MSU grad Chris Hansen would like you to have a seat right over there.

It’s a battle for first place in the B1G as the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes (21-3, 9-2) host No. 12 Michigan State (19-5, 8-3) at 6 p.m. tomorrow at The Schott. The Buckeyes will look to stay on top of the conference standings, with Sparty right behind, just a half game ahead of Wisconsin and TTUN. Ohio State has won six straight since falling at Illinois. The Spartans have won their last two, also after a road loss against the Illini. Everyone kind of forgot about the Spartans after they lost to North Carolina and Duke early in the season, but they are formidable. Even so, Sparty is 4-3 on the road this season, and has lost its last three, all in B1G play, at Nerdwestern, TTUN and Illinois. However, those three losses were only by a combined nine points, with seven of those deciding points coming in Evanston. The stakes are pretty high, and a this game will put the winner in the driver’s seat for the B1G race. It will also set up a huge rematch in the Izzone on March 4 in the season finale. An OSU win would give the Buckeyes a two-game lead with seven games remaining.

Ohio State won the lone meeting last season, 71-61 in Columbus. Kalin Lucas scored 14 for Sparty, but the Buckeyes held Draymond Green to 10 points and six rips. Dayton-Jefferson Township grad Adreian Payne also had 10 off the bench. Buford went off for 23 for the Buckeyes, with Jon Diebler (12), David Lighty (12) and Jared Sullinger (11) also reaching doubles. You may recall that the Spartans did a nice job on Sully, holding him to well below his 18-point average and only two rebounds. Green is a legit POY candidate and it will be interesting to see how the Buckeyes defend him. Ohio State has a three-game winning streak against Michigan State and has won the last two meetings in Columbus. However, Sparty holds the overall series, 58-51. The Buckeyes are 33-21 in Columbus. When both teams are ranked, the series is split, 4-4.

Green (#23) is typically the first name you hear in any discussion of Sparty hoops, and with good reason. He’s eighth among B1G scorers (15.2 PPG), first in rebounding (10.6 RPG) and ninth in assists per game (3.6). The 6-7 senior forward also ranks highly in the conference in steals per game (ninth), blocks per game (10th), and assist/turnover ratio (13th). He is simply Sparty’s best player. That’s not to say that MSU is a one-man band. He simply plays the loudest instrument. Sophomore point guard Keith Appling (#11) averages 11.8 points and 94 assists. His 1.7 assist/turnover ratio is eighth in the league. Freshman guard Branden Dawson (#22) scores 8.9 per game and is second in rebounding, with a 4.7 average. Dawson, a McDonald’s All-American, is an athletic, 6-6 wing player who gets inside, having attempted only three triples all season (missing all of them). Payne (#5) is a 6-10 sophomore who will present a matchup problem for Sullinger if last year’s meeting is any indication. Payne averages 7.0 points and 4.1 rebounds. He and junior center Derrick Nix (#25) will be asked to bang Sully. The other guard spot will be occupied by a combination of Brandon Wood (#30) and Austin Thornton (#13). Wood averages 8.8 points per game and hits his deep shots at a 36.6% clip. Thornton hits over 41% of his threes. But freshman guard Travis Trice (#20) is Sparty’s biggest deep threat (42.6%).

Ohio State wins if: Sullinger can score and rebound his average, the Buckeyes lock down Appling’s dribble drive, and Buford continues to play like he did against Purdue. Aaron Craft will have to play his usual defense, rather than the aberrant performance we saw on Tuesday. Buford’s shooting is crucial to helping unclog the middle for Sully, and if someone else could have a big offensive game it would certainly help. I’m talking something in the neighborhood of 20 for DeShaun Thomas or 12-15 from Lenzelle Smith Jr. Craft scored seven against Sparty as a freshman, and it would be helpful if he can hit a few shots. We hope Purdue served as a wakeup call and we see a more focused and intense group of Buckeyes.

Sparty wins if: Payne and Nix combine to shut down Sullinger, Green does his usual thing and the MSU guards can hit a few outside jumpers. Michigan State likes to attack the basket, which is easier to do if the defense has to worry about your jump shooters. Wood and Green on the floor together could create problems because of their size and athletic ability against who will be guarding them, which I expect will have to be Thomas and Buford. Thad Matta may be forced to use more of Evan Ravenel and possibly even Amir Williams in spurts for this kind of team. Izzo is likely to try to take away Sully and make the other four win the game. Matta has to counter by limiting Green on the other end.

Notes: The game can be seen on ESPN with Dave O’Brien and Dan Dakich on the call…Sully has been added to the watch list of 20 for the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy, given annually to that organization’s national player of the year…Ohio State is 5-2 against ranked opponents this season, with a 4-0 home mark…Buford averages 16.5 points and 5.2 rebounds against Sparty.

Despite a great performance from Ashley Adams, Ohio State came up short at Illinois.

After getting back to winning by defeating Wisconsin on Monday night, the Ohio State women’s basketball team headed to Urbana-Champaign tonight to face Illinois.  Even though the Illini only had 2 conference wins coming into tonight, they are a much better team that their record suggests.  They have been in almost every Big Ten game they’ve played and gave the Buckeyes a stiff test in Columbus a few weeks ago.

Ohio State got out to an early 10-6 lead with just less than four minutes having run off the clock but Illinois quickly showed that they are better than their record as they scored 12 straight to take an 18-10 lead with just over twelve minutes remaining in the half.  The next two and half minutes saw the Buckeyes attack the inside and go on an 8 to 3 run to cut the Illini lead to 21-18.  Illinois extended the lead back to 8 only to have OSU come right back and cut the lead to 26-24 with just under seven minutes left on the clock.  The Illini would stretch the lead back to 8 but the Buckeyes cut into that a little right before the end of the half, sending the two teams in the intermission with Illinois holding a 34-29 lead.

