Buckeyes turn back the clock, turn back the Bears
Othello Hunter again had a strong performance, as his rebounding effort covered what was a very cold and jittery game for the Buckeyes in the beginning. The game started with early jitters for the Buckeyes, as the players seemed every bit as uneasy about the (volleyball) court layout as I was. The Buckeyes even missed 10 straight 3pt attempts in the beginning stages of the game. However, Othello’s offensive rebounding (7 for the game) kept the Buckeyes in pace with the Bears. Hunter would finish with an astounding 11pts and 16rebs, the latter being a career high.
The game would irreversibly turn in the Buckeyes favour about 7 minutes til the half, as the Buckeyes fell behind 19-18. Frantic pressure defense, ball stripping, and key offensive rebounds by Othello Hunter would break the Buckeyes out of their offensive slump resulting in a 17-4 run to take the Buckeyes into the intermission up 35-23. Jamar Butler finally caught fire, finishing with 20pts off of 8-13 shooting, including 4-9 from 3pt country. Koufos would also chip in with some easy buckets, finishing with 12pts and 5rebs.
By this time, the St. John faithful had clearly smelled blood in the water, and the Bucks would again turn it on out of the gates in the second half. “Bad” would become an understatement, as the Bears were seemingly paralyzed by the frenzied crowd and frenzied Buckeyes attack. The Bucks would continue to run all over the Bears for easy fast break points and easy inside position for Othello and Koufos, padding that lead to 20 points as it would remain for the rest of the game (before garbage time).
One thing in particular that I saw (and loved) was the Buckeyes not falling for the pump fake. Indeed, rather than heedlessly jump for a highlight block, the Buckeyes stood fast, stood straight, and really blew the minds of the Cal Bears as they got not good looks. Underscoring this was Pac-10 leading scorer Ryan Anderson, normally averaging 21 points a game, being hounded all game for 11pts off of 4-11 shooting. The Bears high scoring offense was rendered impotent by a feisty Buckeye defensive effort.
The Bucks next host Dayton, in Columbus, where a win against the Flyers would send the Buckeyes to New York City. Is St. John available again for the OSU-Dayton quarterfinal matchup?
Bah…The game will be at the Schott
There must be a way to get Ohio State to schedule annual games at St. Johns. At Penn State we have the exact same situation. Rec Hall holds only 8,000 but when we had basketball there, the fans were literally on top of you and so packed together the place actually rumbled. It was a great home court advantage. Now we still get 9,000 – 10,000 fans a game but in a 16,000 seater Bryce Jordan Center, it looks extremely empty and hollow. Luckily for you guys, you can still fill St. Johns. But we’re trying to find a way to move a couple games back to Rec Hall again as a tradition. I enjoyed watching you guys play Cal in St. John’s, it was loud even on TV.
totally agree. Schottenstein Center is cozy (not that cozy), but it’s just so… boring. It’s much easier to sit down in the Schott (not that easy if you measure in over 6’0, as I do), but that’s not the point of watching a basketball game, as St. John makes explicit because it’s very difficult to sit down there. The Schott is a performance arena; St. John is a basketball arena. I understand there’s issues of luxury seating, contracts and money that prohibit a full time move back to St John (I’ll keep hope alive, though), but surely a game or three (or more… please) a season would be just enough gimmick for extra interest and perhaps additional revenue. I’ll even go so far as to say when St. John is rocking, it’s among the most intimidating places in college hoops. The Schott will just never be that.
Oh, and I agree. You Penn Staters really should move back into Rec Hall for a few games at least. That place just looks too cool to be as underutilized for national TV events like basketball. If Rec Hall isn’t the textbook example of “gymnasium” inside and out, I don’t know what is.
Regards.