Eleven Warriors

The Buckeyes return to the NCAA tournament as a #8 seed after a one year layoff and will face the #9 seed Siena Saints Friday evening in Dayton.

Siena finished 26-7 and capped off their second-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship with a 77-70 victory over Niagara to win the MAAC tourney for the 2nd year in a row.

The Saints played some heavies close (7 point loss in Lawrence, 13 point loss at Pitt) and if you've read anything at all about this pairing since it was announced, you know that as a 13 seed last season, they put a hurting on fourth-seeded Vandy in the first round of the tournament. The hero of that upset was guard Kenny Hasbrouck and his 30 points. He's still around.

If there is any good news heading into this tricky matchup, it's that the Saints are relatively small up front. As in 6-5, 6-8 and 6-6. But roster breakdowns will be forthcoming. What about Siena? Where is it, are there any hotties that count themselves as alums, etc.?

Siena is a small, Catholic (Franciscan flavor) university located just outside of Albany in Loudonville, New York. A comparison to Capital University could be made, but Capital is larger (3,800 undergrads to 2,900) and about 100 years older.

With just 150 staff members, the faculty is smaller than the staff of the Buckeye athletic department. Their home court looks like something straight out of Hoosiers and the online presence for the student newspaper, The Promethean, is updated just once a month. But not too small to have their own radio station (with the badass call letters WVCR) or to rock out Twitter. Oh, and then there are the 18 Division I sports the school supports.

The list of notable alumni is rather sparse, with more than a few going into politics or careers within the Catholic church. There is one hottie on the list, albeit a fictional one.

Though not a graduate, 21st president Chester A. Arthur lies in rest at Albany Rural Cemetery, literally a stone's throw away from Siena's campus. Arthur, of course, was the first real diva to inhabit the White House. He was known as "Elegant Arthur" and was rumored to have kept more than 80 pairs of pants in his wardrobe and changed several times a day. And mad points to him for being the only president to trot fur out for his official portrait.

But back to Siena. Tickets go on sale at 10am for $75 per seat. With the Buckeyes playing in the late game Friday, it's a great opportunity for fans to make the short trip over to Dayton in support of The Villain and gang. After all, how many tournament games can you travel to without having to take the day of work off?

Buckeye fans will need to show up as Siena legend has it that 10 whole busloads of students traveled to North Carolina to witness the team's upset of Stanford in the opening round of the 1989 tournament.

Depending on how confident you are, the purchase of tickets for Friday also brings an automatic charge for tickets to Sunday's 2nd round game against Louisville.

What seed, against who and where. We're about to find out.

Also, we know there's not a chance of it happening, but if there is a Flying Spaghetti Monster, he'll see to it that the Wolverines get robbed.

After wins over Wisconsin and Michigan State propelled the Buckeyes into the conference tournament final, they ran out of gas late falling 65-61 to Purdue.

The Buckeyes led for much of the early going but their last lead came at 41-40 with 12:33 remaining thanks to a 12-2 Purdue run. E'Twaun Moore buried three triples during the stretch as guys like Madsen failed to rotate and cover the shooter.

Trailing 58-49 with 5:49 left, the Buckeyes tightened up defensively forcing the Boilers to miss eight consecutive shots while Evan Turner made one last push scoring five of OSU's six points cutting the deficit to 58-55 with 1:33 left.

Our old nemesis Ed Hightower failed to whistle Robbie Hummel for over the back on the ensuing Purdue possession and the Boilers promptly delievered the knockout punch in the form of a Keaton Grant triple giving Purdue a 61-55 lead with :47 left.

While the no-call hurt, Purdue again proved they are a much deeper team than the Buckeyes and their second half performance earned the tournament title.

Evan Turner led the Buckeyes with 22 points and 10 boards while Wil Buford and Jon Diebler added 15 apiece. The rest of the squad basically forgot to show up though I'll give P.J. Hill a bit of love for dropping five dimes.