Both teams shot pretty much equally well, 48% for OSU vs 46% for the Illini, but Illinois held a 15 to 9 advantage on the boards, including 6 offensive rebounds.  The good shooting percentage did not apply to all of the Buckeyes as Samantha Prahalis struggled with her shot, going 1 of 7.  Fortunately the Buckeye frontcourt picked up the slack as Ashley Adams scored 12 points and Darryce Moore came off the bench to add 6.

The two teams opened the second half by trading baskets and with fifteen and a half left in the game Illinois lead 40-35.  OSU quickly put up 6 straight to take a 41-40 lead, their first since early in the first half, only to see the Illini hit a basket to take the lead right back.  A Tayler Hill three-pointer and another Illinois basket tied the game at 44 before the Buckeyes turned it up a notch, going on a 12 to 0 run to take a 56-44 lead with just under 9 minutes remaining in the game.  Illinois was not done, answering back with a 12 to 0 run of their own to knot the game at 56 with just under five minutes remaining.  Each team hit a pair of free throws before Tayler Hill hit a three-pointer to give OSU back the lead, a Prahalis basket stretched that lead to 63-58 with just over two minutes remaining.  Illinois came right back with 6 straight to take a 64-63 lead with 39 seconds left on the clock.  After an OSU timeout, Tayler Hill hit a jumper to put the Buckeyes up 65-64 with twenty seconds remaining.   That was too much time to leave on the clock though as Illinois came down and hit the game winner to hand the Buckeyes their third loss of the season, 66-65.

Ohio State shot well, hitting 50% from the floor including going 6 of 12 from beyond the arc.  Tayler Hill led the team with 20 points and added 5 assists.  Ashley Adams added 18 points in one of her best offensive performances ever.  Adams also grabbed 8 boards, got 5 blocks, and contributed 4 assists.  After struggling with her shot in the first half, Samantha Prahalis had a much better second half, scoring 17 points and adding 7 assists.  Darryce Moore added 8 and Amber Stokes contributed the other 2 Buckeye points.

Despite their good shooting Ohio State was undone by their defense and their inability to take care of the ball.  The Buckeyes turned the ball over 21 times as Illinois came up with 13 steals.  Illinois turned these turnovers into 20 points.  OSU forced 19 turnovers which was good but they allowed the Illini to shoot 44% from the floor.

Tonight’s loss was only the third of the season for Ohio State, several less that was expected before the season started, but it is their second in the last three games.  All three of the Buckeye losses have come on the road and two of them have come to teams in the bottom half of the conference, Minnesota and Illinois.  Tonight it looked like the Buckeyes would pull off another impressive comeback like they have several times this season but just when it seemed like they were in control they were undone by their own sloppy play.  You can’t win a game when you commit 21 turnovers and a team with the experience at the guard position like this team has should not be committing anywhere near that many turnovers.  The fact that the three losses this season have been for different reasons and that they have all come on the road suggest that the issues with this team are mental, mostly related to focus.  It is possible that the strong start to the season made the team overconfident and complacent but at this point that has to be gone now.  The Buckeyes have shown that they can play amazing basketball in stretches but they also go through some very bad stretches, even in games that they have won.

I had lamented after the last game about the need for players besides Hill and Prahalis to step up and contribute and it was good to see Adams answer that call but the rest of the team needs to follow suit.  Tonight’s loss dropped Ohio State out of first place and raises many questions about this team’s ability to play on the road.  The Buckeyes will get a chance to redeem themselves on Sunday as they host conference leading Purdue and how the team plays in that game will say a lot about whether they can learn from these losses and not waste an amazing start to the season.  The game against the Boilermakers tips at 5:00pm and will be shown on ESPN2.

Aaron Craft sealed the deal with his late game of keepaway and his clutch free throws. (Photo by Jim Davidson, the-ozone.net)

This week the Buckeye Blogger Network is taking you inside Ohio State’s 87-84 white knuckle home win over Purdue on Tuesday night. Our friends at The Buckeye Battle Cry, The Buckeye Blog, Buckeye House Call, Men of the Scarlet and Gray and The Silver Bullet will each bring you an in-depth look at one Buckeye and their contributions to Ohio State’s 39th consecutive home win, which was a lot closer than most of us expected. Here at Our Honor Defend, we’ll be focusing on—you guessed it—Aaron Craft, our favorite dreamboat point guard and the man that fans of other B1G teams love to hate (but secretly pine for).

In an overall sense, Tuesday night did not represent Craft’s best outing as a collegiate shooty hoops player. However, the Buckeye sophomore and Cousy Award candidate did make significant contributions to the win over the Boilermakers, despite getting into some (phantom) foul trouble. Craft finished with a decent stat line: 13 points, three boards and two assists, making all three of his field goal attempts (one triple) and six of his seven free throw attempts. From a shooting percentage standpoint alone, this was one of Craft’s better games of the season. He did turn the ball over twice and committed was whistled for four fouls, and also was shut out in the steals department, which is a rarity. Our goal here is to step outside the numbers and break down his game in more detail.

First we’ll look at the problem area, which, incredibly, was his on-ball defense. Craft seemed surprised at the speed with which Purdue guards Lewis Jackson and Kelsey Barlow attacked the rim. As we’ve watched Craft through his first season and a half, we have learned that he doesn’t lack for quickness. So what was the problem? Well, it could have been any number of things or a combination. As a sophomore, it’s possible he had a rare letdown in a game sandwiched between an emotional win at Wisconsin and an upcoming first-place battle with Michigan State. It may be he was expecting something completely different due to the way Thad Matta constructed his game plan, or that he was expecting help from areas where no help came. Certainly there were other defensive problems that contributed to Craft looking so bad at times, namely the slow and indecisive actions of those players defending the screener. I’d call that a factor, at least. Or, knowing our Academic All-District, rosy-cheeked wonder, maybe he was tired from studying (he had an exam scheduled for Wednesday).

