Just deal with it

The date was February 12, 2011. The setting was the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. The 24-0 and top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes looked unstoppable, having steamrolled everyone that stood in their path. The game seemed like it was following the season’s same familiar script, as the Buckeyes jumped out to a 15 point lead in the second half.

And then Jordan Taylor caught fire.

The Badger point guard scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half, ultimately rallying Wisconsin to the 71-67 victory. As the students rushed the floor in celebration, one of them allegedly spat at Jared Sullinger in the ensuing ruckus.

When asked about Sullinger’s saliva related accusation in his postgame press conference, Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan pompously boasted that the Badgers had won the game, so Sullinger and the Buckeyes should just ‘deal with it.’

Since that date, the Buckeyes have done exactly that with Wisconsin – dealt with them. Ohio State pounded the cheese eaters in the rematch last year 93-65 and methodically executed a 58-52 victory in the teams’ first matchup 2011-12 season Saturday.

Sullinger, who played as if he did not want to be spat at again, led the Scarlet and Gray with 24 points and 10 rebounds, surpassing the 1,000 career point total in the process.

The win kept the Buckeyes on top of the Big Ten standings and was Ohio State’s first at Wisconsin since 2000. In fact, the Kohl Center has been Thad Matta’s personal house of horrors, as the coach had never won there before Saturday. With the victory, Matta has impressively won at least 20 games in each of his first 12 years as a head coach.

What made the win especially gratifying was that it took place only a handful of days after Wisconsin football coach Bret Bielema whined – like a little girl who had her block of cheese stolen – when Urban Meyer flipped one of his recruits. It was completely fine for Bielema to attempt to flip Brian Rolle well after he verbally committed to Ohio State a few years back, but when Urban returned the favor, Bielema deemed it as ‘illegal.’ Makes absolute perfect sense to me.

Did I mention it’s nice to beat the Badgers?

Bielema probably didn’t think the rims were being fair Saturday, when the Badgers shot a measly 5 for 27 from three point range. Wisconsin, who relies heavily on the three in its daily attempt to turn college basketball game into some type of snail race, was still within one point in the last few minutes until William Buford hit his biggest shot of the season. Buford only shot 4-15, but it was great to see him show some senior leadership during the game’s critical possession.

Bielema also didn’t think it was fair that Aaron Craft was able to keep Taylor in check Saturday, holding the Badger senior to only 12 points on 4-10 shooting. Without Taylor lighting up the Ohio State defense from downtown and controlling the game, Wisconsin was never able to get into a rhythm, which undoubtedly contributed to the team’s poor shooting.

While the Duke game was more fun (is there anything more fun than destroying the literal Devils of college basketball?), I think this was the Ohio State’s biggest win of the year. Besides getting the Kohl Center monkey off of their back, the Bucks maintained their lead in the conference standings and, perhaps more importantly, proved that it can beat a quality opponent on the road. With trips to Michigan and Michigan State on the horizon, this was critical.

Helping Sully out in the scoring department for this crucial game was Deshaun Thomas with 16 points and Buford with 11. Still, Saturday was all about the big man. Sullinger was an absolute beast, dominating the pesky Badgers in the lane and on the glass, setting the stage for the season’s stretch run.

Deal with it Wisconsin.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Chess Master Goran Vojinovic preps Buckeyes for big match against Michigan

I don’t care if it is football, basketball, synchronized swimming, or the chess club, that sentence alone should put you in a good mood. On Sunday, the sport of choice was men’s basketball, as the Buckeyes methodically outlasted the Wolverines 64-49.

While I certainly do not give a damn for the whole state of Michigan, I did give a damn about this game. The two rivals entered the contest tied atop the Big Ten standings, just ahead of Michigan State and Wisconsin. With showdowns against each of these teams looming, it was imperative that the Buckeyes held serve on their home court.

The game was not the most aesthetically pleasing display of basketball, as Ohio State only lead 24-21 at the half before slowly pulling away (unless you are a Wisconsin fan – then it was an outright offensive explosion). As the teams traded mini spurts, starting with the 5-0 lead Michigan jumped out to, there seemed to be somewhat of an air of uneasiness in the Schott. An objective analyst may say that was because it took the heavily favored Buckeyes awhile to finally put the Wolverines away, but I think the fans were having trouble fighting back their acid reflux reaction that automatically occurs whenever one is exposed to the combination of Maize and Blue.

