Preview: Ohio State vs. #6 Michigan State
Turner vs. Lucas, who’s the real POY?
 Ohio State 21-9, 11-8 Big Ten Roster | Schedule |
March 14, 2009 1:40 PM ET – CBS —— Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN |
 #6 Michigan State 26-5, 16-3 Big Ten Roster | Schedule |
“It’s tough to beat a team three times in a season”, has become one of the most used cliche’s during playoff/tournament time, we can only hope it holds true today.
These two haven’t faced each other since late January, after playing twice in a 17 day span. Michigan State took both of those contest by an average of 10 points, 67-58 in East Lansing and 78-67 in Columbus.
I have a funny feeling we are going to see Ed Hightower in stripes today, so he could become a factor in this game as well. If he lets them play, the Bucks can’t allow themselves to get pushed around by the more physical Spartans.
| # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST | POS | # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | PJ HIll | 3.0 | 1.4 | 1.6 | G | 1 | Kalin Lucas | 14.7 | 2.2 | 4.5 |
| 33 | Jon Diebler | 11.1 | 3.4 | 2.5 | G | 5 | Travis Walton | 5.1 | 2.5 | 3.4 |
| 21 | Evan Turner | 16.9 | 6.8 | 3.9 | F | 2 | Raymar Morgan | 11.0 | 5.8 | 1.3 |
| 44 | William Buford | 11.1 | 3.5 | 1.1 | F | 10 | Delvon Roe | 6.0 | 5.4 | 0.9 |
| 52 | Dallas Lauderdale | 4.5 | 3.6 | 0.2 | C | 14 | Goran Suton | 9.5 | 7.6 | 1.3 |
Opponent
Michigan State lead the league in scoring at 67 points a game, winning their conference games by an average of 8.4 points. The Spartans lead the Big Ten in FG attempts, connecting on 44 percent overall and 34 percent from deep. It should come at no surprise that Izzo’s team lead the league in FT attempts and makes as well, going to the line 54 more times than 2nd place Purdue and 108 more times than the Bucks. Again with a possible Hightower sighting, it is going to come down to the charity stripe.
The Spartans out rebounded OSU 35-19 during the game in Cbus, including a 16-3 advantage on the offensive glass, which lead to 15 more FG attempts. During conference play, MSU never let an opponent outrebound them, which lead to astonishing +11.3 margin on the glass. The Buckeyes must not pick up cheap fouls going over the backs of Sparty.
Tom Izzo still loves to sub and will use a 9-10 man rotation in today’s game. Super-sub Chris Allen lead the way yesterday with 17, but Durell Summers and Marquise Gray will also contribute.
Buckeye Breakdown:
I think we saw a different Ohio State team yesterday, one that played with the tenacity needed for a Turner-ment run. Lauderdale and Simmons stepped up their games and I was happy to see an emphasis on getting to the rim, one aspect that has to continue this afternoon.
I’m keeping the preview brief here today, most of us know what the Buckeyes need to do in order to pull out this win and advance to the conference title game. If they match their intensity level of yesterday and a couple more players contribute (Mullens and Diebler), there is no reason why the Bucks can’t win.
Etc
- Buford had 17 and Mullens 16 in the East Lansing game.
- Ohio State won for the first time all year when they trail at the 5:00 mark, erasing that 54-47 deficit. They are 19-1 when they lead at that mark.
I love the smell of upsets in the morning…smells like VICTORY
Go Buckeyes! My new boss is a Spartan so a victory today would be especially fun! Willing to risk my job…
time to get out of hound!!!!!
Sparty will be thinking one seed so they’ve got the motivation to play … we’ll need to bring our best game today. thought we lacked intensity in the first half yesterday. maybe just the relatively quiet gym but it seemed we were a little flat. hope we come out firing today!
Hopefully some people will make the drive and show some love for the buckeyes.
I just ordered my Out of Hound tee…Go Bucks!
Awesome. Thanks, Chief!
NP, also showed the site to another Chief, from Mansfield
ordering the you can’t pay back but you can pay forward shirt for when i head up to tOSU v usc game…i think it fits quite well
Turner was first on the team bus. He’s coming for you, Kalin.
http://twitter.com/Wally1440/status/1327347943
No TV for this game?
channel 10 (wbns/CBS) in Cbus. 1:40
Thanks RBuck. I got confused because Chris didn’t tell us who the announcers are like he usually does. Just goes to show I depend on 11W for more than just stress relief.
Oh wait, never mind. I think I need glasses. Hey, me and Hightower have something in common!
I’d just like to say that if Beanie can stay healthy – a gigantic eyesore of an if – he may end up being more productive than Eddie.
oh yeah, definitely. eddie was an amazing RB, but i don’t think he posessed any of the ridiculous physical skills that tend to translate into big time NFL success (insane speed, size, power, agility, etc).
that’s not to say that he wasn’t fast or strong or agile, just that he wasn’t unbelievably so in any of those categories; eddie had a good NFL career, but you’re right, i think Beanie has the skills and physical tools to have a better one if he stays healthy
The thing Eddie did have was something Beanie has not really displayed in his career – durability. Yeah, he ran on an injured ankle for all ‘07, but in ‘08 he also took himself out of the game every five minutes. His record is checkered, to put it lightly. But if he sews that problem up, he spends 10 years in the league and may end up being a first ballot guy.