Entering the game as a 66% free throw shooter, Craft drilled six of seven to help sink Purdue. (Jim Davidson, the-ozone.net)

Whatever the reason, it wasn’t all bad. Craft’s defense on inbound plays and off the ball in the half court was pretty good. And he did have some successful defensive possessions where he forced the guard to kick the ball out, pick up his dribble or back out. The one thing I’d have liked is for Craft to have forced Jackson to his weaker left side, but this again could have been better accomplished by effective teamwork by the man defending the screener. You also have to credit Purdue for spreading the floor well and establishing good motion in its half court offense. It was a good game plan and the Boilermakers executed it better than even they probably thought they could. I thought Craft played particularly well when reinserted late in the game, when Ohio State forced some tough shots. He also boxed out well on rebounds, and pulled down a few boards in between two much larger Purdue opponents, including Robbie Hummel.

Offensively, we got more than the usual point production from Craft. Most of that came in a three-minute span in the first half. Barlow had just blown past Craft and dunked over Jared Sullinger. Visibly upset with himself, Craft went on the offensive, hitting a jumper to put Ohio State back on top 26-25 just 6:57 before the break. After Sandi Marcius missed two free throws, Craft found Lenzelle Smith Jr. who knocked down a three-pointer, and then he hit a bomb of his own playing a two-man game with Sully on the very next possession. In the next minute, he grabbed a tough rebound in traffic, drove to the rim, drawing a foul on Terone Johnson, and knocked down both freebies to extend the OSU lead to nine, 34-25. Although the Boilermakers knotted the score at 40 at the half, Craft had made up for a few defensive lapses by pushing the team offensively through sheer determination of will. He led the Buckeyes with 10 first-half points, grabbed all three of his rebounds and both assists.

The second half was a bit tougher. Just eight seconds after the break, Craft was whistled for fouling Barlow on a dunk. I won’t argue the foul, but it was pretty soft and Barlow probably knew nothing about it. Two minutes later, he fouled Barlow again. Over the next four minutes, Craft was content to run the offense, pass, and let William Buford, DeShaun Thomas and Smith take the shots. He tried getting the ball into Sullinger but Purdue did a nice job of denying and doubling on the OSU big man. With 12:46 remaining he was called for a foul on Terone Johnson and Matta replaced him with Shannon Scott.

After a brief rest, Craft returned, only to quickly pick up another touch foul, again on Barlow. There was still 9:18 to play and Barlow’s free throws tied the game at 64. The foul trouble completely took Craft out of the game in the second half. When he was eventually reinserted late in a close game, however, he made some of his biggest contributions. Buford’s late game heroics gave Ohio State a little breathing room, but it was Craft who killed the game off. For some odd reason, Matta used Buford to inbound the ball after made Purdue baskets. Buford is Ohio State’s best free throw shooter and Matta essentially took him off the floor. Buford usually inbounded to Craft, who hit three of four from the stripe in the final minute to keep the Boilermakers at bay. He also used his speed to streak down the sideline and kill precious seconds, including the last few after Hummel’s long three made it a one-possession game with eight seconds to play. Craft accepted the inbound pass and outran the Boilers down the left sideline until time expired.

Though he’d be the first to tell you that it wasn’t his best game of the year, Ohio State could not have won the game without Craft’s contributions. Being the student that he is, Craft will learn from the game tapes and Tuesday’s contest will make him an even better player in the future.

Check out the rest of the Buckeye Blogger Network as we put the Purdue game under the BBN Hoops Microscope:

The Buckeye Battle Cry – BBN Hoops Microscope: Lenzelle Smith Jr. vs. Purdue
The Buckeye Blog – Buford Steps Up in Close Win Over Purdue
Buckeye House Call – BBN Hoops Microscope: Sully vs. Purdue
Men of the Scarlet and Gray – BBN Hoops Microscope: Coaching Staff vs. Purdue
The Silver Bullet – BBN Hoops Microscope: Deshaun Thomas vs. Purdue

William Buford saved his best game of the season for when Ohio State needed it most. Here he scores over Ryne Smith.

If the No. 3 Buckeyes are to have a deep run in the NCAA tournament, they may be able to point to tonight’s 87-84 nail-biting win over Purdue as a pivotal moment. It may end up being the moment that William Buford found his groove. The OSU senior scored a career high 29 points, grabbed seven rebounds and did not turn the ball over to lead Ohio State (21-3, 9-2) to victory. The WB passed Jim Jackson on the school’s all-time scoring list during a 21-point second half. He scored seven straight points with under five minutes remaining to snap a 73-all tie and push the OSU lead to 80-73 with 2:58 remaining. His filthy step-back triple over Robbie Hummel capped the run and the lead never shrunk below four again until Hummel’s desperation bomb with eight ticks left.

Ohio State played their worst defensive game in weeks, but you have to credit Purdue (15-9, 5-6). They forced Jared Sullinger to defend laterally on the perimeter and ball screened the Buckeyes to death, getting lots of easy baskets. When the baskets weren’t easy, D.J. Byrd was having a career night with 24 points, hitting 7-9 outside the arc, including all five attempts in the first half. If not for second-half foul trouble, Byrd may have tipped the scales the same way Brandon Paul did at Illinois. Byrd wasn’t the only one in foul trouble. Aaron Craft and Jared Sullinger sat extended minutes in the second half with four apiece. That’s when Buford put the team on his back and went to work.

Matt Painter’s strategy of benching seniors Lewis Jackson and Ryne Smith seemed to backfire at first, as Ohio State stormed out to a 7-0 lead. But Painter called timeout and the Boilermakers responded, scoring the next seven. Byrd started things with a triple, then Hummel and Smith scored on jumpers. The Buckeyes went on short spurts throughout the first half, but Purdue clawed back with the three ball and blow-by layups. Craft got victimized a few times, but there was no help defense behind him, with Sully outside on the screener. Kelsey Barlow went past Craft for a dunk to put Purdue up 25-24 and the Buckeyes went on a 12-0 run, fueled by an angry seven by the rosy-cheeked wonder. Just as it appeared the Buckeyes would break the game open, Byrd bombed in another one to spark a 15-4 run to close the first half. Ohio State helped by blowing four free throws during that final 3:28.

