The Ohio State-Kansas game lived up to its billing — a tough slugging match between two heavyweights. Unfortunately for Ohio State (and me), Kansas took the Buckeyes’ best shot and came back strong to win. All credit to the Jayhawks for hustling and scrapping and getting the rebounds and loose balls that allowed them to turn the tide in the second half.
Obviously, I’m sorry that the Buckeyes could not hold their lead and could not make their goal of the national championship game. Their loss, however, does not take away from what has been a wonderful season for the team and its fans. This is a group that battled through adversity and tough stretches and came back to play extremely well down the stretch and in the NCAA Tournament. Much as I would like to have seen the Buckeyes win and get the chance to knock off Kentucky, there is no shame in losing by two points in a hard-fought game to a basketball powerhouse like Kansas.
I’d like to thank William Buford and Jared Sullinger for coming back to play another year, when they could have gone to the NBA and made a lot of money this year instead. I’ve relished watching Aaron Craft play, and Deshaun Thomas develop into a much more well-rounded player, and Lenzelle Smith Jr. make crucial shots when the team needed them most. I’ve enjoyed watching Shannon Scott and Amir Williams and Sam Thompson and catching glimpses of their bright futures. And, I’ve appreciated the hard work of Thad Matta and his coaching staff as they have gotten the team ready to play, game after game.
An evenly matched contest like the one played tonight is a game of inches; the fact that things didn’t bounce the Buckeyes’ way at the end doesn’t detract from a great year. I know it’s tough for the players and coaches, who were hoping for something even more; it will be some time before the sting eases. In the meantime, I just want to say thanks for lots of great basketball, Buckeyes!
The Buckeyes are going to the Final Four! Even as I type those words, I find them hard to believe — and richly satisfying, all at the same time.
The Ohio State Buckeyes will hope to carry the Big Ten flag forward when they play tonight against the Big East’s best team, the Syracuse Orange. It will be a battle of two seasoned, highly regarded teams that spent the entire season ranked in the top ten.
The Buckeyes will be looking to break down the zone in other ways, by trying to get the ball to Deshaun Thomas at the elbow of the lane and have him shoot mid-range jumpers before Syracuse players can rotate over or dish to Jared Sullinger and others if holes in the zone open up. Thomas has been a stud in the Tournament, and the Buckeyes hope his strong showing will continue.
Syracuse has a lot of long and talented players who can run, shoot, and finish near the rim. They like to play up-tempo and score fast-break points off turnovers. They are led in scoring by forward Kris Joseph and guard Dion Waiters, but the match-up I’ll have my eye on will be Ohio State’s Aaron Craft against Syracus guard Scoop Jardine. Jardine is terrific, and Syracuse counts on him to get the ball to the players who can finish. Craft will be trying to disrupt that and will be playing his tremendous pressure on the ball style to do so. If Craft can get Jardine out of his rhythm and out of his game without getting himself into foul trouble, the Buckeyes will have a chance to move forward.
This was a tough, tough win — just what you would expect in a Sweet Sixteen matchup. The Buckeyes rode the stellar play of Deshaun Thomas and Jared Sullinger to a 12-point halftime lead. Thomas, in particular, was spectacular, making shots from all over the floor as the Bearcats tried desperately to find someone who could match up with him.
Smith, on the other hand, made some great passes, got some crucial buckets, and helped to shut down the Bearcats when the game was in the balance. This game showed why Coach Thad Matta likes to have Lenzelle in the lineup. When he is playing his game, he contributes in so many different ways.
This is the third year in a row the Buckeyes have made it this far — and the last two years they went no farther. In 2010 they lost a heart-breaker to Tennessee, 76-73; last year they arguably had the best team around and fell in a stomach-churning loss to Kentucky, 62-60. The close scores made the losses more agonizing, and Buckeyes fans don’t want to endure another.
This was a very good win against a very good team. The Buckeyes were out of sorts early and were getting killed on the boards. Shouted epithets rang through Webner House as the Bulldogs got put-backs and second-chance points after grabbing offensive rebounds. But with Jared Sullinger on the bench with two fouls, the Buckeyes clawed their way back. Amir Williams gave Ohio State a presence in the middle, and Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas brought the Buckeyes back to lead at the half. In the second half, the terrific Craft led the way and the Buckeyes built up a 10-point lead. Then, Gonzaga wisely went to a zone, the Buckeyes were thrown off stride, and their lead ultimately dwindled to nothing. But Ohio State stuck at it, made their free throws, and finally got the crucial rebounds. The final score was 73-66, but the game was a lot closer than that.
