More turnovers than field goals
The story of the game was best summed in the first 10 minutes, where the Buckeyes had 9 turnovers in the aforementioned 10 minutes of play. Down 21-10, the Buckeyes would be playing from behind no less than 8 for the rest of the game.
When the offense wasn’t turning the ball over, it wasn’t necessarily putting it in the basket. BJ Mullens led Ohio State with 14 points (6/8) and chipped in 7 rebounds (4 offensive). However, most of those points came in the second part of the second half, when Ohio State was on the fringe of a 20 point deficit (in short: prolonged garbage time). William Buford was second in scoring with 13, albeit a product of 5/14 shooting. Evan Turner, one of the top scorers in the conference, had 4 points and 10 rebounds, the former a result of 2/7 shooting. Jeremie Simmons finished 2/8 from the field, along with 3 turnovers. Jon Diebler was absent from the scoring festivities until midway through the second half, ultimately finishing with 6 points.
On defense? Well, Illinois found something working for it around the key of the Buckeyes’ zone defense. Demetri McCamey finished with 13 points and 3 unwelcome daggers from outside the arc. Mike Tisdale scored at will, en route to 15 points for the game. Dominique Keller and Mike Davis finished with 12 points and 8 points respectively.
Again, turnovers, in conjunction with awful shooting, frantic offense and jumpshots aplenty for the opposition aren’t conducive to picking up road wins in conference. I don’t think I need to say much on top of that.
Miscellaneous Observations
- If I wanted to know what Barack Obama said or did during the inauguration or corollary festivities, I would turn on CNN. But since I wanted to watch the Buckeyes (hopefully not) be on the ass-end of an ass-kicking, I turned on ESPN. ESPN, short for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is a network that caters to a specialized audience (sports fans), an assertion made self-evident by the aforementioned name of the network. I did not see politics or current events anywhere in the program description for the Ohio State-Illinois game on my Comcast box, nor do I see it in the company charter. Why is ESPN struggling with this?
- PJ Hill is kind of fun to watch on defense. On offense? Well… hmm…
- I noticed BJ Mullens telling the crowd to shush after he made his first field goal. That is okay only when you don’t commit 4 turnovers, don’t go 2/9 from the charity stripe and your team doesn’t get spanked by 18 points. Until that time, get the hell back on defense and be quiet… and then taunt when your team is victorious. By all means do it.
1) I’m assuming you meant 9 “turnovers” rather than 9 “minutes” in the second paragraph.
2) Regardless of what you might think, Barack Obama’s inauguration is significant enough that it crosses typical social boundaries. Furthermore, President Obama is FROM the state of Illinois and was a representative in the Illinois House and US House from a nearby district before becoming a US Senator. Do you really see no possible connection here?
Relevance to the new president, as broadcast by ESPN, should only apply to his athletic exploits, which I believe are not significant.
“2) Regardless of what you might think, Barack Obama’s inauguration is significant enough that it crosses typical social boundaries. Furthermore, President Obama is FROM the state of Illinois and was a representative in the Illinois House and US House from a nearby district before becoming a US Senator. Do you really see no possible connection here?”
Shut up. It shouldn’t be on ESPN but it is because most media outlets are liberal strongholds and they are on Obama’s jock like he has already done something significant or important besides being black. He is FROM America as we all are and there aren’t social boundaries when your talking about the Prez. I don’t want my game interrupted unless the Chinese are launching on us. It’s a SPORTS network. S-P-O-R-T-S.
And clearly this is the CRETIN network. C-R-E-T-I-N.
I am a asking that you please do not use words that could possibly confuse me. Cretin isn’t a word that you hear very often. Jeff Foxworthy wouldn’t use it so how do you expect me to keep up? Cut me some slack….I’m a Republican.
Go Bucks!