The primary pregame storyline heading into the clash was the homecoming of Michigan point guard Trey Burke, who grew up in Columbus and was Jared Sullinger’s high school teammate. Thad Matta, who already had the McDonald’s All-American Shannon Scott and Aaron Craft locked up at the point guard spot, chose not to heavily recruit Burke. So, while it’s clearly not Burke’s fault he is not in the hometown Scarlet and Gray, I think it is perfectly reasonable for the Buckeye faithful to hold a grudge against the 19 year old kid. After all, he chose to go up north.

I honestly expected Burke to press too much and struggle Sunday afternoon in front of his (ex) hometown fans. What’s more, it has been scientifically proven that a small part of you dies every time you put on a Michigan jersey, so I wasn’t sure if he had enough inner drive left at this point of the season to deal with Craft’s suffocating defense for 40 minutes. However, the Columbus product held his own, finishing with 13 points, five assists, and two steals.

Even though he decided to take his talents to the school up north, Burke did not draw the majority of the ire from the Ohio State fans. That ridicule was reserved for Zack Novak, who seems to be playing his ninth or tenth season for Michigan. Novak, who kindly reminded the crowd (or at least me) that he was indeed the one they should hate with a ridiculous Aaron Rodgers inspired championship belt (or discount double-check) motion during pregame introductions, was the target of numerous chants and derision from the Buckeye Nuthouse.

Despite the pregame hype around the point guard matchup, and the general annoyance of Novak, the key to the game was the hustle and performance of Lenzelle Smith Jr. The sophomore guard put on his best Evan Turner impersonation, leading the Buckeyes in both points, with 17, and rebounds, with 12. In a game where Sullinger struggled to deal with early foul trouble and only pulled down five boards, Smith’s rebounding prowess was crucial. In fact, eight of Smiths’ rebounds came on the offensive side of the floor, which directly led to the majority of his 17 points.

Helping Smith out in the scoring department was Sullinger with 13 points, Deshaun Thomas with 12, and William Buford with 12 (despite six turnovers). Another Jr. – Tim Hardaway Jr. – led the Wolverines in scoring with 15 points of his own.

The Buckeyes will not play again until Saturday when they travel to Wisconsin, giving the fans some time to revel in the victory over their hated rivals. While beating Michigan is always a treat, watching Novak miss every shot he took and score zero points during the process was just icing on the cake.

Good luck with that championship belt.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Nobody handles their business against the bad teams better than Thad Matta’s Ohio State basketball squad. The Buckeyes, who led the nation in average margin of victory coming into their contest with Penn State Wednesday night, dismantled the Nittany Lions 78-54.

The Scarlet and Gray jumped ahead 38-18 by the half, before ultimately putting it into cruise control and extending the nation’s second largest home winning streak to 37.

Jared Sullinger led the Buckeyes with 20 points and 13 rebounds, his 436^th career double-double (all numbers approximate), despite not playing in the final ten minutes. William Buford added 15 points and Aaron Craft chipped in 11.

On the same night that the Lakers took on the Clippers, the crowd at the Schott did its best Los Angeles impression – streaming in well after the game had started and filing out with a couple minutes still remaining on the clock. It’s almost as if 6:30 is not a great time to start a big time college basketball game (ahem, Big Ten Network, ahem), since people who work don’t even get home until around six (I can only assume this is the case, after all I’m in grad school so I’m not sure what a real job is).

Some of the positive developments I noted in the Nebraska game continued today. Buford’s stroke looked smooth as ever while knocking down a couple of threes, and Deshaun Thomas drew another offensive foul in the lane. Clearly, the team is taking to heart everything my posts have to offer.

The game got slightly strange for a minute late in the first half. Craft floated an alley-oop attempt to freshman Sam Thompson, but the pass ended up going into the hoop for three points, proving that even when Craft messes something up good things happen. A couple of possessions later, Penn State took a timeout after scoring a basket. However, when the timeout ended, Penn State was awarded the basketball right back. Eventually, after Matta kindly reminded the refs that’s not how the rulebook is written, the error was fixed (the refs may disagree with the kindly part).

Interested in adding some instant excitement to the second half of a blowout basketball game? Simply add a tablespoon of Sam Thompson to the mix, then sit back and enjoy. In the course of three minutes, the high-flying freshman kept the crowd involved as he finished a thunderous alley-oop, swatted away an errant Nittany Lion shot attempt, and fired a beautiful pass into the paint for a Sully dunk.

While Penn State struggled mightily and was clearly outmatched, it was a nice touch to see the players pay tribute to the late Joe Paterno by wearing black bands on their jerseys. The legendary coach passed away on Sunday at the age of 85.

