No Final Four Trip This Season As OSU Is Season Comes To A Shocking End
March 30, 2013 10:30 PM

Who would have thought shooting 19-61 wouldn’t have been enough to win?

With 12:00 minutes to go the Buckeyes were trailing by 20 points 53-33. They were able to get as close as 4 points, but they just didn’t have quite enough time to complete the comeback. I guess we will never know how we would have done in the Final Four. It was a great effort in the final ten minutes, but shooting woes hit the entire team, it was just one of those nights.

Ohio State finishes the season with a 29-8 record.

Ross Hits 3-Pointer To Move the Buckeyes Into Elite Eight
March 28, 2013 10:00 PM

This is starting to become a habit, a good habit.

Seconds after Mark Lyons tied the score with a three-point play, LaQuinton Ross buried the game-winning 3-pointer, giving Ohio State a 73-70 victory and advancing the Buckeyes to face the Wichita State in the West Regional finals.

The last time their teams met in the NCAA tournament, Thad Matta earned bragging rights over close friend Sean Miller thanks to a late comeback, a last-gasp 3-pointer and a strong overtime.  This time the game between second-seeded Ohio State and sixth-seeded Arizona again ended with Miller congratulating Matta.

Trailing Arizona by 11 points late in the first half thanks to a series of 3-pointers from the Wildcats, Ohio State strung together enough stops to close within four at the break. The Buckeyes built on that momentum defensively to start the second half, not allowing a single Arizona point for the first 5:22 and reeling off 10 of their own and take a six-point lead.

Arizona threatened sporadically the rest of the way thanks to Solomon Hill, but the Wildcats never regained the lead they held nearly the entire first half. Ross made two of Ohio State’s biggest baskets, a corner 3-pointer with six minutes to go to answer a Mark Lyons 3-pointer that trimmed Arizona’s deficit to three and a slashing layup on the Buckeyes’ next possession to again extend the advantage to six.

The Buckeyes are now one win away from going to the Final Four for the second straight year.

 

Craft 3-Pointer At the Buzzer Sends OSU To Los Angeles
March 24, 2013 3:00 PM

Aaron Craft had a lot of shaky moments late in the game, including a turnover and two missed foul shots, but he came through in the end with a 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds remaining.

Ohio State (28-7) needed Craft’s shot over 6-foot-7 defender Georges Niang to avoid yet another upset in the oh-so-wild West Regional. Four of the top five seeds fell fast and hard in the first weekend.  The Buckeyes will go into the regional that features a #2 seed,  #6 seed, #9 seed and #13 seed.

In spite of how many missed calls Charles Barkley thought there were, OSU won the game fair and square.  Perhaps Sir Charles should see the game the way the rest of the world viewed it.  It was exciting, well played and in the end, the better team won.  As for the official word on the charge Craft took late in the game, click here  to get the official ruling.

Ohio State will next play Thursday night at 7:47 pm at the Staples Center and will face the Arizona Wildcats.

 

Buckeyes Named To All-Big Ten Team  … Again
March 12, 2013 6:00 PM

The committee of the conference’s coaches and a media panel have announced their annual awards and OSU is once again represented. DeShaun Thomas and Aaron Craft were both named as 1st Team All-Big Ten selections.. Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan claimed the Coach of the Year honors and Sam Thompson was the Buckeye representative for the Sportsmanship award.

Ohio State has had at least one 1st team selection 7 of the past 8 years.

 

Hoosiers Celebrate Loss To Ohio State
March 5, 2013 11:15 PM

Normally a team is disappointed after a loss in a big conference game.  Yet #2 Indiana celebrated after their defeat at the hands of the Buckeyes.

It was supposed to be Senior night for the Hooisers who came into the game with a 25-4 record overall and a 13-3 conference record, which was already good enough for a share of the B1G regular season title.  A title they have not won since the 1992 season, under the direction of OSU graduate Bobby Knight as the coach.  The Indiana program has come a long way in recent years, particularly with the leadership of Coach Crean, but is appropriate to cut down the nets and rejoice after a 9-point home loss?  That can be debated but in Bloomington, they answered that question with a big ‘yes’.