I don’t know why alot of people question beanie’s toughness. He play with a broken hand in 07′ and turf toe in 08′. Was Kijana Carter hurt in college alot? He sure did get hurt alot in the pros though. The simple fact is the past won’t effect the future one bit.
Beanie is worthy of a top 10 pick. No other player really jumps out at you. 235lbs and legit 4.4 speed the browns would be stupid to pass on that.
also i dig the logo for the big 10 tourney
I see Ed Hightower.
He is in the building.
Hightower has already affected this game
Ed Hightower already getting some national face time by making a huge game stop to take 1 second off the shot clock then yelling at Lauderdale whilst doing the patented bend over and point move…
He loves him some him.
If Diebler and Buford keep on today and we can get the ball into Mullens a few more times its going to be a long day for Sparty..
i’m liking the d so far but i don’t know why we just shifted to zone
They’re letting the Spartans play physical and hitting us up on the small things so far.
hahah excellent mullens steal
Michigan state is doing a great job shutting down turner
hightower you ass
Specifically, a horse’s ass
“fast paced, exciting game?!? woah hey wait slow down this isn’t about b-ball, this is about ed hightower, bitches”
Hightower just took over.
shut the hell up ed hightower you are a douchebag ref that is on a huge power kick. calm…down.
The name ain’t Ed Hightower, it’s Eddie. Eddie Showtime. Now where the hell is my cape?
DIEBLER GOES TO THE HOLE
that was amazing and hilarious, more of that please
hahah pj takes out three dudes at once
i mean, he literally tackled them and i think one of them was buford
2 free throws in the 5 minutes since Hightower grandstanded…..and we are still up by 4.
Raymar Morgan is a Rasheed Wallace-style bitch when it comes to fouls. He thinks he has never done anything wrong in his whole life from the look of the faces he makes.
i like how much offensive production we have, and effort for that matter without ET even scoring.
Yeah, I didn’t think we’d be within 20 if Turner laid a goose egg in the first half.
Have to agree with you. That could be a good sign though. I like when they run off defensive rebs.
that was a pretty good half, some bad shooting by MSU combined with some good defense for about 15 minutes helped a lot. i think they found the weaknesses in our zone though, and The Villain needs to get going if we’re going to win this game, because lucas looks like he’s warming up
If they can block out like they did in the first half they will win this game. Turner has to get it going in the second half. We miss a couple easy plays but overall that was the best half of basketball in a long time. Keep running.
If hightower thought that was a 2 point shot he should have just called it at the time.. he was standing right there.. instead he waits to review it on a crappy tv with a picture that can’t compare to my Hi Def picture and he turns over a call that even the announcers agreed was too hard to see…. ridiculous..
Does anyone know how to block out?
Turner Time Baby
with Willie B and Johnny D on the side
ET is alive!
excellent play by The Villain, MSU looks lethargic
We need to carefully rotate Mullens in the rest of the game.. if he can score he will be valuable but comparable to Lauderdale today Mullens has had the defensive presence of a twig..
it’s a good thing we’re shooting fairly well because we have no inside presence at all
Turner is the only guy on our team that blocks out.
PEEEEEEEEEEE JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
man why doesn’t dallas do that shit more often
My wife just checked in to mention how pretty the logo at center court was.
“Woman, there’s a war going on!”
LOL. I apologize for thie other women that don’t get it. GO BUCKS!
Nice!!!! turner to mullens and one
Cheap call there.
mullens is playing much better in the second half
Who’s wearing our uni’s?
What is going on with this team? Mullens and Simmons ballin’
I was just saying to myself that Simmons was going to have to shoot that because no one else was in position to receive the ball. Man, what a great dagger that was!
UNC has clearly switched unis with Ohio State, because they’re somehow tied with FSU at 45
Go Noles’
We are shooting 87 percent from three. MSU, ten percent.
Madness
espn has 87% from the free throw line, 53% from 3?
Ah, you’re right. I thought that seemed high. I can only catch the game intermittently on TV and through Yahoo’s online coverage, which is confusing as shit. Thanks.
honestly as well as we’ve been shooting, it feels like 87%
Anyone else notice how harder Mullens plays d and rebounds when he gets the ball on the offensive end often.
i really hope that correlation doesn’t equal causation in this case
Mullens looked like Dan Gable in that sequence.
Dan Gable would have a triple-double by now.
(One of the most underrated athletes in US Olympic history in m book.)
holy SHIT The Villain is playing like a nutcase, i love it
MAKE SOME LAYUPS. PUT THESE GUYS AWAY.
Bj should have hit that layup but damn he’s playin hard.
