Thad Matta's basketball Buckeyes overcame a sluggish start to take down the Delaware Blue Hens, 76-64, last night in front of what sounded like dozens of raucous fans in Value City Arena.
I wouldn't look for the game tape in Springfield anytime soon – the Buckeyes coughed it up 13 times and shot 41% from the floor marking the first time in six games in which they failed to shoot at least 50% – but they did just enough to move to 11-0 on the young season.
The defense was also suspect at times as perimeter defenders gave up far too many dribble drives but that one chalky dude, Craft's his name, did rack up four steals to become the B1G's third-most prolific thief in its storied history with 276.
The Buckeyes trailed 24-21 midway through the first half before they turned up the defense and closed the half on a 16-2 run to take an insurmountable 37-26 lead at the break.
LaQuinton Ross once again sparked the offense with a game high 19 points on 8/13 from the floor. Ross is now shooting 57% from the field over his last six games, good for 17.7 points per night. His sidekick, Lenzelle Smith Jr., had another solid outing with 14 points and after a modest 3/6 shooting night, he's now hitting at a 57% clip over his last seven outings, reaching double figures in each.
With just two non-conference games left, Ohio State plays just their 2nd game away from the Schott this Saturday night as they take on a Notre Dame squad in the Garden that already sports losses to Indiana State, Iowa and North Dakota State.
Hopefully, the couple days off will give Lenzelle time to heal and track down a new tenderoni:
Smh, body sore AF. A dope girlfriend is at the top of my Christmas list tho..Well after My J's, then A dope GF #SingleAthleteProblems
— Lenzelle Smith, Jr. (@L_ZELLE32) December 19, 2013
Don't you just feel for the kid? #SingleAthleteProblems, indeed.
SAY WUT? Urban Meyer and select members of the football Buckeyes were made available to the media yesterday and some interesting nuggets surfaced after Urbz cleared up any question about whether or not he's interested in the Texas gig, saying he has no intention of leaving Ohio State.
Though he wouldn't tip his hand as to whether or not he'll turn pro, Braxton Miller is confident he's got what it takes to succeed at the next level:
“Am I ready [to play in the NFL]? Oh yeah, of course.”
I admire the man's confidence – and there's no question he's a special college talent – but I still just can't get myself over the hump to think leaving early is the right move for his long-term financial health. Regardless of his talent, the fact remains he has yet to get through a full season without injury and that, coupled with all the injuries we've seen to dual threat guys at the next level, would have to be in the back of the mind of teams potentially vying for his services.
If he leaves after this year, signs a mid-round contract and doesn't stick long-term, that could prove to be a less savvy financial decision than if he returns to Columbus, leads Ohio State for a healthy season and potentially captures a national championship, increasing his draft stock along the way. At least then, even if the NFL doesn't pan out, he can likely earn a better draft slot / contract, hold a college degree, and can come back to Columbus as a deity who would be handed countless business opportunities and never have to pay for another meal as long as he lives.
I support him regardless but I just hope he and his family take a realistic look at how the NFL could pan out. I mean, what are there, maybe 10 legitimately good quarterbacks in the NFL today? It's an incredibly difficult set of job expectations to fulfill even if you do find a way to stay healthy at a level where career-threatening injuries are that much more likely.
Moving on, Meyer again brought up Vonn Bell as someone that could see time in the secondary during the Orange Bowl which is painful to hear because I find it hard to believe the kid has dramatically improved in the last few weeks meaning he could've been making on-the-job freshman mistakes weeks ago. I think we all would've signed up for that scenario versus watching a senior starter make repeated freshman mistakes.
Speaking of the secondary, Meyer confirmed Christian Bryant has applied for a medical redshirt. I don't have to tell you how huge that would be for the 2014 Buckeye defense both from a skill and leadership aspect. Fingers crossed on that one. The NCAA seems to be pretty open-minded in these types of situations but trying to read what they might do is like trying to predict when your significant other will go off about the most trivial of things.
TROUBLE ON THE LEFT COAST? The L.A. Times reported late last night that USC and Washington are looking into allegations that new USC head coach Steve Sarkisian's defensive line coach in Seattle violated NCAA rules by forking out over $4,500 for private tutoring and online classes that would boost the GPA of recruit Andrew Basham.
Tosh Lupoi, who joined Sarkisian's Huskies staff in 2012 after four years at Cal, denied the claim brought forth by Basham's high school shotput coach via text saying, "Well that's certainly false. I deny such allegations of violating NCAA rules w/ the recruitment of Andrew Basham."
What could make things interesting for USC is that these alleged improprieties took place after the NCAA's new head coach responsibility bylaws went into effect which "presumes he (Sarkisian) is responsible for any violation committed by his assistants."
It's way too early to surmise how this might turn out but I can't say I'm sad to hear USC could end up suffering from some collateral damage.
VERNE, BABY, VERNE. Sure, he's an SEC homer but we learned yesterday that Verne Lundquist has game that would make Trent from Swingers (NSFW language) blush.
So, tell us, Uncle Verne, how did you meet your lovely wife?
"We met in a bar, and I hasten to add it was an upscale bar in Dallas. It was a place called Arthur's. I walked in after I did the 10 o'clock news (at WFAA-TV in Dallas) and I didn't want to go home. Nancy and her date were at the bar and her date recognized me from local television and invited me over to have a drink. He introduced me to his date and her name was Nancy Miller. It was their first date, a blind date. So we sat and chatted and her date, Raymond Willie, said to me, "Listen, I know you are single. I'm going to fix you up with a friend of mine and we can all go to dinner." He looked at Nancy and asked her, "What are you doing Thursday night?" She said, "Nothing." He said, "Good, you'll be my date and we'll fix Verne up with this schoolteacher friend of mine and we'll go to dinner." Meanwhile, I'm looking at Nancy thinking she is the prettiest thing I have ever seen in my life. So, Raymond finally left to take care of his business and I asked Nancy, "So, how involved are you with Raymond? She said, "Oh, this is our first date and it's a blind date." So I said, "Well, forget what he is talking about on Thursday night. What are you doing on Saturday night?" She said, "I think I am doing whatever you are doing."
Aaaand boom goes the dynamite.
QUICK CLICKS. OOH KILLEM!, OOH GET BUCKETS!... Just some swans hangin' 10... The right angle... Absurd Creature of the Week... I'll just go straight then... Worst. Motorboat. Ever... White Carlton... Average age of first sex, by country... Just a casual boob-grab on national TV... Don't complain, you can't do better than Coke... Spurrier getting swole at the gym.