The 40-40 game was about as even as the score indicated. Both teams were on fire and shooting better than 60%. Each team was hitting better than 62% beyond the arc, with Purdue hitting a sick 7-10. Rebounds were 10 apiece. It was not a great half of defensive basketball. And the second half started the same, with Barlow starting things with an uncontested jam just eight seconds after the break.

From there, the game see-sawed but neither team could pull away. The Boilers grabbed a four-point advantage on Terone Johnson’s layup, but DeShaun Thomas hit a layup off an offensive rebound, then hit a triple. Purdue scored the next four, but Buford knocked down two freebies and Thomas drilled an and-one to counter a Jacob Lawson dunk. The Buckeyes led by just three with more than seven minutes remaining when Sully got nailed for a blocking foul outside the three-point line. It was his fourth and came just two minutes after Craft received his fourth. With Shannon Scott and Sam Thompson looking too timid to shoot and not liking the option of Evan Ravenel, Buford took the ball to the rack and his miss was tipped home by Ravenel. Then the senior took over the game for a minute and a half of game time that seemed like half an hour.

After the Buford barrage put the Buckeyes ahead 80-73, Jackson scored on a layup and Byrd came off the bench to hit one of two freebies, cutting the lead to 80-75 with 1:07 remaining. Craft hit one of two at the other end with just under a minute left when things got crazy. In a scrum that included four Purdue misses, Byrd came over the top of Sullinger and crushed him. Sully came off bleeding from the nose and barely able to walk after landing on his tailbone. Presented without comment: there was no foul on the play. After the inbound and more Purdue misses, the ball squirted out to Buford, who iced the game with a dunk, 83-76. Byrd and Hummel made two more bombs down the stretch, but Craft and Thomas knocked down all four free throws to counter the threat. Craft outran the entire Purdue team off the final inbound to kill the clock.

Sullinger’s status for Saturday’s tilt with Michigan State will be scrutinized this week. Sully finished with 18 points (11 in the second half), six rebounds, a block and an assist. Craft and Thomas added 13 points each, with the former getting 10 before halftime. Tank also hauled in five rebounds. Scott and Thompson played well in extended minutes, but combined for just two points. Both played pretty well defensively and Scott set up Sullinger’s two handed flush with a great pass in traffic. Four Boilers reached double figures, led by Byrd’s 24. Jackson and Barlow scored 14 each and Hummel added 13 points and eight rips. Buford was 10-17 (3-6 outside the arc) and was the game’s only starter who didn’t commit a foul. Purdue will lament shooting nine fewer free throws than Ohio State, but the Boilers hit only 68% (17-25) from the stripe anyway.

Notes: It was close, but Ohio State extends the nation’s second longest home winning streak to 39 games. Purdue is the last team to beat the Buckeyes in Columbus, in 2010…Buford’s next target is Michael Redd in fifth place, 84 points ahead…Buford is 12 rebounds shy of 600 for his career.

1928 Purdue grad Orville Redenbacher (degree in agronomy) urges you to get your popcorn ready for tonight's game.

No. 3 Ohio State (20-3, 8-2) goes after its sixth straight win when the Buckeyes host Purdue (15-8, 5-5) at The Schott tonight at 9. Jared Sullinger is fresh off his 24/10 performance at Wisconsin, earning co-B1G POW honors with Nerdwestern’s John Shurna. For Sully, that’s two POW awards so far this season. It’s the only regular season meeting between the schools, which split two games last year, each winning at home. Ohio State is just 76-83 in the all-time series against Purdue (adjusted for vacated, but not forgotten, victories), but 51-28 at home. As a ranked team, the Buckeyes are 22-4 against the Boilers, and Ohio State has claimed 10 of the last 11 meetings in Columbus (unadjusted numbers, just for fun). Hopefully ESPN’s early game won’t go into overtime and cause us to miss the start. Mike Tirico and Dan Dakich have the call.

The Boilermakers look a bit different this year, with the departures of JaJuan Johnson and E’twaun Moore—both to the NBA’s Boston Celtics—and the return of 12th-year senior Robbie Hummel (#4). Hummel is the only Boiler averaging double figures (15.2). He’s the B1G’s sixth leading scorer. It’s easy to forget because of his history of injuries, but Hummel is a very good all-around player. Hummel leads Purdue in rebounding (6.2 RPG), is sixth in the conference in blocks (31), and is second on the team in assists (42). Senior guard Lewis Jackson (#23) scores 9.9 points and is sixth in the conference with 3.9 assists per game. LewJack is the team’s co-leader in steals (29). Senior guard Ryne Smith (#24) hits 41% of his shots outside the arc and chips in 9.3 points per game.

Hummel, Jackson and Smith most likely will be joined in the starting lineup by sophomore forward Travis Carroll (#50) and junior guard Kelsey Barlow (#12), though those spots have been a bit fluid at times. Sophomore guard Terone Johnson (#0) is another option. Barlow scores 8.2 points per game and is a pretty good rebounder. He’s also tied with Jackson for the team’s steals lead. Carroll averages less than 17 minutes per game despite getting 11 starts. This is probably because he doesn’t score much (2.8 PPG) or grab a lot of rebounds for a big guy (3.1 avg.). Johnson scores 7.4 points on average. Junior guard/forward D.J. Byrd (#21) is a three-point specialist off the bench, averaging 41.1% from deep.

