Threebler splashed six triplesAfter 10 years of heartburn, the Big Ten finally broke through in the ACC/BigTen Challenge thanks largely to Jon Diebler's sniper skills as the Buckeyes defeated Florida State 77-64 tonight in the Schott giving the conference a 6-5 series win.
Diebler poured in 22 points thanks to a 6/12 night on triple tries with many of his bombs coming during key Buckeye runs. OSU jumped out to a 12-2 lead on the strength of two Diebler treys and closed the half on a 14-6 run sponsored by two more Diebler threes helping the Bucks to a 31-20 lead at the break. Finally, with OSU leading 40-30 with just under 13 minutes to play, Diebs pumped in his last triple of the night triggering a 14-2 run giving the Bucks a 54-32 cushion that essentially put the game on ice.
Of course, Diebler received plenty of help from the conference's best player as Evan Turner posted his sixth double-double in seven games going off for 25 points (10/17) and 13 boards with 6 dimes taboot. He did have his customary turnover issues (5) as he logged 40 minutes at the point due to Matta using an increasingly short bench (PJ Hill: 0 min) against stiffer competition.
The only reserves to see action played key roles, however, as Jeremie Simmons chipped in 14 points during the final 11 minutes and Kyle Madsen added four points and three boards while battling the Seminole front line. Playing to his strengths, Matta switched from man to zone with Madsen and Simmons on the floor and both defenses worked to perfection as the tired 'Noles struggled to make shots.
For the game, FSU shot 41% thanks to some late garbage buckets but OSU held the 'Noles to just 29% shooting while forcing 13 turnovers against only eight field goals in the decisive first half. Amazingly, the Buckeyes didn't give up a three until Luke Loucks hit a triple with 5:03 to play cutting the OSU lead to 63-47. Ohio State also forced the turnover prone 'Noles into 20 miscues on the night while committing just 12 themselves.
Foul trouble and a stingy D held FSU's Chris Singleton to eight points (3/10) though big man Solomon Alabi posted a 21/10 double double as Dallas Lauderdale and company struggled to box him out on the o-boards and limit his touches in the post. Lauderdale also suffered from foul trouble and managed just two points, two boards and a block in 24 minutes.
David Lighty didn't look to get it going offensively (5 pts, 1/4 FG) but did stuff the sheet with seven boards, four dimes and three steals, albeit with four turnovers.
The only major downer on this night was the WB's continued funk. Wil Buford jacked up 12 shots, hitting only one, to finish with five points and four boards. He took some bad shots but more than anything, he just doesn't appear to have any rhythm and it's gone to his head. Over the last five games, Buford is shooting 25% (14/55) with eight turnovers.
The win moves Ohio State to 6-1 on the season and 3-5 lifetime in the ACC/Big10 Challenge. Next up: Eastern Michigan at high noon Saturday in the Schott.
Comments
I've given diebler a ton of crap over the past few seasons, most of it earned, but he had an excellent game today. if he can keep making threes against legit defenses, he'll finally have lived up to the hype and I'll give in to threeblermania. it's gonna be a looooooonnnggg big ten season though, hope he can keep it up
Congrats to the Bucks on a big bball win. When is the RoseBowl again?!
This was a win that was without a lot to brag about. Diebler and Turner were, as usual, stellar, but Buford is, at this point, a liability and our free-throw shooting is atrocious. It is, though, a "good" win which will be counted in the Bucks' favor come March.
Totally off topic,..but does anyone know who Lamarcus Joyner (big football recruit) chopped off his list this week?--to narrow the possibility to two schools
Surprisingly enough, he eliminated FSU, leaving the final two as us and Florida.
On the ESPN ticker last night, it said he eliminated Notre Dame, leaving Florida, FSU and OSU.
Hell of a win boys.
15-26 from the stripe - that is terrible. lighty was 2-6 and the artist formerly known as will buford went 2-4. even the villan went 4-8.
i think its safe to say that matta needs to run the whole "no one leaves practice until you make 8 out of 10 free throws." it works for middle schoolers.
Corey gets a helmet sticker/Buckeye for his prediction of 76-65. Off by two points!!
Excellent passing against a very long team
I couldn't believe that F$U only had 1 block for the entire game
Probably 30 deflections, however
When is Thad gonna start Simmons and bench Buford until Buford can get his shot selection and stroke in order? Buford is long and plays good D mostly, but he still cant buy a basket.