As for the Buckeyes, they did what they had to do in a proverbial warm up game. You know how the football team always seems to play Akron or Youngstown State before things really get going? Well, this was the basketball team’s warm up game (minus the awesome Akron kangaroo or Youngstown penguin). The upcoming slate includes Michigan, Wisconsin, and Michigan State each twice, as well as a trip to ‘the barn’ in Minnesota and a rematch against Illinois.

In the contest’s final moments, Ohio State’s student section sang everyone’s favorite tune – “We Don’t Give A Damn for the Whole State of Michigan.” They clearly know who is next.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Really?

In Thad Matta’s 400^thcareer game as a head coach, the Ohio State men’s basketball team throttled the Nebraska Cornhuskers 79-45. The only thing truly in doubt during the second half was if the Buckeyes would double Nebraska’s final score.

I admit I was somewhat concerned as the game tipped off. It may seem crazy now, especially after watching what can only be described as a beat down, but I had legitimate reasons to worry. At least I think they were legitimate.

Incorrect worry number one:
Ohio State had lost four of its last six conference road games coming into the game, and this was exactly that – a conference road game.

Incorrect worry number two:
Nebraska was coming off of an emotional upset of Indiana and – theoretically – would be fired up to keep rolling against another conference heavyweight.

And, since all good things come in threes,

Incorrect worry number three:
I did not really expect the kind of hostile atmosphere that greeted the Buckeyes in Lincoln. After all, Nebraska is a football school and this was not a football game. However, the fans seemed ready for some hoops, and the atmosphere was sufficiently intense until the game got ugly.

So what happened to ease those worries?
Well, the game started, that’s what. A victory was never in doubt for the Buckeyes, as William Buford led the team with 15 points, while Jared Sullinger – who battled early foul trouble – and Deshaun Thomas each chipped in 14. The Cornhuskers only made 13 shots from the field all game, compared to their 27 turnovers. I’m pretty sure Taylor Martinez hasn’t even turned it over 27 times in one game (I kid, Nebraska fans. I may or may not still be bitter about our football matchup earlier this year).

Whatever concern was still lingering quickly faded away after watching the last six seconds of the first half. Aaron Craft – in all his scrappy glory – beat the press, split two defenders at half court, and fired a perfect pass to Evan Ravenel, who proceeded to lay it in to beat the buzzer. It put the Buckeyes up 16 at the break and was basically point guard perfection wrapped up in one play. In fact, remember your high school coach who always harped on and stressed fundamentals at every practice? He probably would have shed a tear of happiness had he seen that play.

Sure the game was ugly, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some key developments for the Buckeyes. After recent struggles, it was certainly nice to see Buford knock down a couple of three point shots today. While I would prefer to see him slash more (and worry that he is trying too hard to replace Jon Diebler’s shooting from last year), Buford’s shooting will make it difficult for opponents to double Sully down the stretch.

What’s more, Deshaun Thomas may have made the best defensive play I have ever seen from him in Scarlet and Gray when he slid across the lane and drew a charge early in the second half. Those are the types of plays he often does not make, and they are going to be critical down the stretch of the Big Ten season (unless we play Nebraska every game. Then we might be alright if I suited up).

Ultimately, I have three final takeaways from the victory (remember, good things always come in threes).

Takeaway number one:
If it wasn’t clear already that football has been the driving force behind conference expansion, just watch Nebraska basketball. Do you really think the Big Ten would have been chomping at the bit to add the Cornhuskers if they played football like they play on the hardwood?

Takeaway number two:
Indiana really lost to that Nebraska team?

Takeaway number three:
My favorite part of Nebraska joining the Big Ten is the chance to see more of the ridiculous balloon mascot that just waddles around the building all game. When future generations study early 21^st century sports, I shudder to think about how the swaying Husker will influence their opinion of us. I know it isn’t relevant to the game, but it had to be said.

It was a day of upsets across the college basketball landscape Saturday. Notre Dame knocked out no. 1 Syracuse, Florida State tomahawked (pun absolutely intended) no. 4 Duke, Arkansas squeezed by no. 19 Michigan (you can keep your conference pride, I’m always happy when the weasels lose), Tennessee beat no. 11 Connecticut, and no. 5 Missouri upset no. 3 Baylor (I don’t care what you say, if 5 beats 3 it counts as an upset).

The Buckeyes did well to avoid becoming upset victims themselves, and should continue to roll when they host Penn State Wednesday night.

*(Lil’ Red image cc license jc-pics)

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

(Oh…and there was a basketball game too.)

The Ohio State men’s basketball team, who kindly scheduled their game Sunday afternoon around Urban Meyer’s halftime introduction, entertained a capacity crowd at the Schott with a convincing 80-63 victory over the Indiana Hoosiers.

