Buckeye Blogger Network
Gary Russell and I are covering the B1G Tourney live again although it’s not actually from Chicago! Some last minute travel plans fell apart and we are hanging out at his house in Zanesville covering the games! Hope you enjoy the updates!
#6 Iowa versus #11 Northwestern
The first half of the day one night cap has been all Iowa. They hold a 36-22 lead at halftime and the score doesn’t reflect how dominating the Hawkeyes have been. The Wildcats didn’t score until the 12:30 mark of the first half. Iowa has been very balanced on the offensive end. 8 different players have scored for the Hawkeyes, and none of socred more than 7 points. As painful as it is to say, Iowa’s Aaron White leads all scorers with 7 points. Northwestern is being led by Freshman Alex Olah’s 6 points.
Iowa didn’t quite dominate the second half like they did the first half as they did their best impression of Michigan in letting a team hang around. The Wildcats refused to go away getting the lead under ten several times and even down to seven at one point. Unfortunately for Northwestern, timely three point shooting from Mike Gesell and Roy Devyn Marble combined with a Flagrant One foul by Reggi Hearn kept pushing the Iowa lead back to double digits. In the end, Iowa knocked off Northwestern 73-59.
Iowa will now face Michigan State tomorrow evening at apprixmately 9:00 EST. We hope you enjoyed day 1 of the Big Ten Tournament. Remember to check back with us tomorrow as we update with all the action from Day 2 of the tournament! Read More
Cait Craft got her first career start at Ohio State but that wasn't enough to lift the team past Purdue.
Ohio State entered tonight’s game looking to break their three game losing streak and avoid getting off to their worst ever start in Big Ten play. That task wasn’t an easy one as the Buckeyes would be playing at #12 Purdue without starting guard, and best defensive player on the team, Amber Stokes. OSU’s job got even harder when before the game it was revealed that star guard Tayler Hill and sophomore guard Maleeka Kynard would also miss the game due to illness. The missing players forced a different starting lineup, with Ashley Adams, Darryce Moore, Ameryst Alston, Raven Ferguson, and Cait Craft getting the starting nod; this was the first career start for Craft.
After scoring the first basket of the game, the Ohio State offense struggled and the Buckeyes found themselves in a 14-5 hole eight minutes into the game. The next four minutes would see the two teams trade baskets before OSU scored seven straight to pull within one point, 19-18, with six and a half minutes remaining in the half. The Boilermakers answered right back though, scoring nine unanswered to extend their lead to 10. Ohio State chipped away a bit of that lead in the final two minutes but went into halftime trailing 30-24.
Slam Thompson prepares to posterize Purdue center A.J. Hammons.
The Buckeyes visited West Lafayette this evening and left Mackey Arena with a 74-64 win over Purdue and Thad Matta’s 100th conference victory. The Bucks used good shot selection and high-energy hustle to grab the lead and never relinquish it again. The Buckeyes rode the scoring of DeShaun Thomas again, who picked up 22 points and 7 rebounds, Aaron Craft (15) and Evan Ravenel (11). Purdue responded with scoring from Terone Johnson (18), A.J. Hammons (13), and Ronnie Johnson (11).
The first half started out as a high-paced affair. The Buckeyes came out of the gate with a lot more energy than they have shown all season, and Purdue seemed all too happy to play an up-tempo battle. Unfortunately for the Boilermakers the Buckeye’s shooting made a sudden and surprising reemergence. OSU hit nearly 65% at one point during the period, but had to do it without Aaron Craft who sat for 15 minutes with two fouls. Thankfully Shannon Scott has really turned it on this season and was able to get the job done in Craft’s place.
The Boilermakers began to chip away at the OSU double digit lead as soon as the second half began. They struck by playing aggressive offense in the paint and forcing the Buckeyes into bad fouls that got Purdue to the charity stripe. That brief spurt lead to a back and forth battle, with the Bucks occasionally regaining control of a 10 to 12 point lead, and Purdue sometimes working it back down to eight. Despite getting it down to six with just under two minutes left to play, Purdue couldn’t find any success against the tough Buckeye defense.
This game was a nice sight to see after the rough game on Saturday in Urbana-Champaign. The Bucks needed to come back from that tough loss and look like they learned something from it. Tonight they played like the game wasn’t an automatic win and were able to find more success than previously. Away wins in the Big Ten are not easy to come by, least of all wins in Mackey arena, so it’s great to steal this one away from Purdue.
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The Buckeyes and Boilermakers are both coming off rough losses on the road. Unfortunately, Purdue gets the home-court advantage in tonight’s meeting.
Joining us for tonight’s game are our friends from the BBN: The Buckeye Blog, Buckeye Empire, Men of the Scarlet and Gray, and Buckeye Ninja. Make sure to swing by their place and say hello.
Tonight’s game is scheduled for 9:00 PM Eastern Time. LiveBlog will tip off at 8:30 PM.
Go Bucks!
Let’s not beat around the bush here. Ohio State got it handed to them by Illinois on Saturday afternoon. The Buckeyes came out sluggish and were not ready to play as they fell to the Illini,74-55. Things in the Big Ten are not easy this season, least of all games played on the road. After a dismal performance against Illinois, Ohio State will look to rebound, on the road, against Purdue on Tuesday.
The Boilermakers are up next.
| School: | Purdue University |
| Location: | West Lafayette, Indiana |
| Founded: | 1869 |
| Student Population: | 39,726 |
| School Type: | Public |
| Division: | NCAA Division 1 |
| Conference: | Big Ten |
| Stadium: | Mackey Arena |
| Seating: | 14,123 |
| Opened: | 1967 |
| Head Coach: | Matt Painter |
| Experience | 6th Year |
Slight variation in schedule… think of this as TWTW meets Wednesday’s regular SBP. Here’s the tunes behind the guy behind the guy.