The bigs, however turned in one of their most frustrating "efforts" to date. Lauderdale allowed himself to be tied up for a quick but correct jump ball call late in the second half and Mullens looked like he was only interested in making sure he didn't get injured and negatively impact his draft status. Madsen also stunk it up defensively making me wonder if he and Moore are step-brothers.

Whatever. This team accomplished more in this tourney than most thought plausible. Let's hope it has an impact on seeding because anything less than a six seed has me thinking one and done - of course it's all about matchups so we'll see how it shakes out in the next hour.

Either way, it's good to be back in the dance.

Ohio State 22-9, 12-8 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

March 15, 2009 3:30 PM ET - CBS —— Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN

#24 Purdue 24-9, 13-7 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

For the third time in four years, the Buckeyes will play for the Big Ten Tournament title. They were successful capturing the crown 2 years ago, but lost to Iowa 3 years ago.

Everyone expected Purdue in this position before the season started and even tough they stumbled down the stretch a little, they still have one of the most talented teams in the conference now that Hummel is back healthy.

Purdue hasn't been to the title game since 1998, a feat Ohio State has pulled off 5 times in that span. The game will be played about 45 minutes from the Purdue campus, so a partisan crowd is to be expected.

#	Name	PTS	REB	ASST	POS	#	Name	PTS	REB	ASST
4	PJ Hill	3.1	1.4	1.7	G	23	Lewis Jackson	5.8	2.4	3.4
33	Jon Diebler	11.3	3.5	2.5	G	3	Chris Kramer	5.1	2.8	2.5
21	Evan Turner	16.9	6.9	3.9	F	33	E'Twuan Moore	13.8	4.8	3.1
44	William Buford	11.2	3.7	1.1	F	4	Robbie Hummel	12.8	6.8	1.9
52	Dallas Lauderdale	4.6	3.5	0.2	C	25	JuJuan Johnson	13.1	5.7	0.7

Opponent

Purdue has been a tricky team to figure out lately. They thrashed the Buckeyes by 25 just a couple of weeks ago, but then lost to Northwestern and MSU to close out the season. They have easily won their first two games of the tourney, taking down Penn State by 14 and building a 20 point halftime lead on Illinois, before beating them by 10. In those games, Purdue has hit 19 threes and committed just 10 turnovers.

The Boilermakers come in scoring 65.7 points a game, on 45 percent shooting overall and 35 percent from deep. Matt Painter will rotate up to 8 guys today, with Keaton Grant and Marcus Green leading the way off the bench.

Robbie Hummel seems to be feeling much better these days and with him healthy, this is a different Purdue team. Hummel is battling Evan Turner for the tourney MVP, going for 39 points and 17 boards thus far. JaJuan Johnson had a quiet first round game, but he went for 20 yesterday and if you've forgotten, he torched OSU for 30 points in Cbus and 12 at Purdue.

Buckeye Breakdown:

It's been a great weekend hasn't it? This is the Ohio State team we have expected from the beginning, playing with intensity, rebounding consistently, driving to the lane and covering up the 3-point shooter. Every single player has stepped up their game this weekend and you can bet that 25 point loss to Purdue is still fresh in their minds, especially since they gave up in the 2nd half after numerous calls were missed.

Again, all of us know what the Buckeyes need to do in order to bring home their 2nd title in 3 years, so I want to take a moment to point out another spectacular coaching job by Thad Matta. For me personally, I don't know how anyone can question this guy's recruiting philosophy or his coaching. In the last 4 seasons, OSU has played in 8 different tournaments (B10, NIT, Pre-season NIT, NCAA), going to the finals 6 times and winning 3 of them. This will be Thad's 6th conference tournament final in his 9 years as a head coach, he is 4-1 in his previous 5 title games.

In the last 2 years, he has lost 5 players that should be in his current rotation; Eric Wallace, Kosta Koufos, David Lighty, Nicola Kecman and Nappy Crater, but yet her we are, playing for another title. Thad is 127-44 at OSU, only 7 NCAA teams have a better record over the last 3 years and his teams are 113-5 when leading with 5:00 left in the game. In time, I hope all Buckeye fans appreciate what he has done for Ohio State hoops, as I have said before, the year before he arrived OSU was 13-16.