Purdue is just 1-3 in its last four games, and 3-3 on the road overall this season. The Boilermakers, coming off a 78-61 loss to in-state rival Indiana on Saturday, were blown out in two of those games and lost by a single bucket at home against TTUN. The main problems for Purdue this season seem to be rebounding and defensive field goal percentage. In other words, they don’t get a lot of second chances on offense, allow second-chance points on defense, and are allowing opponents to shoot an average of 42.5%. The Boilers are fifth in scoring offense, seventh in scoring defense and fifth in average scoring margin (+7). Purdue ranks fifth in the league in steals and fourth in blocked shots per game. The Boilers are only 11th in 3FG defense, but Ohio State isn’t a particularly good three-point shooting team (9th, 32.9%), so that shouldn’t cause them too much difficulty unless Smith, Buford or Thomas get unexpectedly hot from out there.

Ohio State wins if: they continue to play as a team and do the things they’ve been doing well. Team defense has been the main reason for the current five-game winning streak. The Buckeyes have not allowed more than 24 points in the first half of any game since the loss at Illinois. If that trend continues, and if Sully, Thomas and Buford do their usual thing, Ohio State should prevail, possibly in a lopsided fashion. It would help if the Buckeyes take care of the ball, don’t get key players into foul trouble and shoot a decent percentage, but I think they could actually survive at least one of those three things. It will be interesting to see who Thad Matta puts on Robbie Hummel, defensively. With his size and variety of skills, Hummel could provide matchup problems. Smith may be best suited for it, although at 6-4 he’d be giving up four inches. The 6-6 Buford may get the assignment, or Matta may need to use a combined approach.

Purdue wins if: Ohio State comes out complacent, turns the ball over, shoots poorly and/or gets into foul trouble. The Boilermakers have a shot at the road upset if they hit the glass and shoot particularly well outside the arc (and they are third in the B1G, averaging 7.6 triples per game). If someone like Smith or Byrd gets hot, it could be problematic for Ohio State. The Buckeyes can’t count on Purdue to make things easy by giving it away cheaply. Purdue is second in the league to Ohio State in turnover margin (+5.04) and second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4). Aaron Craft on Lewis Jackson will be a key battle in the game.

Notes: William Buford needs 19 points to catch Jim Jackson for sixth on the all-time OSU scoring list…DeShaun Thomas has scored in double figures 20 times this season, more than any other Buckeye…Aaron Craft is 11 assists shy of 300 for his career…Sullinger averages a double-double at home this season (17.3/10.1).

Prahalis was not impressed by the Wisconsin defense as she scored a career-high 34 points.

In their last outing Ohio State suffered an upset at Minnesota for their second loss of the season.  In that game the Buckeyes struggled to hit shots or come up with defensive stops at key moments.  It has been 8 days since that loss and OSU has had plenty of time to work on fixing its weaknesses and tonight’s game against Wisconsin promised to show how well the Buckeyes took advantage of that long layoff.

Samantha Prahalis is the lone senior for Ohio State and she seemed to be particularly determined to get the Buckeyes back on the winning track as she scored the first six points of the game as the Buckeyes got out to a quick 8-0 lead.  Wisconsin was not intimidated though as they quickly responded by knocking down a trio of three point shots to go on an 11 to 3 run to tie the game up at 11.  OSU came right back though, taking advantage of some Wisconsin turnovers to go on a 16 to 2 run to take a 27-13 lead with six minutes remaining in the half.  The Badgers responded by taking advantage a few Buckeye miscues and forced shots to go on a 10 to 2 run to cut the OSU lead to 29-23.  Ohio State closed out the half on a 6 to 2 run to go into the locker room leading 35-25.

The Ohio State defense did a phenomenal job defending the inside in the first half.  The Badgers rarely got open looks inside the arc and even when they thought they had an open look center Ashley Adams did a great job of recovering from being out of position to come up with a block.  In fact as a team the Buckeyes did a great job of getting blocks, finishing the half with 7, Adams recording 4 of those.  Wisconsin did find some success from the outside, finding open looks to go 5 of 9 from behind the arc though at the end of the half OSU stepped its perimeter defense.  The Buckeyes also did a much better job on the boards, out-rebounding the Badgers 20 to 16 in the first half.  No discussion of the first half would be complete without mentioning the performance of Samantha Prahalis who simply dominated the first 20 minutes, scoring 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting while also dishing out 3 assists.

The two teams opened the second half by trading baskets; Wisconsin continued to find success from outside while Ohio State scored from both inside and outside.  Eventually the Badgers managed to score 7 straight to cut the Buckeye lead to 3, 49-46, with twelve minutes left in the game.  With the momentum in danger of completely swinging to the Badgers, Ohio State did as they have done so many times this season, digging deep and coming up with a huge run to retake control of the game.  This time the Buckeyes put together a 16 to 3 run to extend their lead to 65-49 with just under five minutes remaining in the game.  Wisconsin could never get the lead back below 11 as Ohio State cruised to a 72-58 victory.

Samantha Prahalis led all scorers with 34 points while also dishing out 5 assists and grabbing 4 steals.  Prahalis’s scoring helped her hit two big milestones tonight, her 34 points is a new career high and she has now moved into 5^th place on Ohio State’s all-time scoring list, passing Averrill Roberts.  Tayler Hill was the only other Buckeye to reach double-digits in scoring, putting 18 points despite struggling a bit with her shot, Hill also recorded 2 blocks.  Ashley Adams only scored 2 points but was a dominant presence on the defensive end as she swatted 5 Badger shots while pulling down 10 rebounds.

As a team Ohio State shot 47% from the floor, going 6 of 12 from three-point range.  While the Buckeye defense struggled to defend the outside, allowing the Badger’s to go 12 of 24 from beyond the arc, they did a great job on the inside, limiting Wisconsin to shooting 32% from inside.  OSU came up with 8 steals while forcing 22 Wisconsin turnovers.  The Buckeyes also came up with an amazing 12 blocks, prompting the BTN announcers to spend way too much time coming up with corny ‘block party’ lines.

Tonight’s game was a game of run and while Ohio State did a great job defensively on the whole, there were stretches where they did a poor job of getting off ball screens and thus allowed Wisconsin to have open looks from outside the arc.  However every time Wisconsin got close or tied the game, the Buckeye defense tightened up and came up with stops while their offense came up with the baskets needed to quickly re-extend the lead.  I would like to see more scoring from players besides Hill and Prahalis.  Tonight the rest of the team had opportunities but they struggled with their shots, going 9 of 24.  The fact that they are getting shots is a good sign and hopefully they will start to knock them down.

