Matta won't likely let the boys have an easy holidayThad Matta wasn't thrilled with what he witnessed but his Buckeyes emerged victorious in a 20 point victory over the winless (0-4) Lipscomb Bison tonight in the Schott.
Maybe it was a case of Madison Square Hangover but the bottom line is the 84-64 win wasn't as pretty as it looked on paper as the Buckeyes led by just 11 points with 5:34 remaining before closing the game with a 17-8 burst.
In a particularly sloppy first half, the Buckeyes converted just 1 of 6 free throws and turned it over 10 times, 5 by Evan Turner. Luckily for OSU, the triples were falling (7/11) and both David Lighty (8pts, 5 reb) and Jon Diebler (11 pts) picked up Turner's slack keying a late 12-4 run allowing OSU to take a 36-27 lead at the break.
Turner turned things around immediately in the second half triggering a 9-3 run with a steal and dunk, another steal leading to a Lighty putback and a nice dish to Lighty for three giving the Bucks a 45-30 lead. Lipscomb hung around and eventually cut the lead to seven at 54-47 but would get no closer before the Buckeyes finally put it away for good.
To his credit, Turner kept battling and tallied his second triple-double this season with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against the outmanned Bison to go along with the 5 first half turnovers but as crazy as it sounds, I bet he'd be the first to admit this wasn't his best outing. Beyond the turnovers, he's still letting his emotions impact his play causing him to force the issue. Frustrated, he even threw a not-very-nasty elbow tonight that Bison pretty boy Josh Slater parlayed into a Hollywood audition. On the road in conference, some clown like Hightower is likely to T him up for such shenanigans.
What shouldn't be lost in Turner's trip-dub is the career high 22 points (9/14) and 7 boards turned in by Lighty. He continuously attacked the rim off the dribble which helped open up his jumper (3/3 3FG). It was nice to see him get back to his game after struggling against UNC before bouncing back against Cal.
Diebler had a big night from the perimeter with 17 points (5/11 3FG) while Jeremie Simmons added 11 thanks to a hot shooting night (3/3 FG, 3/4 FT) that also featured 3 assists against 0 turnovers in 18 minutes. Simmons has really played well thus far now that he's back to his natural 2 guard spot.
Down low, Dallas Lauderdale came up big against the small Bison front line finishing with 13 points (5/5 FG) and 6 boards. The only blemish on the "Twin Cities" night was his bricktacular 3/8 from the stripe. Feeling his struggles, the crowd practically gave him a standing ovation when he willed in his last two attempts giving OSU a commanding 71-57 lead.
With Dallas rocking the 3/8 and Lighty a 1/4 from the line, OSU shot just 7/17 (41%) on the uncontested 15 footers. Of course, the poor foul shooting didn't matter in this one as the Buckeyes shot 58% from the floor including 50% (11/22) from downtown. That said, you can mark it down that poor foul shooting will likely cost this team one or two close games based on what we've seen. I mean, coaches would be insane not to put Dallas on the line late in a game if he were to get the ball deep in the paint and Lighty's sophomore (62%) and shortened junior year (54%) don't exactly instill confidence. Matta will definitely want to keep the ball in the hands of Diebler, Wil Buford and Turner down the stretch of any nail biters.
Defensively, Matta ordered up man to man for most of the night and the Buckeyes held Lipscomb to 43% from the floor while forcing 18 turnovers. Lighty was particularly active with 3 steals with Dallas and Turner adding 3 swats apiece.
One other item to keep an eye on was the apparent benching of Buford. He started the game but played only 22 minutes as he again forced his shot a couple times on the way to a dismal 1/7 night with 2 points and 2 turnovers. Over his last 3 games, Buford is shooting a Ray Charles-esque 8/34 (24%) with many of those attempts coming early in the shot clock or otherwise inopportune times obviously drawing the ire of Matta. Worse, the misses are negatively effecting Buford's already suspect defensive game and I think Matta definitely used tonight to try and get his attention. It will be interesting to see how Buford reacts on Saturday at both ends of the floor.
Comments
I hate our arena. Can't help but wonder if a more energetic crowd would have helped this effort.
yeah...it's probably a little tough to go from playing in MSG to playing in a cavern that's maybe 50% full.
Is there a less energetic arena than the Schott? It's pathetic. Worse than an NBA game.
I have literally played in YMCA pick up games with a rowdier crowd.
It's pretty obvious we need a point guard. I kept thinking how much better we would look with even Lipscomb's point guard on our team.
I love the photo! The caption should read: "The guy can walk, pat his head and rub his pocket AT THE SAME TIME! (Besides recruit someone who stays for four years) is there anything he can't do?
Pretty boy Buford was 1 for 10 shooting. If he is going to go pro after this year he better get something going.