I'm sticking with no predictions this weekend, it has worked thus far, but for what it's worth I still have that gut feeling Evan Turner is not going to let OSU lose and will be named B10 Turnerment MVP.

Etc

• This is the first time a 5 seed has reached the B10 finals.
• Ohio State's 82 points yesterday was the first time any team has scored 80+ points in the B10 tournament, since Indiana beat OSU 84-69 in the 2004 first round.
• Jim Nantz and Clark Kellog will call the game again for CBS and don't be surprised to see Ed Hightower in the striped shirt.

Ohio State placed four in double figures led by Evan Turner's 18 as Matta's crew ran away from Michigan State 82-70 this afternoon in Indianapolis.

Turner's second half explosion (18 pts, 6 reb, 2 asst) earned some MVP chants late while his teammates stepped up en masse. The biggest contributions came from Jon Diebler (17 pts, 5 reb), Wil Buford (14 pts, 9 reb) and B.J. Mullens (12 pts, 5 reb).

The collective effort at point guard was also serviceable, against POY Kalin Lucas no less, with P.J. Hill notching six points and four dimes and Jeremie Simmons chipping in eight points. The combined 14 points from "Hill-mons" fell short of Lucas' 17 but the juco duo dished out six assists compared to one for Lucas. Hmmm...

Surprisingly, Ohio State seized control early unleashing a 14-3 run over seven minutes turning a 12-9 deficit into a 23-15 cushion with 6:41 left in the first half. Diebler and Simmons sparked the run with five points each while the mostly zone defense held MSU to 1/10 during the stretch with five turnovers.

Sharty would trim the lead to a point twice late in the half but would get no closer than five the rest of the day thanks to hot shooting and tough defense out of Ohio State.

The Buckeyes simply dominated the action shooting 53% from the floor including 56% from deep (9/16) while the zone held Izzo's boys to 3/21 from long range (14%) and 38% overall. OSU also came up large at the stripe hitting 79% (23/29) yielding a 10 point differential from the line.

As usual, it was a tough day on the offensive boards as OSU surrendered 17 o-caroms against just five of their own but they made plays down the stretch and converted 11/14 free throws over the final five minutes to seal the deal.

For all the shots Matta's taken this year, the zone certainly paid off today and he once again has his team playing its best basketball when it matters most. OSU has now won four in a row and five of the last six, surely improving their seed along the way.

The Buckeyes await the Illinois/Purdue winner with tip off scheduled for 3:30 and Matta looking for his second conference tournament title in three years. Good stuff.

Ohio State 21-9, 11-8 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

March 14, 2009 1:40 PM ET - CBS —— Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN

#6 Michigan State 26-5, 16-3 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

"It's tough to beat a team three times in a season", has become one of the most used cliche's during playoff/tournament time, we can only hope it holds true today.

These two haven't faced each other since late January, after playing twice in a 17 day span. Michigan State took both of those contest by an average of 10 points, 67-58 in East Lansing and 78-67 in Columbus.

I have a funny feeling we are going to see Ed Hightower in stripes today, so he could become a factor in this game as well. If he lets them play, the Bucks can't allow themselves to get pushed around by the more physical Spartans.

#	Name	PTS	REB	ASST	POS	#	Name	PTS	REB	ASST
4	PJ HIll	3.0	1.4	1.6	G	1	Kalin Lucas	14.7	2.2	4.5
33	Jon Diebler	11.1	3.4	2.5	G	5	Travis Walton	5.1	2.5	3.4
21	Evan Turner	16.9	6.8	3.9	F	2	Raymar Morgan	11.0	5.8	1.3
44	William Buford	11.1	3.5	1.1	F	10	Delvon Roe	6.0	5.4	0.9
52	Dallas Lauderdale	4.5	3.6	0.2	C	14	Goran Suton	9.5	7.6	1.3

Opponent

Michigan State lead the league in scoring at 67 points a game, winning their conference games by an average of 8.4 points. The Spartans lead the Big Ten in FG attempts, connecting on 44 percent overall and 34 percent from deep. It should come at no surprise that Izzo's team lead the league in FT attempts and makes as well, going to the line 54 more times than 2nd place Purdue and 108 more times than the Bucks. Again with a possible Hightower sighting, it is going to come down to the charity stripe.

