The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary » John Groce

Ohio State Defeats Illinois 68-55 on Senior Day

Eric — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 18:30:40 +0000

Today was Evan Ravenel’s Senior Day at Ohio State, and while it may not have gone down exactly according to script the Bucks were able to give him a 68-55 win over the Illini as a going away gift. The game as a whole was a sluggish mess for both teams, but the Scarlet and Gray were able to find more consistency more frequently to help secure a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Ohio State was lead in scoring by DeShaun Thomas’ 19, Aaron Craft’s 14, and Lenzelle Smith’s 10. Illinois’ Brandon Paul lead the game with 21 and was joined in double digits by DJ Richardson’s 10.

Considering the result of the game 2 months ago, it was fair to assume that the Buckeyes would come into this game and play with extreme prejudice. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, they instead began with what looked like empty gas tanks. There … [Read More]

BBN Basketball Liveblog: Illinois Part Deux

Eric — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:43:46 +0000

It has been 2 months since Illinois put on a devastating beat-down of the Buckeyes in Urbana-Champaign. Now the Buckeyes finally get a chance to avenge the loss.

Join us and The Buckeye Blog, Buckeye Empire, Men of the Scarlet and Gray, and Buckeye Ninja as we help our good friend Bo Ryan learn to Deal With It.

Today’s game is scheduled for 12:30 PM EST on ESPN. The LiveBlog is scheduled to start 15 minutes before tip.

Go Bucks!

Ohio State vs Illinois – Shootyhoops live chat… [Read More]

Breakdownability: Illinois vs OSU II

Ken — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 21:20:21 +0000

School: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Location: Urbana and Champaign, IL
Founded: 1867
Student Population: 40,616 total, 31,932 undergrad
School Type: Public – Land Grant
Stadium: Assembly Hall
Seating: 16,618
Opened: 1963
Head Coach: John Groce
Experience: 1st year at UI @ U-C

Before we get started, I want to say this is a very sentimental preview for me. I believe the preview of the Ohio State – Illinois game in early January was my first “real” contribution to this site. Despite the Buckeyes getting trimmed by nearly 20 points in that game, The Editors allow me to continue to do these previews. They either believe in rehabilitation or have a very clear understanding correlation and causation.
The Big Ten race has turned into a, well.., race. Things sort out Sunday afternoon, beginning with Wisconsin at Penn State at 12 noon (EST), followed by Illinois at Ohio State at 12:30, … [Read More]

Illinois Exposes Ohio State 74-55

Eric — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 21:17:57 +0000

Ohio State arrived in Urbana-Champaign for their first conference road game of the year and walked into a literal buzz-saw, losing by a final of 74-55. The Fighting Illini simply out-hustled and out-fundamentaled the Buckeyes in all phases of the game today, proving what many have suspected for a while – this OSU team still has a lot of work to do. While Brandon Paul did not go off for 43 this year, he did lead his team with 19 points to which he added 8 rebounds. He was joined in double digits by Nnanna Egwu (16), Tracy Abrams (13), and Joseph Bertrand (12) for the Illini, while OSU saw DeShaun Thomas’s 24 points to lead all scorers, and Aaron Craft’s (11).

The Buckeyes pulled their usual tricks in the early going of the first half. They came into the game completely lacking in intensity and allowed Illinois to jump … [Read More]

Ohio State Recruiting + Basketball LiveBlog: Army AA Bowl + Illinois

Eric — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 13:50:59 +0000

We’ve got an overlapping double header for you today!

The liveblog will start at 12:45 PM EST this afternoon. At 1 PM, the Army All-American Bowl will kick-off. There are three recruiting targets of interest in this one – WR Shelton Gibson, WR James Quick, LB Mike Mitchell. We’ll also be watching the following Ohio State commits throughout:

At 2:15 PM EST on the Big Ten Network, the Buckeyes Shooty Hoops team will take on the Illinois Fighting Illini. This same liveblog will cover both events.

Go Bucks!

Live chat – Army All-American Bowl / Ohio State-Illinois shootyhoops game… [Read More]

Pregame Glance: Illinois

Ken — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 17:00:13 +0000

The Buckeyes are in for their first stern test of the conference season. Illinois started the season on a twelve game winning streak and looked to be much improved over last year. Let’s take a closer look.

School:	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (rolls off the tongue..)
Location:	Urbana and Champaign, IL
Founded:	1867
Student Population:	40,616 total, 31,932 undergrad
School Type:	Public
Division:	NCAA Division 1
Conference:	Big Ten
Stadium:	Assembly Hall
Seating:	16,618
Opened:	1963
Head Coach:	John Groce
Experience	1st year

Before we get started, I want to mention the strong connection with OSU; with Thad Matta to be precise. Young Mr. Groce first teamed up with Thad in 2000 as an assistant with Butler, then followed Thad to Xavier, continued on with Thad from 2004-2008 as an Assistant Coach at Ohio State, then cut the strings and moved on to Head Coach at Ohio University in … [Read More]

Silver Bullet Points Does Some Teambuilding

MaliBuckeye — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:54:23 +0000

Lots of excitement in your Wednesday updates…

Buckeye Hoops 411

Congrats are in order! Not only are the Buckeyes headed to the Final Four, but Jared Sullinger was named an All American this week, the first back-to-back honor of that kind since 2009. His booty was named Honorable Mention as well… nice work.
This is the most Aaron Craft thing ever- It just is… trust me. #Swoon
Revenge, of sorts- No, I’m not talking about the “payback” angle for this week’s Kansas game, I want to talk about officiating. Since Ohio State has made the final four, that means that officials from their region are disqualified from officiating those games. So, in other words, Ted Valentine and Ed Hightower are benched for Championship weekend. I’m sure they’ll join the BBN livechat for all the excitement, though.
Bon Voyage- If you’re in Columbus, you’ve got no reason not

[Read More]