But OSU was not going to let them celebrate the outright title as the Buckeyes secured a 67-58 road victory. DeShaun Thomas finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Aaron Craft added 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals. And they combined for the first nine points in the decisive 11-2 run that forced Indiana to spend the rest of the game playing catch-up. With the win, Ohio State (22-7, 12-5) finds themselves in the rare position of rooting for Michigan, to create a tie with multiple teams for the conference lead.

Cody Zeller led the Hoosiers with 17 points. Former players on hand included Kent Benson, the star of the undefeated 1976 national championship team, and Isaiah Thomas, star of the 1981 national championship team. Rock singer John Mellencamp took his traditional seat as well. None of that mattered to the Buckeyes.

If the Buckeyes somehow, had one more conference win, they would be the team that would have clinched a title share and perhaps be in line for an outright regular season title and the #1 seed in the tournament. Doesn’t that overtime loss to Michigan, where Craft was fouled three times on the way to the basket, seem really big now?

 

Scarlet & Gray Defeat The Green & White
February 25, 2013 6:30 PM

The Buckeyes are 18-0 this season against unranked teams. Can’t do any better than that.  But they are 2-7 against ranked opponents which gives them a rather thin resume heading into NCAA tournament.  The second of those wins was today against Michigan State as OSU came back from a 6 point deficit at halftime, to earn a 68-60 victory over the Spartans.

This was certainly a team effort but the Buckeyes (20-7, 10-5) were lead by Aaron Craft.  The junior had only 4 points at the break, yet poured in 17 mostly from the lane and the line in the second 20 minutes to finish the game with his career high 21 points. Deshaun Thomas added 12 of his 14 points in the second half, Evan Ravenel added 10 points and a crucial block in the final minute.

Michigan State led 36-27 early in the second half, quieting the crowd of 18,809 (Don’t even get me started on how MSU can possibly come to Columbus and we not sell out.  Could it be the ‘premium’ pricing on the game ticket or the $10 to park, debate amongst yourself.) but the Buckeyes scored 18 of the next 23 points to take the lead for good.

As we are now all watching bracketology, going into this game OSU had moved to a 5 seed in the Washington DC bracket.  Will this put them on a road into Indy?

 

Buckeyes ‘Deal’ Bo And The Badgers Another Loss
January 29, 2013 9:30 PM

It started as a typical OSU-Wisconsin low scoring struggle until Deshaun Thomas scored 10 of the points in a 15-0 second-half run that proved to be the difference tonight in Columbus.  The #11 Buckeyes defeated the Badgers 58-49.

Thomas hit 10 of 17 shots and added four assists leading his team to another Big ten victory.  Ohio State (16-4, 6-2) was trailing 41-39 with 11:26 when Deshaun took charge.  In addition to their newly found shooting range, the Buckeyes defense also intensified as they held Wisconsin to just 11 of 23 3-point attempts.  The Badgers never got closer than six points again.

The victory places OSU into third place in the Big Ten and dropped Wisconsin two games behind co-leaders Indiana and Michigan (6-1).

 

Michigan State Holds On For 59-56 Win Over Buckeyes
January 19, 2013 8:15 PM

In the list of bad shots at the buzzer, Shannon Scott just added his own entry to the rankings.

MSU’s Keith Appling made two free throws with 7.9 seconds left as #18 Michigan State beat #11 Ohio State 59-56.

The Buckeyes had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Shannon Scott didn’t come close on a 3-point attempt.  In fairness to him though, the play was out of a timeout and it did not look like any other Buckeye was in position to help.  So maybe Matta needs to get an assist on that feeble shot attempt.  And let’s not forget the 3-point brick that Aaron Craft launched from the corner on the previous possession.  Bottom line, even thought they made a nice comeback, Ohio State (13-4, 3-2) falls short to the Spartans (16-3, 5-1).

Deshaun Thomas, who scored 28 points, was upset Scott didn’t pass him the ball. Thomas wanted a shot to send the game into overtime after he had made six 3-pointers in regulation.  He had half of Ohio State’s points, but didn’t get the ball in his hands after a timeout called to set up a game-tying shot.

Michigan State made enough plays to beat the Buckeyes at home. Ohio State has won four games at the Breslin Center since 2005-06 while the rest of the conference has combined for six wins in East Lansing.