The Spartans out rebounded OSU 35-19 during the game in Cbus, including a 16-3 advantage on the offensive glass, which lead to 15 more FG attempts. During conference play, MSU never let an opponent outrebound them, which lead to astonishing +11.3 margin on the glass. The Buckeyes must not pick up cheap fouls going over the backs of Sparty.

Tom Izzo still loves to sub and will use a 9-10 man rotation in today's game. Super-sub Chris Allen lead the way yesterday with 17, but Durell Summers and Marquise Gray will also contribute.

Buckeye Breakdown:

I think we saw a different Ohio State team yesterday, one that played with the tenacity needed for a Turner-ment run. Lauderdale and Simmons stepped up their games and I was happy to see an emphasis on getting to the rim, one aspect that has to continue this afternoon.

I'm keeping the preview brief here today, most of us know what the Buckeyes need to do in order to pull out this win and advance to the conference title game. If they match their intensity level of yesterday and a couple more players contribute (Mullens and Diebler), there is no reason why the Bucks can't win.

Etc

• Buford had 17 and Mullens 16 in the East Lansing game.
• Ohio State won for the first time all year when they trail at the 5:00 mark, erasing that 54-47 deficit. They are 19-1 when they lead at that mark.

Even before today's 61-57 victory over Wisky it appeared the Buckeyes were on the inside looking out.

Afterward, there's no doubt the Buckeyes are headed back to March Madness after a one year layoff.

Evan Turner led the way once again with 19 points and Ohio State used a 14-3 run to secure a date with Michigan State tomorrow at 1:40pm.

Regardless of what happens versus MSU, the Buckeyes got what they'd been looking for - balanced contribution - as virtually everyone stepped at one point or another.

Running through the game with Corey over some barley soda's, there was much to take away including:

• Dallas Lauderdale emerged from the milk carton to add eight points, five rebounds and four blocks.
• Matta switching to the press with OSU down 54-47 with 6:03 to play helping jump start the decisive 14-3 Ike.
• Jon Diebler coming through with two clutch triples including a deep dagger putting OSU in front 55-54 with 2:25 remaining.
• P.J. Hill getting to the line 11 times (hitting 7) while fellow PG Jeremie Simmons added 10 points in 16 minutes.
• Wil Buford hit a couple big buckets early in the second half as OSU struggled to score.

The much maligned zone also did its job holding Wisconsin to 36% from the floor, 31% from deep, while holding the Badgers to zero field goals over the final 6:03.

Logic says the Spartans will be ready to play tomorrow but it better be a genuine desire to play or else the Buckeyes might steal one. You gotta like Thad's post-season record, at the very least.

We're keeping it brief tonight since Matta's crew takes the court less than 16 hours. Stay tuned...

Ohio State 20-9, 10-8 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

March 13, 2009 2:25 PM ET - ESPN —— Conseco Fieldhouse Indianapolis, IN

Wisconsin 19-11, 10-8 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

The higher seeds sailed through the first round yesterday, setting up what should be a great day of Big Ten basketball, as the top 8 teams battle for the automatic bid.

Ohio State is 5-2 in their last 3 conference tournaments, going to the finals in 2006 and 2007. They were the 5 seed last year as well, falling to Michigan State 67-60 in the first round.

Wisconsin is 10-5 in the tourney under Bo Ryan, taking home the title last year and appearing in 4 of the last 5 championship games.