Part of what made last year’s Buckeye team enjoyable to watch (besides being intermittently treated to Jared Sullinger, Jon Diebler, and Aaron Craft attempting to “sing” Miley Cyrus songs) was the fact that someone new seemingly stepped up to shoulder the load in every game. Sure, Sullinger was technically the star, but it was a pretty safe bet that somebody else was putting up big numbers on any given night. This hasn’t quite been the case as much this year, but Lenzelle Smith Jr. did his best to change that, leading the way with a career high 28 points.

Smith Jr. certainly had help, with Sullinger scoring 16 points, William Buford adding 12, and Deshaun Thomas chipping in 11. But that’s not what I want to talk about. Aaron Craft’s defense (I know, tell me what else is new), particularly while defending Hoosier guard Jordan Hulls, was just downright awesome. I don’t really have another word for it (after all, I certainly wasn’t going to call him a crafty defender), but Craft set the tone right from the start.
Immediately after OSU scored its first basket, Matta’s point guard threw unsuspected pressure at Hulls, forcing a travel and immediately getting the raucous crowd into the game. Craft never eased up on the defensive intensity, even launching himself into the first few rows of the crowd at one point in an effort to retrieve a loose ball. In fact, the only thing I enjoyed more about the afternoon than watching Craft play defense was watching Gene Smith get heartily booed by the majority of the crowd as he took the microphone at halftime.

But I digress.

Clearly bothered by the Buckeye defense, Indiana only managed 14 first half points, and the contest was essentially over. The Buckeyes fixed the turnover problem that plagued them on New Year’s Eve in Bloomington (Craft, who had a career high six turnovers in the first meeting with the Hoosiers did not turn it over once Sunday) and enacted their revenge on Tom Crean’s Indiana squad.

The second half defense wasn’t quite the same from the Buckeyes, but it almost seems like nitpicking after a double digit margin of victory over a top ten ranked team. In fact, my only real concerns about the game were my realization that, between all his whining and “coaching,” Tom Crean is not reprimanded for spending more time on the court than his actual players, and the fact that an Indiana fan ended up winning the American Airlines free flight coupon prize given away during one of the timeouts. That is inexcusable promotional staff. Just inexcusable.

I know, this is supposed to be about basketball, but you didn’t really think I would just leave out anymore mentions of the halftime introduction of our new fearless football leader, did you? After all, how many basketball halftime presentations do you see where nobody gets up from their seats?

After dealing with Gene Smith for a few seconds, the crowd greeted Urban Meyer and his new coaching staff with an extended and passionate standing ovation. Luke Fickell’s reception, consisting of cheers and a “Luuuuuuuke” chant, was so loud that Meyer himself commented on it. Frankly, if you are not excited about the direction that the Buckeye football program is headed under this staff, you may need your Buckeye Nation membership card revoked. Sure, the buzzkill NCAA levied its punishment, but bowls are for cereal anyway, not football teams.

So when it was all said and done, between Meyer, Craft’s defense, Lenzelle Smith Jr. setting a career high in points scored, and some revenge on the pesky Hoosiers, it was a good day to be a Buckeye. But the best part? The free fries at the end. Just make sure you keep scoring 70 points guys, and we’ll all be happy.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Editors Note: This is a guest post by first time tBuckeyeBlog contributor Scott Polacek. Scott is a graduate student at Ohio State studying journalism and an avid Ohio State Basketball fan.

Let me assure you, the sky is not falling. I know everyone wanted to eliminate some of the bad taste left in our mouths from the rather painful football season by witnessing the Buckeyes pulverize everyone that dared stand in their way on the hardwood, but it’s going to take some patience.

Standing at 15-3 and coming off of a loss at Illinois, in which Brandon Paul – rather annoyingly – did his best imitation of an NBA Jam character catching fire, there seems to be somewhat of a crack in the Buckeye armor. Aaron Craft and Jared Sullinger questioned the team’s effort and desire after the game, and some fans are genuinely concerned about the road woes plaguing Thad Matta’s bunch. After all, when your only conference road win is over Iowa, it does little to inspire confidence.

Perhaps a short trip down memory lane can help ease some of these worries. The 2009-10 Buckeye hoops team posted a 13-5 record through its first 18 games. This included road defeats at the hands of the Gophers, Butler, and that team up north, not to mention a cringe inducing 22-point drubbing at Bucky Badger’s place.  It was a little more than half way through the year and the squad, led by one nationally known star player and some talented complementary pieces, was noticeably struggling on the road. Stop me if that sounds familiar.