 

Jayhawks Hand Buckeyes Second Loss Of Season
December 22, 2012 6:30 PM

For the third time in a span of 12 months the Kansas Jayhawks have defeated the Buckeyes.

This is the third different location, so could it be the coaching.  Perhaps it was because there seemed to be no answer to stop Kansas’ redshirt freshman Ben McLemore. Or maybe it was the fact that the Buckeyes only managed 30% shooting from the field.  In any case, OSU has two loses in their two key non-conference games and will need to find some answers before starting the Big Ten slate.

McLemore scored 22 points and #9 Kansas defeated #7 Ohio State 74-66. The Jayhawks (10-1) were able to survive a 14-0 run by the Buckeyes (9-2) in the first half that ignited the student-free crowd. But OSU managed jut 9 of 36 shooting in the second half. In fact they went from the 18:27 mark to the 8:18 mark without making a single field goal.

What does this say about how this OSU stacks up against top competition.  With exception of that three minute stretch in the first half where OSU took an 8 point lead, Kansas outscored the Buckeyes 74-52.  Matta has plenty of answers to find with only one non-conference foe remaining until the conference schedule begins.

 

Northern Kentucky Soundly Defeated In Columbus
December 1, 2012 7:00 PM

If anyone was wondering if OSU could bounce back from the Duke loss, question answered. Yes, the Ohio State Buckeyes put the loss to Duke behind them. LaQuinton Ross scored a career-high 22 points to lead the fourth-ranked Buckeyes to a 70-43 victory over Northern Kentucky.

In their last game, the Buckeyes blew a second-half lead to fall 73-68 at Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The loss might be forgotten but shooting concerns for Ohio State (5-1) still exist. The Buckeyes shot just 38 percent from the field against Northern Kentucky (0-5) after making 32.3 percent of their shots against Duke. In addition, they got little production from the front line. At least for today LaQuinton Ross made up the difference.

The sophomore was 8 of 12 shots from the field, including half of his six attempts from 3-point range, along with all three free throws. The rest of the Buckeyes made just 15 of 49 (.306) shots from the field.

Ross is splitting time with Sam Thompson but I am of the impression they need to find ways to get him more playing time. He is currently the best player on the team for the drive down the lane

 

Slippery When Wet – Game Called Due to Dew
November 9, 2012 8:00 PM

The season was supposed to start tonight for the Buckeyes, but things were to wet. The game between #4 Ohio State and Marquette aboard the USS Yorktown at the Carrier Classic was canceled because of unsafe conditions on the court. Referee John Cahill said they waited about an hour, but the moisture on the court could not be dried. Cahill said it was in the best interest of the teams to cancel the game.

Earlier in the day, the #7 Notre Dame women defeated #19 Ohio State 57-51. There was no problem with the court during that game.

 

Walsh Once Again Provides Exhibition Entertainment To Begin Basketball Season
October 30, 2012 9:00 PM

There were not a lot of offensive sets used but there were flashes of fun that would should see a season long.  Ohio State defeated Walsh 83-71 in a season opening exhibition game. The university will brag that 13,474 fans were there but at least 5,000 must have been dressed up as the invisible man.

Deshaun Thomas led all scorers with 25 points, LaQuinton Ross (13 points), Evan Ravenel(11) and Sam Thompson(11) also scored in double figures. After trailing for much of the first half, the Buckeyes used a 17-3 run over the final 5:34 to gain a 39-30 lead at the intermission. Extending the run to 26-12 to begin the second half, the Scarlet and Gray led by no less than 11 points the rest of the game.

Ohio State opens the regular season November 6 against Marquette at the Carrier Classic in Charleston, S.C.

In other news, the AP announced its preseason first team All-America selections with Ohio State junior Deshaun Thomas among the six honorees. Aaron Craft also received votes for first-team All-America consideration.

 

Tip-Off Event Scheduled – Agonis Club Sponsors 6th Annual Event To Preview 2012-13 Buckeyes
September 21, 2012 7:15 PM

This event gives fans the opportunity to hear from Head Coach Thad Matta, view the current team during practice, mingle with former Ohio State players and win raffle prizes. You can also bid on items including special team-issued gear and game seats that put you right behind the team. This year you will be given a commemorative team photo that you can have autographed in person by the team that night. (the team will only be signing the commemorative picture, no other items will be signed).