#	Name	PTS	REB	ASST	POS	#	Name	PTS	REB	ASST
4	PJ Hill	2.8	1.4	1.6	G	12	Jason Bohannon	10.2	3.1	1.7
33	Jon Diebler	11.2	3.4	2.5	G	3	Trevon Hughes	11.9	3.2	2.9
21	Evan Turner	16.8	6.9	3.9	F	1	Marcus Landry	12.7	4.5	1.7
44	William Buford	11.1	3.5	1.1	F	45	Joe Krabbenhoft	8.8	6.7	2.6
52	Dallas Lauderdale	4.4	3.6	0.2	C	30	Jon Leuer	9.2	3.9	0.8

Opponent

The Badgers come in scoring 63.3 points a game in league play, while holding opponents to 58.4 points. Their defense has clamped down since their 6 game skid in January, allowing more than 30 points in a half just twice over the last 9 games. Whisky shoots 44 percent from the floor, while defending at the same clip.

Of course Wisconsin took down OSU, 55-50 a few weeks ago at the Kohl Center, a game that featured 8 ties and 17 lead changes. The Badgers bullied the Bucks inside, to the tune of 15 offensive boards and 17 more shots, but their is no doubt the Buckeyes could have pulled it out.

Bo Ryan will stick to close to a 7 man rotation, playing 4 of his starters over 30 minutes and bringing in Tim Jarmusz and Jordan Taylor off the bench. The Badgers have balanced scoring, but as Bucky's 5th Quarter points out, none of them are game ending go to guys, leading him to fear a 59-57 Buckeye upset over his Badgers.

Buckeye Breakdown:

I know some of you don't give this team much of a chance, because of their youth, inconsistency and the fact none of the players have a B10 tournament win. But Thad is one hell of a tournament coach and Evan Turner is the league's best player, a perfect combination for a 3 day run.

Turner went for 23 against the Badgers the first time around and any type of help from his teammates in the second half would have lead to a victory. Remember, Diebler and Simmons combined for 2 points the entire game, while Buford, Lauderdale and Mullens had just 5 points in the second.

I discussed yesterday what the Bucks must do in order to have a chance for the win. Anything can happen this time of year and I hesitate to make a prediction, but every time I think about this game and this tournament, a dominate Evan Turner keeps coming to mind. Something tells me he is going to put on a show, so get your popcorn.

Etc

• Brent, Slick Steve and Erin Paigeviews are doing the telecast.
• Eric Wallace (DePaul) and Anthony Crater (USF) transferred to schools that went a combined 4-32 in Big East play.

It's going to take a lot of luck and some damn good play, if Ohio State is going to make a run in the B10 tournament.

At times they have shown flashes of brilliance and the potential to pull off an improbable run, but the problem has been sustaining that level of play for a full 40 minutes.

Adding to the difficulty, Michigan State (8-1) and Wisconsin (7-2) are the two hottest teams over the last nine games.

However, Thad is 13-2 in the past 2 postseasons and if he is to win another tournament, the Buckeyes must shore up the following areas.

The Buckeyes must get inside scoring. If BJ is set to leave after this year, then this is his chance to improve his draft stock. I have said before, Mullens has seemed disinterested since the end of January, whether it's from a lack of touches or a fear of the late season, pre-NBA injury. Over the last 10 games, BJ has averaged 8.7 points and 5.4 boards, hardly the sign of an NBA lottery pick. While OSU doesn't need a Koufos-like NIT run, anything close to a double-double is a necessity. Lauderdale and Madsen must combine for at least 8 points and help put some pressure on the opponents' bigs.

Minimize the opponents offensive rebounds. It is just an accepted fact that Ohio State's zone defense is going to give up more than its fair share of O-boards. The opposition had at least 10 offensive boards in 12 of 18 conference tilts, leading to 102 more FG attempts and a 6-6 record in those games. Wisconsin and Michigan State combined to grab 45 of their own misses against the Bucks, leading to 28 more shots over the three games. Boxing out must be a group effort this weekend.

Guard the 3-point shooter. As Bob Baptist pointed out in his last OSU Insider, the last 6 opponents have made 43.4 percent of their 3 pointers, attempting 47 percent of their shots from there and making no fewer than 9 treys. In B10 play, the Bucks gave up 158 bombs on 411 attempts, easily leading the conference.

