good as they were, but easier to like.
Reacting to comments by WVU fans is the same as KSU fans, pointless.
You’ll never be us. Stop hatin’.
“ern” was just playin’…game time, fellas…I am very eager to see how OSU handles WVU’s ability to hit the o-boards. Could be the story of the game unless Huggy dumps vodka in the team gatorade and gets ejected in the second half for trying to dry hump matta’s wife…
This just in off of ESPN’s year in review…
Jan. 7: LSU wins the BCS Championship Game when the Ohio State Buckeyes decide to leave after the first quarter to beat traffic.
Sad, but funny and true.
Starting out slow, a proud Thad Matta tradition.
Not complaining about it, just amusing in its consistency. Team is still playing well.
Deibler looks confused-ler.
Diebler has the shooting funk again, 0 for 5
finally hit one….this game is pissing me off…looks like street ball out there
As rotten as our shooting seemed/was in the first half, we’re only down seven. Threes are getting frustrating, on both sides. I’d prefer a few more high percentage shots, but I’m not a coach for a reason.
Of course, that’s always been my criticism of Matta: we seem to chuck it up at the first vaguely open look every time we get down the court, but that strategy wins so many games, it’s hard to criticize too much
Well, this is looking like our first loss of the year. Good to see Matta getting in everyone’s face.
Terrible free throw shooting
Yeesh, it’s a blowout now. Huggins’d.
Is it me, or are the guys just mailing it in right now?
Sadly, Ernie is looking rather correct. We simply don’t look like the same team from the ND and Miami games. Oh well. Fortunately, this sport has a playoff, and this team can simply shrug off this loss and move on.
yeah it’s just a loss..but it’s also a statement to everyone who has seen this game…we didn’t just lose..we’re down by 25 to an unranked foe…this is rough..ugh
I love Kellogg giving it to us. He’s in pain, it’s obvious.
‘eers by 30. Ernie is no less of a pompous ass by the way.
We should never wear those ugly gray uni’s again. This game should be enough reason to put ‘em away for good.
BTW, Brett Bielema has to be the dumbest head coach in all of college football. Not only did he not challenge FSU’s questionable first TD, but he decided to try to pass his way out of bad field position with 1:38 to go in the half despite having Dustin Scherer at QB. Not a smart move.
Fail.
EPIC….fail
Another opportunity for Bielema to challenge. He probably won’t win, but you just have to at least try to get a reversal.
Argh. Wisconsin is a comedian.
Another horrendous call goes against Wisky. I guess Brett has just decided it’s not their day because he didn’t argue that one either.