The event is October 22nd. Doors at the Schottenstein Center will open at 5:30 pm with the practice taking place until 6:30 pm. Food and refreshments along with the live/silent auctions will be available after 6:30. The last part of the evening will be allowing you to get your commemorative picture signed by the team. The price of admission is $75 per person and $35 for children 13 and under. All proceeds go to The Ohio State Men’s Basketball Program for program enhancement.

To reserve your ticket, click HERE for an application and send along with your check made payable to Agonis Club (and/or credit card information) and send to Agonis Club, P.O. Box 14020, Columbus, Ohio 43214 by October 15th. Tickets will be held in will call and can be picked up upon arrival at the event. Any questions, please contact Phil Pini at 614-581-4768.

 

Sporting News Places Ohio State Over Kentucky
September 14, 2012 5:30 PM

Schedules came out a few days ago and now the pre-season polls are hitting the public.  Sporting News has posted their top 25 and the Buckeyes land at number 4 behind Indiana, UCLA and Louisville.  Here is there thoughts on why they can place OSU so high, even ahead of #5 Kentucky.

If you think losing Jared Sullinger and William Buford devastates the OSU offense, you clearly don’t remember power forward Deshaun Thomas. He’s ready to pick up the two dozen shots per game they left behind, and he’ll make excellent use of them. Thomas has the skills to comfortably average 20-plus points per game. Point guard Aaron Craft is terrific at recognizing where defenses are vulnerable.

Why they might not finish this high? This is another jumpshot-challenged team. When the Buckeyes wanted to run a perimeter set last year, they always could get Buford going off a right-to-left dribble handoff. That play won them a share of the 2012 Big Ten title. Lenzelle Smith Jr. is the closest thing they have to a proven shooter, and he was a fifth option as a sophomore. The only speculative play in this area is recruit Amedeo Della Valle.

The key may be sophomore center Amir Williams who will step in for Sullinger, and there’ll be no resemblance at all. Williams is not an offensive player at this point. But what had been one of the college game’s elite defenses last year figures to improve because Williams is a legit shot-blocker. Williams’ 0.8 blocks per game as a freshman translates to 3.6 if playing 30 minutes per game.

Personally I think they got one thing right for sure. They will be ahead of the Wildcats at the end of the year!  For their complete top 25, click here.

 

Sullinger Is A 1st Round Pick For The Celtics
June 28, 2012 11:00 PM

For the last two weeks the discussion has been that Jared Sullinger had a back injury and that he was dropping in the mock drafts.  But everyone knows that when you drop in the draft you have better chance to land on a more competitive team. Sullinger was reported to have a herniated disk according to an MRI taken after the college season.  However the Celtics apparently did not believe the injury will be a long-term issue.

The Celtics took Sullinger with the 21st pick in Thursday’s draft despite his red flags. “There are some issues there,” team president Danny Ainge said. “Our medical staff thinks that short-term and long-term there may be some maintenance issues with the back. Doc Rivers played with a herniated disk for 13 years. It may need surgery at some point, it may not.” Ainge later said he wasn’t implying Sullinger would need surgery prior to next season.

 

Where Are They Now – Greg Oden
June 19, 2012 7:00 AM

I came across this story yesterday and enjoyed reading about Greg’s post-OSU experience. Thought our B50 readers might  be interested as well. Mark Titus interviews Greg who talks about the ups and downs, mostly downs since he left OSU for the NBA.  Interview

 

Date For Return Game With Kansas Set
June 12, 2012 3:00 PM

Stories across the Twitter board indicate the date has been set for OSU’s home game against Kansas.  Mark your calendars for December 22nd when the Jayhawks invade Columbus …. if you believe Twitter.

 

OSU To Play In 2012 Carrier Classic
May 25, 2012 5:15  PM

If any of the OSU basketball players ever wanted to play ‘over’ seas, this year they get their chance.

As per Internet reports, both the Ohio State men’s and women’s basketball teams will open their seasons on the same night, on the deck of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in Charleston, SC. The contract has been signed for the women’s team to play Notre Dame, the agreement for the Ohio State men to play same night against Marquette, also on the deck of the USS Yorktown, is close to being completed.

