D-Light gets his drive on (AP: LaPrete)Assuring the faithful there would be no hangover effect after two straight wins against ranked foes, Ohio State came out firing in a 76-56 runaway over the Wildcats tonight in the Schott.
The Buckeyes hit 8 of their first 9 shots, assisting on 7, to build a 17-3 lead. The margin would swell to 40-17 at the half as OSU used excellent ball movement to exploit holes along the baseline in Northwestern's 1-3-1 zone assisting on 11 of 14 field goals. At the other end of the floor, Thad continuously rotated defenses from man to zone and combined with sharp intensity and clean switches throughout the shot clock, the Buckeyes forced the off balance Wildcats into 4/22 shooting (18%). Evan Turner and P.J. Hill were especially effective against Michael Thompson, the offensive orchestrator, holding him to just three points (1/5) in the opening 20 minutes. OSU also controlled the glass posting a 21-11 advantage at the break.
Northwestern actually outscored OSU 39-36 in the second half though the Buckeye lead never dipped below 18 allowing Thad to empty the bench down the stretch.
Turner was his usual best player in the conference self threatening a triple double posting 20 points (7/11 FG), 13 boards and 8 assists while locking down Thompson to the tune of 6 points on 2/10 from the floor. The win produced a milestone for The Villain as he became on the second Buckeye (JJ) to reach 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in a career. As expected, Jon Diebler also had a big night against the not-so-athletic Wildcats with 17 points (6/11 FG) and 5 assists. Four of those dimes came in the first half as he unselfishly made the extra pass on a triple by Hill, looked inside feeding Dallas Lauderdale for two alley oops and hit Wil Buford on the baseline for a nasty throwdown.
Speaking of Buford, the smooth stroke from Toledo scored all 8 of this points in the first half and played just 22 minutes total as Thad gave the bench some minutes once the game was in hand. Down low, Lauderdale was the beneficiary of sick passing producing a perfect night from the floor (6/6) and a career high 14 points to go along with 6 boards in 20 minutes. David Lighty never really got into the offensive flow scoring 7 points (2/5) with 3 dimes against 3 turnovers.
For the game, OSU shot a stellar 52% and initiated the action all night contributing to a 15/20 night from the stripe. The Buckeyes also won the battle of the boards 32-25 against a team that nearly doubled up Purdue on the glass in their last outing. The rotating defense held Northwestern to 38% from the floor.
The win moves Ohio State to 14-5 overall and to 4-3 in conference play as they prepare for possible revenge at #12 West Virginia on Saturday.
Comments
It's absolutely incredible how just Turner's presence alone creates so many more opportunities for everyone else (ahem...Diebler). I traded texts with a fellow Buckeye and said his nickname should be extended to The Villain Angel. TVA for short.
Sounded better before, but I think we can still get it to stick. Titus can start pimping it after he cools down from that single minute he posted.
The Villian is on the verge of surpassing Jimmy Jackson in my book, but the frustrating thing is I miss half the games due to a lack of BTN in my area. That and the new Super Mario Bros on the Wii.
FWIW the old man in my neighborhood who has 6 different Oregon hats (I run into him when I run sometimes) is now wearing a Virginia Tech Chick -fil-a champs hat...I was thrilled when I saw that today.
no love for the perfect Trillion? come on!! Trillion Man March rolls on!!!!
Great game but the schott was dead quiet all night. I think the loudest cheer that I heard was when Titus finally got into the game!
Three straight games of domination. I hope it continues in Morgantown. I think the B10 may be a two horse race. With the Villain back on all cylinders (even though he says only 90%) I like the Bucks chances to contend with Sparty for the conference crown. I hope the Bucks get more national coverage during the season. ET definitely deserves some love for the Naismeth. And what is up with the crowd at the VCA. Was it Great-Grandparents night? The crowd enthusiasm was almost embarrassing. At some point Thad's boys may need a pick-me-up from the crowd. I hope it is there at that critical moment.
I sometimes get to sit in the old folk's section on my grandparent's seats. It is just amazing to me how people who
a) Give tons of money every year to the school.
b) Know every bit of buckeye trivia going back decades.
c) Show up for almost every game - at least the first half.
d) Have more scarlet and gray in their houses than you see at Buckeye Corner.
and
e) Will talk to you about almost nothing *but* OSU sports related stuff
can sit on their hands not cheer once through the entire game! I just don't *get* that kind of fan.
it's downright brutal. i mean the student section can only carry an arena for so long. how many times did the schott have an opportunity to erupt tonight? bufford had like, what, 3 driving tomahawks?? turner had two downright nasty drives that no human should be allowed to make and finishing both with killer dunks...lauderdale had his share of slams. there were 1 or 2 killer threes late. and not to mention the villian's absolute posterization of some poor bench warmer near the end [i was 3rd row in the student section behind that basket and i just lost it]. and yet free t-shirts are the only thing that gets people out of their seats. maybe we should pass out jagerbombs to everyone as they walk in or just drop t-shirts from the roof all game long...
yeah, and this one was a True Trillion, one minute of PT and no stats. great job mark
henderson's got a kickass dad, also lol at the editing at the very end of the video
The way it is and the way it will be until changes are made. When watching on TV, I sometimes wonder if they use cardboard cutouts like in the movies to make it look like there is a crowd. There is very little movement or noice coming from those folks on the sides, close to the floor.
Looks like this team has made a commitment to defense since that Wisconsin game. This might have been the best game they've played in 2 years.
he almost had a steal
I was at the game, stuck all the way up in the 300 section with tons of awesome open seats. The loudest it got was when the ball got stuck. Seriously. Me and the guy behind me where the only loud people in the entire section we were sitting in. Sad.
If companies are buying these seats and aren't using them can't they sell them to me? Can't the university reach out to them and resell the tickets for them so they don't lose money? There were some great seats open all night.
Titus will be on ESPN 2 @ 10 per Lori Schmidt:
LoriSchmidt RT @ESPN_Michelle Titus rules! RT @jaycrawfordespn: OSU hoopster/Club Trillion blogger Mark Titus on at 10am ESPN 2!!!
Not much to get amped on when you lead the game by 20 the whole time.
Anybody know where you can find the highlight of Turner going behind his back then crossing over the dude for the lay up in the 2nd half?
They play some really bad music and really good music during warm-ups and half time. Anyone know where I can find the play list? It was fun to see an edited version of the Rainmaker played during halftime on the center board.
Almost......
ET is Mr. Double-Double to me
Buford, in his limited time, again looked "quick" with his powerful moves to the basket. Nice to see some energy out of him. On the flip side, Jeremie Simmons (in relief of Buford) seemed to be a black hole, jacking up shots just about every time he touched the ball (most were somewhat open, but he just wasn't on). Solid team performance, though a few too many fancy behind the back passes without enough on them for my taste. Bring on WVU!
I second that motion. I got there about halfway into the first half, asked for a student ticket for one, and the best seat for which a ticket is still available is in Section 334 Row U. Row U is the top ring of the arena.
There are multiple empty seats below me. I fear for falling down from the steep incline and hurting myself with no one to catch me in the next eight to ten rows.
I'm thinking it's time to crack down on ticket reselling.
I had a feeling Dallas was going to have a great game.
where's the "Buford sucks/is soft" guy now?
Exactly. WB has stepped up big time ever since ET went down. His rebounding and passing have been stellar. Great to see.
There wasn't a real need to get "amped" last night. It was 17-3 right out of the chute.
I'm just disappointed with our home schedule as a whole ... the only real big home game left this year is Purdue ... and that game starts at 6:30 p.m. ... on a Wednesday