After a tough loss to Minnesota in their last outing, it was great to see Ohio State come out with much more energy in this one, especially on the defensive end.  The Buckeyes made some great defensive plays, much to the delight of a crowd that was very loud and enthusiastic.  With this win OSU improves to 8-2 in the Big Ten and moves into a tie for first place with Purdue and conference newcomer Nebraska.  Ohio State returns to action on Thursday as they visit an Illinois team that challenged them earlier in the season in Columbus.

It was this kind of game. Sully probably earned a bruise for every point he scored, but he left UMADison with a win. Dealt with.

Jared Sullinger played a full game in beast mode, with 24 points and 10 rebounds, leading No. 3 Ohio State (20-3, 8-2) to its first win at Wisconsin’s Kohl Center since 2000, 58-52. Wisconsin shooting just 18.5% (5-27) outside the arc, and hitting only two baskets in the final four minutes, was very helpful in snapping the nine game road skid in Madison. The Buckeyes had a lot to do with that, playing their best overall defensive game of the season, but even when the looks were open, the Badgers couldn’t knock down their shots. Ohio State didn’t fare particularly well outside the circle either, hitting only 14.3%, but the Buckeyes attempted only seven bombs all night. The Badgers (18-6, 7-4) defended as if Jon Diebler and David Lighty were still on the team. The OSU guards got the ball inside and Sully and DeShaun Thomas did most of the damage, scoring 40 of the team’s 58 points. You could say that Sully’s play hocked a gigantic figurative loogie on Badger Nation.

Wisconsin’s big outside threats simply didn’t threaten. Jordan Taylor, Jared Berggren, Josh Gasser, Ben Brust and Mike Bruesewitz combined to go 4-22 from long range. Some of those shots were well-defended, some were forced and some were rushed, but enough of them were open to easily overturn a 6-point final margin. Ohio State and Wisconsin played the slow-paced Badger style of basketball, but the Buckeyes did it better, attacking the rim and winning the rebounding battle (30-25, 9-7 on the offensive glass). Thomas’ 16 points were nice, but it was the six rebounds (four offensively) that really helped. William Buford took way too many shots to earn his 11 points (4-15), but he played great defense and hit a clutch triple and two big free throws down the stretch to keep Ohio State in front. He also grabbed six rebounds.

The Buckeyes and Badgers traded the lead throughout the first half, as Ryan Evans led Wisconsin with 10 points. Thomas seemed to be indecisive on whether to try to come out and risk the drive or play off and give up the jumper. Generally, he chose the latter and Evans made the Buckeyes pay on 5-8 shooting. Ohio State cleaned that up in the second half and Evans had only four more points after the break. Taylor failed to explode as he did in the second half of last year’s game in Madison, scoring only 12 points, despite opening the game with a bomb. Aaron Craft hounded him throughout the contest and forced him to use a lot of energy. Taylor had gone almost four full games worth of minutes without a turnover, but had three in the second half against Ohio State. Gingerwitz scored 11, mostly in the second half, to go along with 11 boards, and Berggren chipped in 10.

Though Ohio State did fail to do some of the things I thought they had to do to win, it was offset by poor long-range shooting by Wisconsin. Sully scored Ohio State’s first nine points, trading hoops with Taylor and Berggren, giving Ohio State an early 9-8 lead. Thomas hit sandwiched two buckets around an Evans jumper and Sullinger’s layup put the Buckeyes up 15-10 by the under-12 timeout. The Badgers came out of that timeout strong, scoring the next eight points. Berggren scored four of those. Sully and Buford fueled a 9-2 run to erase the Wisconsin lead. Ohio State’s four-point lead held at the half as the teams traded two baskets each and Brust missed a deep three at the buzzer.

The basket trading continued after halftime, only with more fouls and misses by both teams, until Berggren’s triple pulled Wisconsin within 32-31. Thomas scored the next four points and Sully drained two freebies to put OSU out front, 38-31. Bucky cut the lead to four before Lenzelle Smith Jr. hit a layup and-one. As the clock wound down under five minutes, the lead fluctuated between seven and four points. But Evans’ layup and Bruesewitz’s bomb brought the Badgers within one, 51-50. Things looked worse when Craft missed the front end of a one-and-one on the next possession, but Taylor made a rare turnover to give it back. Buford then hit his clutch triple and the crafty one hit his next two freebies to make it a six point game in the final minute. Taylor made a tough layup over Craft and Smith, but Buford then knocked down his free throws and Wisconsin could get no closer.

Thad Matta finally has his first win at the Kohl Center and the Buckeyes got a huge road victory in the race for the B1G regular season title. Matta reached 20 wins as a head coach for the 12th straight year. Ohio State gets back after it on Tuesday at home against Purdue.

Notes: Ohio State is now 5-2 against ranked teams this season and 1-2 on the road…The loss snapped Wisconsin’s six-game winning streak. The Buckeyes now own the B1G’s longest current streak, with five consecutive wins…Ohio State is 83-65 in the all-time series against Wisconsin, 28-43 in Madison, and 6-2 when both teams are ranked…Buford passed Jay Burson to move into seventh on the all-time OSU scoring list, and is now 19 points behind Jim Jackson for sixth…Ohio State has 20 wins for the eighth year in a row, tied for the second-longest streak in B1G history. Illinois has won 20 or more nine straight times once (1982-83 to 1990-91) and has another streak of eight (1999-00 to 2006-07) – h/t @BTNSportsGuy.

Wisconsin grad Don Ameche was Mortimer Duke. He’ll bet you one dollar the Badgers win. His cousin Alan won a Heisman Trophy at Sconnie.