In my haste to get to bed, I neglected to bitch about the FT shooting but you are dead on. I remember writing last week that OSU will likely lose a couple tight games due to FT shooting woes unless Thad can keep it in Turner/Diebler/Buford hands down the stretch. I know ET and Buford struggled last night but typically they shoot a decent percentage. Dallas and Lighty are the co-mayor's of Brick City.
ESPN is retarded when it comes to recruiting.. these are the guys that thought Pryor would be at Oregon or Michigan.. they were almost ready to put money on it..
the fact is he told a well known OSU insider who published the story that he had eliminated FSU and Notre Dame, both because of uncertainty of the coaches. Immediately the insiders over at FSU were scrambling saying he didn't eliminate FSU, the thought is that he was bombarded and just went back and said "well I didn't say they were completely out of the race" to get people off his back.. can you imagine how many calls/texts and emails he probably got after that story broke..
I think Buford just needs to play through his trouble.. you can tell he is thinking too much, hesitating with his shots.... etc. The worst thing you can do for a guy like Buford right now is to bench him.. he will come out of the dark soon enough...
I'm not sure Matta will bench Buford simply because the slump already seems to be in his head and benching could make it harder for him to snap out of it but there's no doubt Simmons has flourished now that he's back to his natural 2-guard position. Putting him at point last year, in his first year of D-1, was square peg, round hole. And I totally agree about the passing. This team is very unselfish with excellent ball movement. Of course, with 4 perimeter skill-type players on the floor, we should expect it, I guess.
monster D last nite... great game.
Anyone else think Buford's trajectory on his shot is quite a bit flatter this year? Bring back the rainbows!
Kurelic over at Bucknuts posted free content on Blog-O that Joyner texted him saying FSU is definitely still in and only ND has been eliminated
Thanks e-roc, I was pretty shocked myself, but now that I have seen enough games, I feel comfortable in predicting some scores. Too bad the prediction came a few days late, could ahve used that luck in Vegas last weekend.
I really liked the play of Simmons last night, he became that 3rd scorer in the 2nd half that this team will need all season. You could see he was clearly pissed when Thad took him out after just a minute in the first half. Glad he could keep his head in the game and come back productive.
As for Buford, all shooters go through slumps and the easiest way to get out of it, is drive to the basket. He is settling for too many akward jumpers, either fading away or with pressure on him. Thad will get this corrected and he will be a major contributor as the season rolls on. There is no need to bench him though.
Buford makes the same move every time he catches the ball, juke one way then dribble the other. He needs to step up and shoot. Hopefully he will find his stride before the Butler game...
Yes, totally! I remember last year he had an abnormally high arc on his shot. This year, not so much.
I was surprised to read that they had only 12 TO's. Seems like I spent half the night groaning over ET and DL driving into the lane and then telegraphing passes so that FSU gets a steal and an easy lay-up. I found myself continuously yelling "just shoot the ball!" I'd rather have a block in the lane than an intercepted pass on the outside because all of those lead to baskets the other way. The main reason we won the game last night is that FSU apparently has no serious outside threats and of course our defense was stellar. But all the sloppy passing in the lane and the brick-laying at the line has to end. I can understand Lauderdale being a lousy free throw shooter but Lighty has no excuse.
Actually, to OSU's defense, I thought they did well with protecting the ball given FSU's length. Naturally, with Turner playing out of position, the TO numbers my be inflated. This will turn out to be a nice win. Once FSU's offense gets going, they will be a tough customer with all the long arms they have.
AWESOME NIGHT FOR THE BIG TEN!
no thanks to Michigan
a little late, but congrats to Thad for bringing home the win that sealed the conference's first challenge victory. This team is very good and we can expect a decent seed in the tourney (3-4) after finishing in the top 4 in the conference.
Probably not as good as Michigan St or Purdue, but good enough to battle for third. This will be one of the most entertaining conference races, certainly the best in several years. It's nice having a good BB team to fill time until the bowl game
that's why i watch women's pistol. so hot.
Yeah and Kurelic is wrong.. the person who broke the story is probably the most reliable person to get info from and probably the closest to lamarcus in this whole thing... Lamarcus at this point was probably just doing damage control because as soon as the original story broke he probably was getting hit from all angles...
bucknuts is lame