Our Honor Defend

It wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty, but it was never really in doubt either.  The important thing is that, unlike last year’s frustrating loss to Siena, the Buckeyes took care of business in the opening round and will advance to the Round of 32 to play Georgia Tech, the winner of the 7-10 matchup played before the Buckeyes tipped.

It depends on how you want to look at this one.  Does it really matter that the Buckeyes did not blow the doors off the Gauchos?  They did not have a game like Wisconsin and Michigan State had earlier in the day, but it was not exactly dominant.  Further, our Naismith candidate, Evan Turner, had a game he will likely want to forget.  A point of emphasis for the Gauchos the whole game, Evan Turner was effectively harassed for the 37 minutes he played.  He did not the turn the ball over too much (four on the game), but nothing was falling for Turner from the field.  He made one of his first shots in the game and wriggled loose in transition for a layup late in the game, but his jumpshots just were not falling and it got progressively worse.  We hope this is a one game skid as the caliber of competition improves greatly from here forward, but it was unfortunate.  That said, even when Turner struggles with the jumper, he leaves his footprint on the game elsewhere.  2/14 from the field, Turner nevertheless finished with 9 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.  Perhaps frustrated, he was taken out of the game with 3+ minutes remaining and the Buckeyes sitting on a comfortable 18 point lead.

The stars of the game were Dallas Lauderdale and Jon Diebler.  Dallas Lauderdale played probably his best game of the season, even considering the competition.  He barricaded the paint and effectively said that none shall pass.  He almost had a double-double this game, while only having four points (12 rebounds, 8 blocks).  He even blocked that 7’3 stiff that the Gauchos had on the court.  Further, with Turner ice cold from the floor, Jon Diebler was red hot.  Playing with “flu-like symptoms” and his status sort of uncertain (“How long? How hard?” type of questions), Diebler finished 8/13 from the field, including 7/11 from behind the arc.  The always dangerous William Buford finished with 16 points and was 6/11 from the floor.

Not exactly a performance to be remembered (sans Lauderdale’s accolades), but the Buckeyes took care of business.  They won this game on defense alone, holding the Gauchos to 31% from the floor.  How the Buckeyes match up with the length and depth of a streaky Georgia Tech team on Sunday will be worth watching.