Career Highs Pace Buckeyes
Evan Turner (29), Wil Buford (24) and Jeremie Simmons (17) each established new career highs in points and the Buckeyes ripped off 56 second half points in a 93-81 win over Indiana this afternoon in Bloomington.
Matt Roth’s 29 points on 9/11 from downtown kept Indiana in it for much of the game but a 12-2 Buckeye burst turned a 61-60 lead into a 73-62 bulge with 6:42 to play.
The decisive run began with Jon Diebler converting three free throws after getting fouled attempting a three for the second time in the game. Following an Indiana layup, Buford scored seven straight with a baseline leaner, a triple and two foul shots before Turner capped the run with a dribble drive for two.
Indiana would get no closer than nine the rest of the way as OSU went 5/5 from the floor and 8/10 from the line excepting two missed free throws with Diebler with :26 left.
Besides the career nights from Turner, Buford and Simmons, Deebs also had a solid effort putting up 21 points, 18 in the second half, giving OSU four in double figures.
Simmons’ effort also featured eight assists, tying a career high, building on his 12 point night against Michigan last Wednesday.
Turner was clearly the biggest boss (for all you Millennials out there) on the court grabbing 10 boards along with his scorching shooting night (10/14 FG, 9/10 FT) but his seven turnovers made me wonder if he had Cisco on his breath.
The bad news came in the form of a combined two field goal attempts, 0 points, 6 rebounds and two turnovers from bigs Dallas Lauderdale and B.J. Mullens. Their play was so inconsistently bad, Matta resorted to giving Kyle Madsen eight minutes (0 pt, 1 reb), mostly with P.J. Hill on the floor, causing my aorta to swell with angst.
I’ve said it before but why Matta would ever play those two at the same time is beyond me. It’s like three on five at the offensive end when he goes with that lineup. Insane.
Ohio State trailed 39-37 at intermission despite shooting 52% thanks in large part to 11 turnovers and Roth’s 12 points on 4/6 from distance. Mullens and Lauderdale attempted exactly zero field goals in the opening 20 minutes with both picking up two fouls.
The continued zone rotation struggles, 17 turnovers and Bill Robinson-esque night from the bigs gives Matta plenty to work on but he has to be feeling good about his big three plus Simmons’ performance (8 asst / 1 TO) with home games against Purdue and Minnesota on deck next week.
At 15-5 overall and 5-4 in conference, even a split of the next should keep the Buckeyes in position to finish 10-8 or 9-9 in Big Ten play which should be enough to lock up an NCAA bid.
Step one is Tuesday at 7pm against the Boilers on ESPN. Hello, Erin…
The LiC shirt is a must buy. So is this:
http://skreened.com/ccdesigns/terrelle-pryor-is-the-future
Barf.
Awful. Go away.
i think its hilarious.
Geat win.
A wide receivers job is to A) Catch passes B) Catch TD passes.
Only 1 player in NFL HISTORY has done both of these things more than Cris Carter.
So, using that logic, Jerry Rice should be the ONLY receiver in the Hall of Fame. Right?
Yeah, and unfortunately, Rice and the NFL’s career rushing leader are eligible next year for the first time, cutting into Carter’s chances.
im honestly beyond shocked that this is happening to carter, and it has nothing to do with him being a former buckeye. seriously here – why are they not voting him in? are there politics involved or what?
Indiana made it tough on them. The guard making all the threes was out of hound on fire. Good win on the road, despite Indiana’s record.
Did anyone notice the Indiana fans flipping off the referees? Or OSU?
Tom Crean may now be the biggest cry-baby in the b10. His constant whinning and watching replays on the sideline was a little annoying.
Indiana is terrible, I gave them too much credit for their play over the last two. Does anyone recall a game where OSU had 3 players score 20+ points? Their shooting has been remarkable in the last seven games, now they just need to tighten up that defense.
And BJ Mullens is not NBA ready.
Unfortunately, being NBA ready doesn’t mean you dont get drafted in the first round.
He had enough raw talent out of high school to go first round. Actually, his stock has probably dropped a little since then. I didnt think Koufos was ready either.
I screwed that all up, but you get my point.
i think the NBA caters to certain players a lot more than it does for others; the b-ball they play there relies a lot less on an overall team scheme than individual production. which is probably part of why koufos is somehow playing with more ability in the NBA than he typically did at OSU. all he’s being asked to do is come in, take some shots, and get out.
it’s the same deal with mullens, the NBA doesn’t really give a crap if he isn’t a complete player, all they care about is that he’s a dude who can make baskets.
case in point: lebron james. incredible scorer and maybe the best athlete in the world, but he’s still not a complete player yet. 2 or 3 years in college probably would’ve helped that some, but like i said, the NBA doesn’t care about “completeness”
I really thought that Mullins slimed up the court yesterday. At least DL can block some shots.
Quiet tonight
The Boss FTW.
Santonio Holmes: Buckeye NFLer of the Week.
curse you santonio holmes!
Great game Steely McBeam Jr., but jesus, pick a better team to make the big plays for.
And if you were rooting for the Cardinals, did that not feel just like the Fiesta bowl? The underdog makes a second half surge to take a late lead before having its heart ripped out in the final seconds?
Oh, and was I the only one who thought this year’s ads were noticeably turrible, to borrow a word from Charles Barkley?
Even the Transformers teaser was a letdown.
PEPSRUBER!
Yeah Santonio! Superbowl MVP looks good on the resume.
And the moral of today’s story:
Ohio State does not have and has never had “athletes”
amirite?
Watching the end of that game, all i could think about was what might have beens if Holmes came back for his senior year; T-smith throwing to Holmes, Ginn, and Gonzo, three 1st round nfl WRs. Not sure it would have been enough to beat UF that year, but salivating to think about how sick the yardage would have been with that trio.
If Ginn doesn’t get hurt, unstoppable…UF loses.
Er.
Well, maybe. I’d say it’s more of a shootout. Holmes/Ginn don’t help the offensive line and don’t stop the Gator offense.
But I’d like our chances.
Thank God the shooting has been as hot as it has been. In the last five games, the Buckeyes have averaged almost twelve fewer shot attempts per game than their opponents. And if you take out the home Michigan game – in which the Wolverines only got off 5 more shots than OSU – that number jumps up to 13.25 more shots per game for the opponents. Poor defensive rebounding and turnovers are crippling an offense and defense that have been more than solid in virtually every other category. It’s freaking hard to win games when the other team gets way more shots at the basket than you.
Anyone catch that at the end? At the end, once they said congrats, the mike picked up someone saying , “The, THE ohio state…” and then it cut it off…couldn’t tell if that was Dan Patrick, or some of the commentators back with Costas. But either way, fuckin right doggies.
Santonio Holmes – one hell of a catch tonight!!!!!!
Sorry but the Cards got screwed…
Shoulda drafted some buckeyes then…
LOL
It’s easy to beat a team when you set moving screens every play and never get them called.