A much needed sight for sore Buckeye eyes.Evan Turner stuck to his word from a few weeks ago and returned to action Wednesday night in Ohio State's 79-54 win over the Hoosiers.
The Villain actually started the game and Thad had no idea how much he would play before hand, but the refs would take care of that worry for him, whistling Turner for 2 fouls in the first 9 minutes of the game. As per Thad's philosophy, he wouldn't return until after halftime, finishing with 3 points, 2 boards and an assist in the half.
After Indiana scored the first bucket with ease, causing Thad to call time out and blow a gasket on the sidelines, the Bucks turned up the intensity and went on to outscore the Hoosiers, 31-6 over the next 16 minutes, including a 21-2 run that built the 23-point lead, which was fueled by Turner's replacement, PJ Hill.
Hill had 7 points and 3 assists during the run, connecting on a 3-pointer and hitting 4 of 6 free throws, while Wil Buford also had 7 during the spurt. The Hooisers woke up for the last 5 minutes, at least Christian Watford and Vardell Jones III did, combining to score Indiana's last 12 points, as the Buckeyes entered halftime with a lead of 38-20
Buford finished the half with 9 points, while Diebler added 7 and Simmons 6. Ohio State shot 48% from the field, to Indiana's 26 (5/19) and the bench outscored Indiana's 17-2. For the Hoosiers, Watford lead the way with 8 points, but had 6 of their 14 first half TO's. Jeremiah Rivers made that infamous first bucket and finished with 6 boards, 3 assists and 4 TO's.
The second half got a little sloppy, as Ohio State opened with a 14-6 run before the first TV timeout and eventually built the lead to 29 and held a healthy 20+ point lead the rest of the way. Even though the entire roster saw action in the second, the Buckeye managed to score 41 points, in comparison to the 38 in the first half.
No one was more excited ET was back than Jon Diebler, who took advantage of the space Turner creates and hit 5 of 8 bombs en route to a 21 point performance. Diebler scored in double digits twice (Pres. and Michigan) in Turner's absence and wasn't able to get off more than 10 shots, except for the previously mentioned games. Diebler ended the night 6 of 10 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the line, to go along with 3 boards and 3 steals.
Buford continued his stellar play, connecting on 6 of 11 shots and all 3 free throws in 31 minutes. He ended the night with 16 points, 6 boards and 3 assists, but also lead the team with 4 TO's. Remember, Buford was in a bit of a shooting slump for half of Turner's first 8 games, but has since scored in double digits 8 straight games. Like Turner, Lighty got into some early foul trouble and played 21 minutes on the night, going for 6 points and 4 boards, while Lauderdale helped with 5 points and 5 caroms.
PJ Hill and Jeremie Simmons ended the night with 9 and 8 respectively in a combined 41 minutes of play. Hill really brought some good energy off the bench and forced the action early, which lead to his 8 FT attempts on the night. Simmons also showed an aggressiveness towards the rack and ended the night 3 of 4 from the line, helping the Bucks make 23 of their 32 FT attempts.
As for Turner, he didn't looked slowed by the injury at all, playing 20 minutes. He ended the night 2 of 5 from the floor and 4 of 6 from the stripe, good for 8 points, to go along with 4 boards and 5 assists. I don't know if I can recall the importance of 1 player to a team in recent history. I know Indiana is bad, but the Buckeyes look like a completely different and more confident team with Turner on the floor. You could actually see the Hoosier defenders backing up when Turner brought the ball up the court and the pressure he puts on the defense opens up the entire floor and allows others to get their's. Hopefully the swagger will follow up to Minnesota this Saturday.
Vardell Jones III lead the Hoosiers with 22 points, as the Buckeyes held them to 34 percent from the floor and 22.2 percent from deep. Tom Crean has a super young squad, which was evident from the 23 TO's they committed, against their 9 assists. In fact, they had more TO's than FG's made (23 v. 18).
As for OSU, they were over 50 percent shooting for most of the second half, but a huge lead can cause sloppy play and they finished the night making 24 of 52 shots, good for 46 percent, including 8 of 19 from deep. They did assist on 16 of those made FG's and were outboarded 32-31. The only negative was their 15 TO's, but that can be chalked up to excitement from Turner's return and the huge lead.
The Bucks take it to the road again this Saturday, facing the Gophers at 3:30 in the Old Barn. The Gophers had won 7 straight, before being upended by 19 against Purdue on Tuesday. The Buckeyes struggle on Minny's home floor, but with Turner coming back a few weeks early, the excitement level for the game is raised, as the Bucks look to even their mark at 2-2 in the conference.
Comments
despite only having 3 points, ET looked pretty good, along with the other buckeyes. It was good to have him back.
it never ceases to amaze me how sterile and quiet the schott is. even with the villian returning during our first home game of the big ten schedule against a traditional rival, it felt like a ghost town. long live st john.
go bucks.