The Carrier Classic made its debut last season when the Michigan State and North Carolina played aboard the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego.

The (Charleston) Post and Courier first reported in March that Connecticut had committed to play in the men’s game, but an agreement was not reached and now the Buckeyes are in the picture.  The formal announcement is expected in June.

The Ohio State men had been scheduled to open this season against Albany as part of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Tipoff tournament. That game will be moved to November 11.

Portable seating will be built on the carrier to accommodate about 4,000 spectators, The Post and Courier reported.

 

OSU/Duke Rematch Slated for ACC-Big Ten Challenge
May 14, 2012 8:00 PM

The schedule for the 14th annual Big Ten/ACC Challenge has been officially communicated and the biggest match-up will likely be Ohio State at Duke November 28 in Durham, N.C. The Buckeyes return nine letterwinners and three starters in 2012-13. Juniors Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft will be will receive consideration for preseason All-Big Ten and national honors.

Craft was the Big Ten’s 2012 Defensive Player of the Year while Thomas is Ohio State’s top returning scorer at 15.9 ppg. Craft is among Ohio State’s all-time steals leaders after just two seasons with 171, good for the No. 3 spot all-time. Thomas is just 103 points away from becoming Ohio State’s 49th career 1,000-point scorers.

Ohio State is participating in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge for the 11th-consecutive year and has a 5-5 record in the event. The Buckeyes first participated in the event during the 2002-03 season against Duke in Greensboro, N.C., a 91-75 Blue Devils’ victory. Thad Matta as head coach of the Buckeyes, has a 5-3 record in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and has won the last four games in the Challenge.  Here are the Buckeye scores from each season.

12/3/02     vs. Duke              L    76-91(4)
12/3/03     Georgia Tech       L     53-73(13)
12/1/04     at Clemson           L     73-80
11/28/05   Virginia Tech        W     69-59
11/29/06   at North Carolina   L     89(3)-98(7)
11/29/07   North Carolina      L     55-66(1)
12/2/08     at Miami, FL.       W    73-68(21)
12/2/09     Florida State       W     77(15)-64(21)
11/30/10   at Florida State    W    58(2)-44
11/29/11   Duke                  W    85(2)-63(3)

Ohio State and Duke have met six times previously with each team winning three games. The Buckeyes will be making their first trip to Duke. Ohio State has played each member of the current ACC at least once previously. The Buckeyes are 38-26 overall against ACC teams. Thad Matta, now in his ninth season at Ohio State, coached his last game as head coach at Xavier against Duke. The #6 Blue Devils won that game 66-63 to advance to the 2004 Final Four. Matta is 1-1 vs. the Blue Devils.

 

OSU Gets Commitment For Next Season
May 2, 2012 11:00 AM

Thad Matta announced the signing of Amedeo Della Valle to a NCAA National Letter of Intent to play men’s basketball for the Buckeyes. The 6′ 4″ guard will begin summer school classes June 18 and will have four years of eligibility beginning with the 2012-13 season.

The Buckeyes currently have 10 student-athletes on scholarship for next season with the addition of Della Valle, a native if Alba, Italy, who played high school basketball at Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.). The Pilots were 29-1 and ranked No. 7 nationally in 2011-12.

While playing for Italy in the 2011 U18 European Championship in Wroclaw, Poland, Della Valle led Italy (4-5) in scoring with 15.1 points per game. He also averaged 3.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 50 percent from 3-point range (8-16) and 54 percent overall (39-72). Ohio State has won or shared the last three Big Ten regular-season championships, has won two of the last three Big Ten tournament titles (2010, 2011), advanced to four-consecutive NCAA tournaments, including the 2012 Final Four and the last three Sweet 16s, and won a combined 65 games over the last two years. The Buckeyes finished the 2012 season with a 31-8 record and were 34-3 in 2012.

 

7th Year of Buckeye50 Basketball Coverage 
April 15, 2012 8:30 PM

We are all ready to put the Kansas loss behind us and look forward to the new season.  This will mark our 7th year of coverage for the Ohio State basketball on Buckeye50.  The web site started two months before Coach Tressel and our cager coverage basically started as Coach Matta made his debut. We welcomed 1342 visitors during the 2011-12 season and we hope to grow again in the upcoming campaign.