DUNK THE BALL STOP TRYING TO BE PRETTY!!!
turner could have taken that up wtf
who is this team and what did you do with the buckeyes i watched all season?
we’re playing very well overall but MSU seems totally disinterested in this game
Must be because Matta is a bad coach, right. ;)
i mean, it’s pretty obvious that titus replaced matta’s gum with delicious b-ball taffy
they look how ohio state normally looks. sleepy. maybe we really want to win for once. still a long way to go we need to keep the d up and no fouls.
I’d post celebration music (not quiet riot for once), byt I know I’d jinx the hell out of this
Win this and what are we looking at? 7 seed? 6 seed? Is there a chance we could move up into a 5 seed if we win the conference tourney?
5 seed if we win, but I think a more realistic bet is 7 seed.
win = winning the whole damn thing
i hope a 7, 6…or a 10. i dont want an 8 or 9
tampa buckeye says:
March 14, 2009 at 9:12 am I love the smell of upsets in the morning…smells like VICTORY
anyone else put a wager down this morning?
dallas shot 46% on FTs this season?!? that’s hilariously bad
hahah wait, i looked it up on espn, he shot 37% last season. wow
ah shit, i think MSU woke up
Bad call…Simmons was damn near tackled.
Are you kidding me with that foul on the 3?
That was an acting job for sure.
this is the ohio state team i know…
brick brick brick foul
That was a weak foul. Douche bag made the call.
MSU is 2 of 17 behind the arc
I knew the run was coming, let’s hope we can hang on!!
got to love the double bonus
Mullens is a factor today. That’s big considering how well Lauderdale has played. Can any team beat us when Simmons, Lauderdale, and Mullens all show up to the same game?
yeah. as good as those guys can be, even with everyone running on all cylinders we aren’t at the level of NC or memphis or pitt
And again, whatever happened to the idea of blocking out for a rebound?
MATTA’S AN AWFUL FUCKING COACH FUCK THIS ZONE FUCK THE WORLD HIRE MIKE KYRZEIOKAMVOWAMVEVIOAMVEAMBRIRADCVAVEAVDAKI OR 937-YEAR OLD BOBBY NIGHT RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE
i don’t think anyone was saying that matta was a bad coach (i know i was saying that he’s a “really good” coach), but one game doesn’t invalidate what we saw for 90% of the year
So he wasn’t good enough for you 90 percent of the year yet we won… 70 percent of our games.
and if we played every game like we played today we could’ve won more. “good enough” shouldn’t ever be good enough
That’s a mentality I will never, ever understand.
I mean, really how spoiled can you get?
what i’m saying is that i have no problem with a team not winning a ton of games if they’re playing up to their potential every game. today’s game was an indicator that this team clearly doesn’t do that on a regular basis.
again, matta is a very good coach and i’m glad he’s at OSU. but acting like there aren’t legitimate complaints about his coaching is ridiculous.
so you’re saying they must never underachieve with a roster chock full of a freshmen and sophomores
but you’re right, i’m glad we decided that good enough was good enough and are currently in the third decade of the coach earle bruce dynasty
i’m saying they must never underachieve with a roster full of mcdonald’s all americans and all time ohio scoring leaders
I never said there weren’t good reasons to do so, indeed, yesterday I said that he makes quite a few boneheaded game day decisions that nag me to no end. However, I don’t think we have any right to bitch incessantly about Matta as a coach, or beg for a coaching change, based on his resume here, when only a select few here actually have the capacity to analyze a basketball game. He’s doing a far better job than Jim O’Brien ever did, and for that, I’m happy.
one last thing: i’ve certainly never called for matta to be fired and i’m glad he’s the coach and i hope he’s here forever.
BUT it needs to be pointed ot that o’brien, scandal aside, was a very good coach in his own right who took us to the final four, won the Big 10 regular season twice and the tourney once, and took us to 4 NCAA’s in a row. matta will probably end up with a better resume by the time their time at OSU is equal, but saying matta is “far better” than o’brien just isn’t true.
better, probably. but we didn’t trade in mike dunleavy for john wooden
No offense BUP, but if we win the tourney and win a game or two with seven friggin guys, then will you shut up?
The Bigten might get 8 teams in the tourney, and with these wins we had a winning record in it, not to mention having our lone senior go down, 5 star point guard leave, underachieving big man, etc., etc..
Im sorry, but there is NO WAY ant argument will EVER convince me Thad is not a good XO guy, NONE. What about putting Butler on the map, what about 24 wins 4 straight years at Xavier?? He never recruited anyone at those schools.
The list goes on and on, you might just wanna chalk this one up BUP. But I still love ya man, you make far more good points than bad.
lol @ “bobby night”
I can still see him pulling up that red sweater to allow his gut to breathe.
Can we get 80?
Who do we root for in game 2? We at least have shown we can beat Purdue, but maybe we want Illinois just for the sake of revenge?
Chicken Dinner!!!
Nice win. I’m very satisifed.
Or satisfied, whichever you prefer.
That may be the best game all year next to Notre Dame. I hope we are peaking at the right time. If we win the big ten we should get a 5th seed atleast but 6th wouldn’t be bad. Anything but a 8 or 9th.
What a difference a couple buckets from Dallas and BJ make. WOW