I think it's obvious Buford is not ready for the NBA yet. I hope these kids have learned from past mistakes of other Buckeyes, like Koufos, Mullens and to a certain extent Oden and Conley. Mullens is in the D-League, Koufos is averaging 4.1 minutes a game, Conley is battling to keep his job and Oden is just now starting to come around, 3 years after he left.
Buford will get better as the season goes on, but I don't think he can improve to the degree he needs to in order to get drafted by season's end.
Did Buford get benched because of his performance or because he got hurt? I know he and Lighty smacked into each other but I missed they play where it happened.
This crowd was much better than Alcorn State crowd which was practically silent. My seats were a little different during this game so that could have played into my opinion. The one consistent thing I see with the crowds at the Schott is the women cheering much more often and much louder than the men. The three old guys sitting behind me were too busy chatting about politics and weather while the lady sitting next to me was impressing me with her knowledge of our players and the game while cheering on the Bucks. Now the students that are always there (the dude with the very large hat & co.) are always on their game. When they announced to the crowd over the loud speaker to stand for Hang on Sloopy, I would guess that only 15% of the folks there in attendance actually stood.
How do we fix our crowd issue?
Dude, we were playing Timmy Lipscomb. Other than a few basketball crazy schools, no one would have had 10,000 in the building on a Tuesday night before Thanksgiving.
I'm fine with our crowd in Big 10 games and key non-conference games.
While it'd be nice to have big, rowdy crowds all the time, I'm not too worried about games against Lincecum and St. Frank's.
You fix it by making the lower bowl general admission.
I got my tickets through general admin for this game. I don't think you can't get them for the Big 10 games.
can not can't
I haven't been impressed with our crowd during Big 10 games or key NC games. If you have been impressed with the crowds at the Schott then I have to think your exposure is limited. I'm not trying to be offensive, I'm just surprised any college basketball fan would say that. Watch a Michigan State home game and compare it to our crowd. I know OSU = football school & Sparty = Basketball school....I think that is a lame excuse for our fans not showing up.
It's the seating arrangement. The university would have to foresake a little pocket change to get the students courtside and they aren't willing to do it.
And the Huntington Club people.......I wish you would give your tickets away rather have empty seats.
Well, to be fair, it's tough to pack 'em in for a game played while most of the students are gone against a team most people haven't even heard of. But yeah, St. John's would be better.
Re: The Poll
If I had Jimmy T over for Thanksgiving, do you think he would say:
"Well, gosh, it was very nice of you young folks to invite me to your dinner, which smells, what's the word for it, delicious. I'd like to thank you by giving you a copy of my book, The Winners Manual, where you'll find many life lessons. And please, won't you allow me to do the honor of slicing the turkey, and so forth?"
Yea, the arena sold their soul to get the thing built, too many 30-year PSL's were given out to fund construction.
@Is It Saturday Yet?
A.) I don't have "limited exposure" to other college basketball arenas. At least in the midwest and east coast, I've been to plenty.
Ohio State never is going to have a huge home court advantage because of the arena. I get that. But our crowds are great for the five or six games a year people will attend. I love our Saturday night crowds. Sadly, we play a ton of Sunday afternoon games and those really don't help.
Look back at MSU games since The Schott opened, or Wisconsin in '07 or Michigan in '09. It gets loud.
We're never going to be a basketball school. There's not the passion there from the fans.
I'll take it though.
Top 5/10 in football every year and Top 20 in basketball? No shame there.
I am starting to suffer withdrawl pains from OSU football already. My wife will probably have me commited about Jan 7.
Same here. I'm not into college hoops. This is killing me.
HAHA!! Continued...
"Well when you talk about Thanksgiving dinner and so forth, you better be sure everyone is doing their job. I mean, if the mashed potatoes are missing assignments, well then the gravy just can't get going. You know, when we go over the recipes in the week leading up, you better make sure you cover all the bases, because you've got some really hungry people coming over and they always do an outstanding job of getting to the table and giving it everything they've got, and so forth."
I couldn't agree more.
I said on Friday we've had 21' of Centers leave after just 1 year.
The 7th Circle of Hell awaits us
Or the painfully long offseason if you wanna be less dramatic about it
ughh with baseball even! puke
What wrong with playing PJ at the point? I think we have been over this but he is really the only player that fits. Turner tries to do too much when he is at the point.
If your going to be the #1 overall pick in the NBA draft I don't think thats a bad choice. Had Oden not hurt his knee he would have been a beast from day one. That said Mullens and Koufos had no business going pro.
Buford's problem is he takes bad shots and rarely takes the ball to the hoop. When your shot isn't falling you have to be mature enough to pass or get to the hole. I don't think Buford has the toughness or desire to drive the basketball.