No. 3 Ohio State (19-3, 7-2) tips off the more difficult second half of the B1G schedule at the Kohl Center in a 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon date with No. 19/20 Wisconsin (17-5, 7-3). The streaking Badgers have won six straight games, after starting the conference slate 1-3. Wisconsin has the longest current winning streak in the B1G. Ohio State is second, with four in a row. You’ll no doubt remember the last time the Buckeyes visited Madison. Jordan Taylor went HAM in the second half, the Badgers overcame a 15-point second half deficit, and someone spit on Jared Sullinger. In the wake of the Buckeyes having their 24-game winning streak snapped last year, Badgers coach Bo Ryan suggested Sully “deal with it” in regards to being spit on. Oh yes, there is so much hate right now between these teams and these schools. Bret Bielema’s recent remarks about Urban Meyer are not likely to lower the boil, and I really hope someone brings an umbrella for Sully after what happened last year. Dave O’Brien and Dan Dakich will call the war game.

The teams each won at home last year and the Kohl Center is a beast that Thad Matta has yet to tame. You have to go all the way back to March 14, 2003 for Ohio State’s last win in Madison, a 58-50 final in which Sean Connolly’s 21 points and Brent Darby’s 16 helped upset the No. 18 Badgers. The Kohl Center may be a tough nut to crack, but the Badgers have been unusually vulnerable there this season, losing three times at home already—to Marquette, Iowa (yes, Iowa), and Sparty (in overtime). The Marquette loss snapped a 23-game home winning streak. The Buckeyes are 82-65 in the all-time series, with a 27-43 mark in Madison. Ohio State is 5-2 against Wisconsin when both teams are ranked. Jared Sullinger averages 20 points and 10 rebounds against Bucky, with William Buford adding 12.7 points and five boards. Still, not many expect the Buckeyes to escape the Kohl with a W.

The Badger offense starts with senior point guard Jordan Taylor (#11) and his team-leading 14.1 points per game. He also distributes the ball well, with 99 assists against only 32 turnovers, second in the B1G only to Nerdwestern’s Dave Sobolewski in assist/turnover ratio. Taylor is a good defender, with 23 steals on the season, good for second on the team, and 4.2 boards per outing. The other main concern for Ohio State will be the emerging Jared Berggren (#40), who scores 10.5 points and pulls down 5.1 rebounds per contest. His 25 steals leads the team and the 6-10 redshirt junior forward/center is emerging as the new Jon Leuer, with his triple-threat ability to play in the paint, cut to the basket or drain a three-pointer (35.5% this season). Berggren is third in the B1G in blocks with 37. Junior guard/forward Ryan Evans (#5) adds 9.8 points per game and is fourth in the conference in rebounding (6.7 per game), with 5.1 of those coming on the defensive glass.

Starting sophomore guard Josh Gasser (#21) adds 7.7 points per game and is the B1G’s third-leading long-range shooter, hitting 28-57 (49.1%) beyond the arc, but fellow sophomore Ben Brust (#1) has drained 44 treys this season (38.6%), the fifth-most in the league. At 9.3 points per game, Brust is easily Wisconsin’s most dangerous bench player. Mike (Gingerwitz) Breusewitz (#31), who has shaved off the ginger clown hair, rounds out the starting lineup with 6.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

Ohio State wins if: it plays well for 40 minutes (meaning very limited turnovers, a good shooting percentage—probably above 50—and lock-down defense) and gets offensive contributions beyond Sullinger, Buford and DeShaun Thomas. The Buckeyes need Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith Jr., or someone off the bench to provide some unexpected points to survive the Kohl. That building has been a house of horrors for Ohio State and I’m honestly not expecting a win the way Wisconsin has been playing defense, but a victory is possible if the Buckeyes play hard throughout and execute on both ends of the floor. This means they can’t afford to waste possessions. If pressed for one guy who can turn the tide, I’d say Lenzelle Smith Jr. has to have a big game for Ohio State to win it.

Wisconsin wins if: it maintains the status quo on defense, hits a decent percentage from three-point range and rebounds well. The Badgers will ride the momentum of their home crowd as they often do, which means Ohio State will need to just stay in the game in the first half to have a chance. It’s tough to beat the Badgers if they build a big lead, because they have that watching-paint-dry, clock-bleeding style of deliberate offense and they play very good defense. Surprisingly, Wisconsin is 11th in the B1G in steals despite being a good defensive squad. If the Badgers force more than 10 turnovers, it would probably spell disaster for Ohio State.

Notes: The Buckeyes are 4-2 against ranked teams this season, but both of those losses were on the road (Kansas, Indiana)…A win would give Matta 12 consecutive 20-win seasons…Buford needs two points to pass Jay Burson for seventh on the all-time OSU scoring list. In sixth is Jim Jackson, who is 30 points ahead of Buford.

Come At Me Beilein!

In front of a sellout crowd during a “gray-out,” the Men’s Shooty Bucks took down their hated rivals in what can be described as a defensive slobberknocker. Both teams recorded more turnovers than assists, and as I noted in my preview, Craft shut down Trey Burke almost completely, limiting Burke to 13 points, 5 assists and causing 5 turnovers from the Columbus native.

Building off his performance against the Illini, Lenzelle Smith Jr. went HAM today, scoring 17 on 6-12 shooting while grabbing 12 boards including 8 on the offensive end. After the game, Smith noted “when Sullinger went out of the game (in the first half with two fouls) it was go time for me.” And go he did. Leading 4 starters with double figure scoring totals, Smith was the offensive spark plug in a game that featured very little offense.

TTUN seemed to adhere to the “prevent Sullinger from scoring in the post” gameplan, and executed it to perfection in the first half, holding the big man to just 5 points and a single rebound in the opening period. It was when Sully went to the bench in favor of Ravenel that Smith put this team on his back and brought the lead to 24-21 at the half, when the Buckeyes honored former team captains including JJ Sullinger, Matt Terwilliger, Jay Burson, and Scoonie Penn.