Those basketball fans among Buckeye Nation probably remember that team turning things around down the stretch. In fact, the Buckeyes won 14 of their last 16 games (including their last five conference road games), the Big Ten regular season crown, and the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. Maybe you remember a certain Evan Turner winning the Naismith player of the year award and drilling one of the most satisfying buzzer beating shots in school history to put the dagger in the Wolverines’ NCAA tourney hopes.

So, what does this have to do with this year’s team? I look at the 2009-10 season as a somewhat of a template for how the rest of this year is going to play out. Turner and company had a particular taste for revenge and were spurred in their finish by rematch victories over all three Big Ten teams they had previously lost to. This is a pattern I fully expect Matta’s crew to emulate down the stretch, starting with Indiana on Sunday.

It was clear to anyone watching (or at least it was clear through my Scarlet and Gray tinted glasses) on New Year’s Eve that Ohio State was, and still is, the more talented squad when matched up with the Hoosiers. However, two things plagued the Buckeyes on that night – incessant foul trouble and turnovers. Sure the fouls can be partially attributed to the compromising photos of the officials that Tom Crean apparently possessed, but the 17 turnovers were inexcusable. Even the typically sure handed Craft struggled protecting the ball, which led to numerous fast break baskets for the Hoosiers. If the Buckeyes can take better care of the basketball, while avoiding foul trouble, they should be more than capable of dispatching Indiana in the Schott on Sunday.

While this season will hopefully end on a better note than the 2009-10 defeat in the Sweet Sixteen, I foresee a similar second half turnaround. Maybe Sullinger can even claim the player of the year award that Turner brought back to Columbus. But for the time being, March can wait. I am more concerned with a little revenge on Sunday. After all, the Hoosiers put somewhat of a damper on New Year’s Eve, so it’s up to Matta and company to see to it that they don’t spoil the long weekend too.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

The one thing missing from the Ohio State Men’s Basketball season so far is a big road win against a ranked opponent. Although Illinois isn’t ranked, they are the probably the closest thing to a ranked opponent the Buckeyes will meet on the road until mid-February.

Big Ten player of the week Jared Sullinger is coming off one of his best weeks at Ohio State putting up 47 points and 20 rebounds in his last two outings. No Meyers Leonard of Illinois will try to slow Sullinger and the two should provide an interesting matchup. Buckeyes should win this one but the Illinois home crowd could be a factor.

Join us for live chat
Just because it’s a school night doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the fun. Chat opens at 8:30, game at 9. See you there.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

85-63. Let that sink in for a moment folks. Ohio State just dispatched Duke by almost 20 points. The Buckeyes took off to an early lead and never looked back. This was a dominating win by one of the best Buckeye basketball teams to come along in years. If this team can play like they did tonight on the road…well…wow, just wow.

Although technically we need North Carolina to beat Wisconsin and Kentucky in the next week to take the top spot, style points might have been enough to push the Buckeyes to No. 1.

And if that isn’t enough, the Buckeyes handed Duke their biggest loss to a Big Ten team ever. Doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

It’s only Tuesday but what a week it’s been for Buckeye fans.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

In my moping over the current state of college football I almost forgot about the game tonight. The No. 3 ranked Buckeyes take on the No. 8 ranked Florida Gators. No time for a big pregame writeup but maybe it will lift us out of the current college football slump.

As usual, the guys over at tBBC are hosting a live chat. Join us here. Game time at 8 p.m.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.

One of the hardest things about the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is that all but one team ends their season on a loss. In a season like the one we have just witnessed, an early exit from the tournament is all that much more painful. When expectations are high, they tend to overshadow the accomplishments of the past year. In the tournament, everything comes down to one game. No matter how good you’ve been all season, no matter how much talent you bring to the show, one night when things don’t go right and that’s it. Game over. We wait again until next season.

Last night was one of those nights. Even though they were getting the looks, the Buckeyes could not find their way to the basket. In a game with a the third-worst shooting percentage of the season (32.8%) it took a shot in the final seconds of the game for our tournament dreams to die. The Buckeyes had adjusted to Kentucky’s defense of the perimeter. They had adjusted to the caveman like physicality of Josh Harrelson. They just couldn’t put the ball in the basket.

And so we find ourselves once again suffering from the morning-after hangover of what could have been.

The good news is that all underclassmen on this outstanding team are saying that they will be back for another shot next  year. A this point, I tend to believe them. There is too much desire in this group to let it end like this. It will be interesting to see how that shakes out when the dollars of the NBA come calling this spring but I have a gut feeling that yes, they will be back and we will once again make a great run for the NCAA Tournament title.

But for now, I will celebrate the season knowing that I was there to witness one that will live on in the history of The Ohio State University.

©2012 The Buckeye Blog. All Rights Reserved.