Get penetration into the paint from the guards. Jeremie Simmons, PJ Hill and Jon Diebler must drive the rock into the lane in order to put pressure on the defense. Good things will happen if they can get penetration; BJ and Dallas can slip open under the rim, they can force a foul or kick it out to the open shooter. The three have combined for just 24 assists over the last 4 games and too often settle for hot potato around the perimeter.

Give the ball to Turner early and often. ET was not going to let Ohio State lose either one of those games last week and it was a great move by Thad to put the ball in his hands for the stretch run. He should have a chip on his shoulder, after being passed over for the POY award earlier this week and needs to get it going from the start. Turner shot just over 50 percent on the season and lead the conference in FT makes and attempts. The tournament setting is a great chance for a player such as Evan to get into a zone and carry his team for a 72 hour stretch.

Play in the tournament starts today at noon, when Minnesota takes on Northwestern. Regardless of how the Buckeyes fare, this should be another dynamic Big Ten tournament, with all but two teams having a chance to make some noise.

After having the chance to interview Jamie Wood, Carlos Hyde, and Jordan Hall, we get the chance to move back over to the defensive side of the ball, as we sat down with John Simon (or "All Flannel Tops" as he is affectionately known around here) of Youngstown Cardinal Mooney.

Simon was one of the first to sign onto the Class of 2009 and chose the Bucks over offers from Notre Dame, Illinois, Nebraska, Stanford,and Pittsburgh, among others. John is listed at 6-3/285 and with most of that 285 pounds consisting of pure muscle, he seems to be ready to compete at the college level as a true freshman. The Buckeyes are certainly lucky to be getting this Scout.com 5-star recruit and U.S. Army All-American, as Nader Abdallah, the teams best defensive tackle last season, has graduated, leaving a position in the rotation open. Check out what Simon had to say about the opportunity to play this season, who would win a fight between him and Kelly Pavlik, and what he thinks about Jamie Wood's opinion of his 'all flannel tops and jeans'.

You committed pretty early in the recruiting process, even though schools like Notre Dame were recruiting you hard. What about Ohio State made you so sure this is where you wanted to play your college football? Ohio State really stuck out to me because of the family atmosphere. You can tell all the players and the coaches came together to form a team.

What do you plan to major in at Ohio State? I will major in exercise science. I hope to one day become a strength coach.

You've had a lot of time to hang out with your fellow class members. What is the most interesting thing you've learned about this group of guys so far? That’s a tough one. I'd have to say each one of us seems to be preparing everyday for college. We have a very respectable and hard working class.

There is a lot of depth at Defensive Tackle on the roster this year. What do you need to do to stand out from the group and earn some playing time as a freshman? I feel I have to come in and go all out every play and just do anything extra I can.

What was it like playing in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl? How did you and the other Buckeyes in the game compare to the rest of the nation's top talent? It was a great honor playing in the U.S. Army All-American Game. I was able to compete against the best players in the country. The Ohio State players played great games and made some huge plays.

What current or former Buckeye does your style/skill set compare to? What current/former NFL player does your style/skill set compare to? I don't know it’s hard to compare myself to other players.

Who benches more, you or your dad? Myself (laughing)

Being from Youngstown, who would win a fight-you or Kelly Pavlik? Another tough one (laughing). Youngstown guys don't fight each other. He's the pride of Youngstown.

Buckeye Nation knows you are a big, strong defensive tackle who works hard, but what can you tell them about yourself that they don't already know? I’m dying to be a Buckeye!

In an interview we did with Jamie Wood he suggested if he could give on of the guys in this class fashion tips it would be you, saying you were "all flannel tops and jeans right now". What's your feeling on this and will you be getting rid of the flannel tops and jeans anytime soon? (Laughing) Nah, I will not be getting rid of them. I wear what’s comfortable and though I respect Jamie's fashion, it's not for me. You gotta be yourself.

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And now for some highlights: