Our Honor Defend

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.

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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.

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Richard Diestch - Knight-Wallace Fellow and one of my inspirations. Not everything UM is all bad.

The past few years, That Team Up North hasn’t had much to hang their winged helmets on in the world of shooty hoops. That all changed when Trey Burke, high school teammate of Jared Sullinger, committed to the Wolverines and brought his particular spice to the point guard position. Many have wondered why OSU never offered Burke. The simple reason is that they already had His Rosiness as well as Shannon Scott, and therefore no more room for another PG.

A resurgent squad from the Mitten State out of Ann Arbor makes for a better Bee-One-Gee, so long as they keep a watchful eye on their timeout situation. With Burke and Hardaway in the backfield, they have risen to 3^rd in the conference standings, which is a massive improvement. Burke is far and away the best shooting PG in the conference and is a major reason why the Wolverines are in a position to make a run in the B1G Tournament and perhaps even into the NCAA Tourney.

This game looks to be a game of matchups, which should work out in Ohio State’s favor. Craft was able to stifle Penn Shtate’s Frazier, a feat in and of itself that may solidify Aaron’s stature as the pre-eminent lockdown defender in the country. Shutting down Burke would elevate him to Bruce Bowen status.

The Game (Shooty Hoops Version) will be broadcast on CBS at 1PM EST, 10AM PST. Kevin Harlan and Bill Rafferty will have the call for the sellout crowd at VCA. The OSU Athletic Department has called for a gray out of The Schott, likely to correspond with the team wearing the sassy gray unis. I will be sporting my Scarlet Greg Oden Jersey on the couch with a large bowl of snacks and several frothy beverages. Before that though, let’s dive into the analysis.

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In the Hive

GOOD MORNING VIET-HIVE! We hope you stayed up late enough to see the Lady Buckeyes complete a huge 48-19 second half, destroying the Indiana Lady Hoosiers, 73-55 last night in Bloomington. The OSU shooty lady hoops team continued its outstanding start to the 2011-12 season, improving to 20-1 on the season (7-1 in the B1G). Charles brought you all the details last night. Sammy Prahalis and Tayler Hill are quite a pair, each scoring 18 last night. Sammy added nine assists, five rebounds, three steals and a block. Just filling the stat sheet, that’s all. Ashley Adams went double-double with 15 points and 12 rips. This women’s team is fierce, y’all. Show them some love if you’re in the 614 and go to some games.

Shooty hoops Hate Week is here, with the Buckeyes hosting TTUN on Sunday at 1 p.m. You can catch the game on CBS. This is the start of a true gauntlet for Ohio State to close out the regular season. There are two games each remaining against TTUN, Wisconsin and Sparty, as well as home tilts against Purdue and Illinois, a visit to Minnesota, and a trip to Evanston to play Nerdwestern. The Wolvereenies will be without reserve guard Eso Akunne for both contests. Akunne will miss 6-8 weeks following surgery on his left foot scheduled for today. Speaking of the shooty hoops, take a moment each day to vote for William Buford for the Senior Class Award, won’t you? OK, let’s get Hiveward.

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Samantha Prahalis shows that you cannot stop her dribble drive.

After overcoming a tough test on Sunday against an Illinois team that was winless in the conference at the time, the Illini got their first Big Ten win of the year when they beat MSU tonight, Ohio State traveled to Bloomington to face the only other team who came into tonight without a conference win.  The Buckeyes last visited Bloomington two years ago and were ranked #6 in the country at the time but that did not stop the Hoosiers from pulling off the upset.  Tonight the #9 Buckeyes looked to do a better job.

Indiana jumped out to a quick 7-2 and flashbacks to that game two years ago, or the Illinois-MSU game earlier tonight, immediately came to mind.  Both teams struggled to score but the Hoosiers managed to slowly extend their lead, going up 20-12 with six and half minutes remaining in the half.  After looking a step slow and out of rhythm to start the game, the Buckeyes finally showed a bit of a spark, going on an 8 to 2 run to cut the Indiana lead to 22-20 with two minutes on the clock.  An Indiana basket followed by an empty OSU possession halted the run but a Hoosier turnover on the ensuing possession led to open three-pointer from the corner by freshman guard Raven Ferguson which cut the lead to 24-23.  Each team would hit one more basket in the half and the two teams headed into the locker room with Indiana leading 26-25.

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