Rose Bowl Video - Goosebumps!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
I am beginning to dislike Herbstreit a little more each year..... he has forgotten his roots. Kirk, if you love the SEC so much, then sell your house in Columbus, pack up your OSU Cheerleader wife and 2 kids and move to Knoxivlle, Louisville, Baton Rouge, Gainsville, etc.
"The SEC is the best conference," ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit said yesterday. "But I do sense just from a fan's perspective once you get outside the region, it is the SEC versus the world."
You bring up an interesting point. I am disappointed at Kirk because it's almost like he doesn't want to represent OSU. I understand he has to be bipartisan but at least Desmond Howard still shows Michigan love, regardless of how terrible they are.
http://www.waitingfornextyear....
This was posted on here by someone else. I think Herbie has to say things like SEC is the best conference when he is employed by eSECpn and all.........and he has to be a closet homer as does Eddie and any others.
Kirk is just playing the game. He's looking at those fat paychecks coming into his bank account and thats all that matters...
Perhaps most importantly Titus got a 2 trillion.
Louisville is home to which SEC team exactly?
[...] [...]
Why don't you like Herbie? because he says the SEC is the best conference? He's either telling the truth or expressing his opinion. Either way I agree with him, at least at the top, Florida and Alabama are the top #1 and #2 teams from any conference. The big ten came back some this year but who would be better than the sec right now? Northwestern was our #4 team and lost, barely, to the sec #6 or #7 team. The beg ten will not be billed as THE top conference until one of its teams take out an SEC team at the top level. For whatever reason the middle of the road bowls like outback and capital one don't count. Hell on ESPN after the Rose Bowl the article comments still had people saying OSU didn't beat an SEC team. If you listen to Herbie on the radio in Columbus he's a huge buckeye homer, when he's on gameday/espn he's impartial, fans just see it as a slight when it's really not.
Sometimes he comes off as anti-OSU...I understand he has a job to do, whatever.
More importantly, who(as in alum), was at the game?
i wasn't aware that herbie's job was to be a paid on-air cheerleader for OSU. perhaps he expressed this opinion not because he 'loves the SEC' but maybe because ... i don't know ... he thinks it's the best conference?
incidentally, which conference, if not the SEC, would get your vote for the best? just because you don't want to hear it doesn't make it any less true. obviously the hype and slobbering can get out of hand, but i would like to hear a coherent argument for another conference.
I get what you are saying, but Herbie dresses his kids in Buckeye jerseys. He is ESPNs guy when it comes to college football. He has to distance himself somehow. It really is a catch 22 for Herbie.
I used to get that feeling watching Robert Smith.
Northwestern wasn't our #4 team--OSU, Iowa, PSU, Wisconsin, in that order.
Absolutely... no emotion at all when OSU wins the Rose Bowl--- no excitement in his voice on the call...... When Bob Griese called his kids games, he at least told everyone how proud he was of his son and how much he wanted him to succeed. Kirk could handle this the same way, OSU is his child and he is rooting for his kids to do well.
forgive me ..... I meant to Write Lexington
I think Kirk is compensating for his grandiose proclamations about the Big Ten from 2006. He was vilified for his rematch calls in many parts of the country, and probably feels like he has to undo some damage.
He's probably overdoing it, but I think he has his reasons.
They are all compensating for the 4letter's billion dollar contract with the SEC.
I think SEC has a legitimate argument for having the two best teams in the country, should Alabama convincingly beat Texas (Bama and UF). But this year at least, the Big 10 is the best conference, beating 4 teams in the top 15, all as underdogs. Show me another conference that did that, and I'll gladly defer.
The idea of some monolithic BEST CONFERENCE EVER is stupid because things change each year, sometimes abruptly, as was the case in the Big 10 this year.
I thought he had like 4 kids by now.
Forgiven
That will ALWAYS trump a win
i'm thinking that the point is that they are the best conference this year.
also, the SEC has wins over 4 teams that finished AP top 13. no , they did not do those all 'as underdogs' ... maybe because, i dunno, they were better than those teams. next argument?
back to basketball. that was the worst indiana team i've ever seen take the court. sampson has done tremendous damage to that program and it will be years before they recover. hopefully, creen can get some blue chip recruits in soon. it is remarkable how much better turner makes this team. they are bad without him and very dangerous with him. no doubt to me that he is the mvp of the league. i also agree that buford has been better, but he's still a little too casual at times, (throwing the ball away twice at the end of the half) and doesn't seen to really get after it on defense. having lighty and turner as teammates should inspire him to elevate his defense. he would be a much more complete player if he follows their example. let's hope they can get a win in minn.