Pride?
2013 started almost the same way that every other year has started since I can remember… with a slate of B1G Ten games, highlighting how many people who live in the midwest want to flee to warmer climes for some semblance of a vacation. I still haven’t figured out how the scheduling geniuses who have an entire slate of games and “bowl week” to work with decide to run four of them at semi-simultaneous time times, though.
You’ll note that I said “almost”… one of the major differences this year was the lack of Buckeye football; in case you hadn’t heard, they had a one year vacation from the post-season. What’s intriguing about that fact is that we seemingly had it shoved down our throats throughout the regular season by the good folks at the four letter network, and yet I can count on one hand the times I heard the words “Ohio State” or “Buckeyes” thus far in the bowl season. Penn State, too, although you’d think that one of the things that would be covered would be how teams playing got their losses this year; the Rose Bowl’s discussion included the review of their overtime losses, but didn’t mention by name two of the teams that handed those to them.
I guess I shouldn’t be all that surprised, though… you want the games to be celebrations of the teams that are playing, and it’d be a shame to see anything hamper the narrative of next Monday’s “Championship” game; reminding folks of another undefeated team might cast a pall on that sacred moment. However, I don’t seem to remember Southern Cal being erased from the post season even when they were ineligible- their 10-2 record last year was certainly a topic of commentary.
Anywho… Ohio State hasn’t lost a game in over a year, and that can’t be taken away from them or their fans.
So let’s dive into the spectacle that was B1G Tuesday, taking a look at all of the outcomes and then reflecting on what this might “mean” for the conference and college football as a whole. Remember, the results you witnessed might have been different should the two outsider programs be in the mix this season… B1G fans, how are those “you’ve got no bowl game” taunts holding up for you these days?
Oh, and just so you’re forwarned, I’m not going to talk about the Orange Bowl… especially given the craptacular legacy of this “event”, and that fact that (almost) no one wanted it.
Northwestern/Mississippi State
What a great win for the Wildcats… their first since 1949, which resulted in SBN’s “Sippin’ On Purple” summarizing the festivities thusly: Read More
Happy New Year!! Grab some aspirin and begin your B1G Festivities for the day!
Wide receivers coach Pat Higgins will lead the Purdue Boilermakers into the Heart of Dallas Bowl to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys on January 1st. How in the world Purdue wound up in a New Years Day bowl game is beyond anyone’s comprehension, but I guess stranger things have happened.
Pete
We all know the Boilermaker story: Head Coach Danny Hope and his mustache were sent packing back on November 25th and former Buckeye assistant and Kent State head coach Darrell Hazell has assumed the post and will take control of the program on January 2nd. They come into the game with Robert Marve calling the signals of an offense that is inept at best yet somehow took the Buckeyes to overtime. Kawan Short is a legit star on the Purdue defensive line and is someone worth watching.
Re-Pete
Oklahoma State comes into the game at 7-5 and if not for Mike Gundy’s team dropping its final two games and three of its final five, they would likely be in a much more prestigious bowl. Not that the Heart of Dallas isn’t prestigious and rich in tradition with it’s “Ticket City dot com Bowl” background, but I digress… Ok State comes in with a prolific passing attack led by quarterback J. W. Walsh and receiver Josh Stewart. An interesting stat: The Cowboys scored fewer than 30 points in just one game while going over 50 points four times.
We all witnessed the Purdue debacle in Ohio Stadium that resulted in Kenny Guiton leading a game tying touchdown drive that resulted in an overtime win. For some reason I don’t think that would happen twice. Oklahoma State can put up points, but they do it in the Big 12 where seemingly nobody believes in defense. An Ok State vs Ohio State game might have looked like “MACtion” on the scoreboard until the Silver Bullets settle in and adjust- although the last time they met it was pretty one sided.
On paper this looks like a Cowboy win all the way. But for some reason, every single BBC writer has selected Purdue (editors note… everyone but Jason selected TBPU). I trust their reasoning was similar to mine: The team responds knowing that new head coach Darrell Hazell is watching with a close eye and, again, who in the Big 12 plays any type of defense?
Let’s hope the Big Ten can score a win and kickoff New Years day on a good note!
Get it??
Interesting Tuesday in college sports, to say the least. We’ll get to all the movers and shakers, but first a little traveling music.
Buckeye 411
Most of the frustration was aimed at the inclusion of Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o, who we’ve argued here before is only a finalist due to his team’s success, solid (but not great) numbers, and the great “story” that his season has been- both for him and as a heart of the awakened echoes of the Irish program. Tony Gerdeman from the OZone compared Te’o to AJ Hawk, the last linebacker to be seriously considered for the Heisman, and found that Hawk’s numbers eclipsed the Irish’ star. He, along with the guys at Land Grant Holy Land (check out the infographic) continue to compare his numbers to Ohio State’s Ryan Shazier- Gerd points out that, in the last three games of the season, Shazier outplayed Te’o and almost doubled his statistics, minus the interceptions. Given that Te’o plays in a variation of the Tampa 2 defense which requires more coverage, this might make sense- different roles for both players. But it does highlight the fact that Te’o is a debatable finalist… and as such, might have just as well been left home with Miller and Marquis Lee (who I believe is the best player in the country this season).
With no hope of a national championship, the Buckeyes saw excellence as its own reward—and achieved it. What better example of pure sportsmanship could there be? Next year, Ohio State will once again be jockeying for a high-profile bowl berth and all the cash that flows from it. This year’s team, by contrast, will stand forever as the one that played not for money but for pride.
No "#Swoon" Hashtag?