This may have been the gutsiest effort by Ohio State this year. They played, and beat, an experienced team that is a perennial NCAA Tournament contender. Equally important, it was a true team effort — perhaps the most total team effort of the season. Four players scored in double figures and the Buckeyes got quality contributions off the bench from Amir Williams and Shannon Scott. It was good to see William Buford on the line at the end, knocking down free throws to ice the game. Buford deserves some love and respect from Buckeyes fans for coming back for his senior year when he easily could have gone pro and providing the team’s most dependable outside shooting.
The score isn’t important, and the fact that Thomas led the way isn’t really important, either. What’s important is that the Buckeyes survive and move on — and that is what the NCAA Tournament is all about. That is what last year’s Big Dance confirmed. You don’t have to be the best team, you just have to survive by hook or crook in the game at hand and move forward.
The Buckeyes shot the ball well this afternoon, which was the biggest difference between this game and their loss to Michigan State earlier this year, and also rebounded extremely well — which is crucial if you hope to stay in games against the Spartans. The bench contributed big time, with Sam Thompson and, especially, Evan Ravenel making key plays and baskets with the contest in the balance. And when it came down to crunch time, Ohio State went through Jared Sullinger, who made two excellent passes for buckets that kept the score even, and then William Buford stuck in the stiletto and delivered the coup de grace.
Playing so well down the stretch is wonderful, but it is particularly impressive given the fact that the Buckeyes were on the road, Draymond Green was playing his last game at the Breslin Center, Tom Izzo was calling time outs with his customary mastery, and the Izzone was yelling its lungs out every time Ohio State touched the ball. Today’s result is even more impressive because Ohio State clawed back from 15 points down in the first half deficit and a 9-point halftime deficit. Those who have questioned the character of this team got an answer in today’s gutty performance.
That’s a big “if” right now. The Buckeyes have lost two out of three at home and three of their last five. In Sunday’s grim loss to Wisconsin, Ohio State had silly turnovers and couldn’t hit free throws, allowing the Badgers to stay in the game and pull out a last-second win. The team seemed disorganized and undisciplined at crunch time. These aren’t the kinds of qualities you want to see as tournament time arrives. If a team can’t figure out to gut out close games, their season is likely to come to an early end.
For Ohio State fans, there was joy in seeing the Buckeyes shoot the ball well. As Uncle Mack has (gleefully) pointed out in his last few basketball-related posts, Ohio State has thrown up its share of bricks in the losses to Michigan State and Michigan. Against Illinois — which, admittedly, is not one of the toughest defensive teams in the Big Ten — the Buckeyes shot 65 percent from the field and better than 50 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Getting some fast-break baskets and dunks certainly helped.
Offensively, the Buckeyes played a good game, ran well-designed set plays, and crashed the boards to get second-chance points. With Jared Sullinger and Aaron Craft on the bench with foul trouble, the Buckeyes rode senior William Buford, and he carried them to victory with 29 points. Equally important, the Buckeyes performed under pressure in a close game, sank free throws when they needed to, and executed with less than two minutes to go — which was a good thing, because Purdue continued to drain three-pointers until the very end.
Jared Sullinger was a beast on the inside; he scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Wisconsin really had no answer for him. Deshaun Thomas showed why he is one of the best forwards in the Big Ten, grabbing many rebounds and making some clutch buckets. Aaron Craft played a standout defensive game against Badgers stud point guard Jordan Taylor, and made some key free throws to help ice the game, Lenzelle Smith, Jr., played a fine floor game, and William Buford — poor, much maligned William Buford, who just could not get a shot to go down — made a three-point dagger in crunch time.
I went to last year’s OSU against Michigan, and it was a tremendous atmosphere. The student section, called the Nut House, was ear-splitting all game and obviously made it tough for Michigan to communicate during timeouts. I thought the crowd helped to pull the Buckeyes through to a win — and I’m hoping that tomorrow afternoon we see more of the same. I know the Nut House has some new head cutouts — including Urban Meyer — that we’ll see during the game.