Whatever Matta said in between wads of gum in the locker room had an effect on the Bucks, who came out slinging in the second half to open the lead to 8. At that point, Ohio State never looked back and the lead never dropped below 7 for the rest of the game. While the first half saw a back and forth game with four ties and 7 lead changes, the second half was all Scarlet and Gray.

Perhaps one of the most interesting stats of the game is that UM only attempted 4 free throws the entire game, all from Tim Hardaway Jr. who didn’t get to the stripe until the 2:34 mark in the second half. Hardaway ended up going 3 of 4 from the charity stripe and finishing with a team high 15 points to go along with his 5 rebounds.

I cannot stress enough how pleased I am with Lenzelle’s play as of late. He seems to be the go to guy when Sully is on the bench, replacing Buford as the first option. This can partly be attributed to Buford’s inconsistent play, even though he put up 12 points with 5 boards and two dimes. But Smith was the story of this game, blowing out the feel good substory of Burke coming home to play the Bucks wearing the Maize and Blue.

The coaches have to be ecstatic about Smith, but also reserved about the rest of the team heading into the home stretch before the B1G and NCAA Tournaments. Guard play will be key in both Tourneys, but the Buckeyes will also need to lean on their experienced guys, which means that Buford needs to shake whatever is bringing his game down. Ohio State can’t rely on just two guys to be scoring options, so William will need to step up his offensive game soon as the Bucks still have two against Wisky, two against The Izzos and a return trip to Ann Arbor to face Meatchicken.

This team could easily be a national title contender if they are firing on all cylinders. They need a bit of that old 2007 magic to get hot down the stretch and come into the tournaments with some serious swagger. There is no doubt in my mind that this team could beat anyone in the country, as evidenced y the 30 point drubbing of Duke and the close game against Kansas. Up next is a trip to Madison to take on the Badgers on February 4^th.

Final Score: OSU 64- UM 49

My prediction: OSU 79- UM 68

Tayler Hill and company could not come up with enough steals like this to pull out the win.

I want to start off today’s recap by first thanking the person responsible for scheduling today’s women’s game at Minnesota at the same time as the men’s game against Michigan; that is how you maximize viewers for the games.  Now that the sarcasm is out of the way, let’s talk about the game.  Today’s game was a homecoming for Tayler Hill who played high school ball just 4 miles south of the Gophers’ Williams Arena; Hill finished her high school career as the leading scorer in Minnesota girls’ history.

Minnesota got out to an early 12-6 lead thanks to 9 straight points.  Ohio State came back and cut the Gopher lead to 14-13 with twelve minutes remaining in the half.  The Gophers were not impressed though and used an 11 to 0 run to take a 25-13 lead with just under eight minutes remaining in the half.  OSU took advantage of some turnovers and fouls by Minnesota to spark a 9 to 0 run that cut the lead to 25-22 but the Gophers quickly extended their lead back to seven points.  The teams traded baskets for the rest of the half and the teams headed into the locker room with Minnesota leading 34-28.

After struggling on the boards for most of the season, Ohio State did a great job rebounding in the first half, outrebounding Minnesota 20-18 but more importantly, grabbing a dozen offensive rebounds.  Unfortunately the Buckeyes could not take advantage of the second chance opportunities as they struggled to hit shots, shooting only 22% from the floor in the first half.  Minnesota shot 51% from the floor but committed 13 turnovers and 12 fouls to help keep Ohio State in the game.

Ohio State opened the second half with 5 straight points by Samantha Prahalis but a quick three by Minnesota prevented the Buckeyes from seizing the momentum.  After another basket by the Buckeyes, the Gophers went on a 9 to 3 run to take a 49-38 lead with just over twelve minutes left in the game.  The two teams began trading baskets and mini-runs for the rest of the game.  During that stretch Ohio State twice cut the Minnesota lead down to 4 points only to see the Golden Gophers come right back and stretch the lead back to double digits.  In the end Minnesota walked away with a 76-65

Ohio State shot a bit better in the second half but still only hit 34% of their shots for the game.  Tayler Hill led the team with 26 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals.  Samantha Prahalis was close behind with 25 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals.  No other Buckeye scored more than 6 points.  Ashley Adams did a great job on the boards, grabbing 12 rebounds as well as getting 7 blocks.  Amber Stokes also had an impressive rebounding day, grabbing 9 boards, 5 of them offensive rebounds.

A large part of this loss can be blamed on the poor shooting by the Buckeyes; you won’t win too many games shooting only 34%.  Despite that OSU made runs and put the game back within easy reach several times in the second half but every time they did Minnesota got baskets.  The Gophers had lots of success attacking the inside which in turn opened up opportunities on the outside.  The youth in the frontcourt had not been much of an issue so far this season but today it proved costly.  While bad shooting nights will happen, you have to continue to play defense and the Buckeye frontcourt struggled with that today.

Despite being in several close games this season, the Buckeyes had done a great job of showing poise under fire.  Today that was not the case as the last three minutes of the game saw OSU essentially abandon their game plan in favor of throwing up desperation three pointers.  For most of the second half the game was the Prahalis and Hill show and while the two guards are the stars of the team and are more than capable of taking over a game, they need to make sure to get the rest of the team involved as this will prevent defenses from keying on them.  At the same time the other OSU players have to find ways to contribute even when they are not having the best of days.

Conference leader Purdue lost to Iowa yesterday so a win today would have moved Ohio State into a tie for first place.  Instead, the Buckeyes fall into a tie with Nebraska for second place.  OSU has over a week off until their next game when they host Wisconsin on Monday, February 6^th at 7:30 pm on BTN.  After struggling with their shooting for 3 of the last 4 halves, a week off will help give the team a chance to rest as well as get back to focusing on fundamentals.  How the team, especially the younger players, handle that week off and the loss will determine how the rest of the season goes.  Hopefully the Buckeyes will use this as a learning and motivating experience and come out looking for blood in the second half of the conference season.