Buckeye Blogger NetworkBasketball’s regular season is in the books. It’s officially time to get serious: Its tournament time. It’s also Wednesday night and you know what that means… Let’s rumble!
Hoops on Hoops
The Buckeyes finished the regular season Sunday with a 13 point home win over Illinois. They finish with a record of 23-7, good for a tie for second place in the Big Ten and the number two overall seed in the Big Ten Tournament. They now await tomorrow’s winner of Purdue vs Nebraska and will play Friday at 6:30 eastern on the Big Ten Network.
Deshaun Thomas, Lenzelle Smith and Aaron Craft during the 2012 tournaments
#Swish #Swoon
A bit of a different look at things this Wednesday, as I was fortunate to join Jim, JoeL, and Janelle in attending Ohio State’s win against Iowa in the hoops of shootyness. So, here’s your musical interlude for this festive event.
Buckeye Hoops Thoughts
Well, it’s the day that I’m certain you have all been anxiously awaiting, leading us to only one choice for today’s soundtrack. Well, Ok… two, and anything from these guys would also suffice.
Spark Something Great
Buckeye 411
provide viewers a unique look into his life away from the sidelines. Urban offers insight into why he came back to coach, the passion he has to coach college athletes and what it truly means to “get away.” The episode is about more than just fishing as a sport; it captures how the spirit of the outdoors brings families closer as Urban and his son Nate tackle shark, barracuda, black jack, grouper and tarpon.
Not to be left out, Coach Hoke will head over to Long John Silvers’ for their “Whitefish Wednesdays”. Hushpuppies, beware.
Coach Meyer’s episode will air on Saturday, July 12th at 7:00 PM ET on the Outdoor Channel. Consult your local blah blah blah
There is simply no amount of Listerine that can wash out the bad taste left in those returning players mouths having endured two losses to Kansas last season; one on December 10, 2011 (78-67) and one at the Final Four in New Orleans on March 31, 2012 (64-62). They will just have to take care of their home court where they have the 5th longest streak for wins against non-conference opponents sitting at 39. WVU was their last home loss in this regard in December of 2008 almost exactly four years ago. Tim Shoemaker did a great Tale of the Tape. Let’s take a look at this top ten battle.
9-1, Lost to Sparty on Nov 13 67-64: Big12
| School: | University of Kansas (KU) |
| Location: | Lawrence, Kansas |
| Founded:Motto | 1865; I shall see this great sight, why the bush does not burn (Exodus 3:3) |
| Student Population: | 29,462 |
| School Type: | Public, Flagship, Space Grant |
| Division: | NCAA |
| Conference: | Big Twelve |
| Stadium: | Allen Fieldhouse “The Phog” named for the father of coaching Dr. Forrest C. “Phog” Allen |
| Seating: | 16,300 |
| Built: | March 1, 1955 |
| Head Coach: | Bill Self, Oklahoma State, 10th season |
| Experience & Accomplishments | Self was named 2012 Naismith College Coach of the Year, The Sporting News National Coach of the Year in 2000, 2009 and 2012, the Associated Press National Coach of the Year in 2009. He was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2012. 13 NCAA Tourneys, 1 NCAA Champion, ! Final Four, 6 Conference Tourney Champions, Produced 16 NBA draft picks |
| Program History | The Jayhawks began play in 1898 and have an all-time record of 2079-807 (.720). In 2008, ESPN ranked Kansas second on a list of the most prestigious programs of the modern college basketball era, behind only Duke.[3] Kansas has the longest current streak of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances (23),[4] holds the longest current streak of winning seasons (29), has the most winning seasons in Division I history (93), the most non-losing seasons (.500 or better) in NCAA history (96), the most conference championships in Division I history (55), the most First Team All Americans in Division I history (20), the most First Team All American Selections in Division I history (28), is second in Division I all time winning percentage (.720), and is second in Division I all time wins (2,079) |
The Buckeyes take on 4-4 Winthrop University from the Big South conference in their next match-up and are on a roll since losing to Duke. The Eagles are on a little roll themselves having dispatched the other “Ohio” team as our least favorite buffoon from up north likes to say. The Eagles beat the Bobcats 50-49 with a late push and two final second free throws from their star player. Let’s take a look at the school from Rock Hill, SC.
4-4 overall and defeated the Ohio Bobcats this past Saturday
| School: | Winthrop University |
| Location: | Rock Hill, South Carolina |
| Founded: | 1886 – Veritas cum liberate “Truth with Liberty” |
| Student Population: | 6,170 |
| School Type: | Public |
| Division: | NCAA |
| Conference: | Big South |
| Stadium: | Winthrop Coliseum |
| Seating: | 6,100 |
| Built: | October 1982 |
| Head Coach: | Pat Kelsey(Xavier 98) First Season as a head coach |
| Experience & Accomplishments | Before stepping away from basketball following the 2010-11 season, Kelsey was the associate head coach at his alma mater Xavier U. where he spent two seasons. Prior to that he cut his teeth coaching under the late and great Skip Prosser at Wake Forrest and then Dino Gaudio. |
| Program History | The University’s most well-known athletic team is the Men’s basketball team which has earned a berth in nine NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournaments since 1999. Additionally, they have won the Big South Conference Championship in 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. 6 of the 8 Men’s Basketball team’s championships and national rankings came during Gregg Marshall’s tenure as head coach. Marshall left Winthrop to become the head coach at Wichita State University. |
Keith Hornsby led the UNC Asheville Bulldogs into Columbus but wasn’t able to do enough to keep the Buckeyes from running away with this one by a score of 90-72. Hornsby was an unstoppable shooting machine today, hitting a ridiculous 9-12 from the floor, 6-8 from three, for 26 points to go with 4 rebounds. That’s an incredible game from the young guard. He was joined in double digits by Jeremy Atkinson (11), and Will Weeks (10). The Buckeyes saw four players break double digits including: Sam Thompson (18), DeShaun Thomas (17), Lenzelle Smith (16), and Evan Ravenel (12).
Not surprisingly, the Buckeyes also ran away with the Bruce Hornsby puns – Keith Hornsby is the son of the famous grammy winning artist. That leads us to the musical selection for this recap.
No, seriously. Do yourself a favor and read through the LiveBlog transcript. The puns are gloriously horrible.
As opposed to Wednesday night’s game, the Buckeyes did a lot of their damage close to the basket in this one. They played the first half with a paltry 2-10 shooting from long range, but held a 15 point lead over UNCA at 50-35. The scoring was done on the fast break, where the Bucks picked up 16 points, and in the paint with Ravenel who picked up 12. The only reason UNCA was able to keep the game even respectably close was the shooting of Keith Hornsby, who connected on 4-5 attempts from long range, and 7-8 attempts overall.
Read More
The Seasons Pass, The Years May Roll
Today is all about giving thanks. As Ohio State fans, we are very blessed to have such great athletic programs to follow.
The football Buckeyes are 11-0 and have a chance to finish a perfect 12-0 in head coach Urban Meyer’s first season. That’s pretty remarkable if you think about it.
The basketball Buckeyes are currently ranked No. 3 in the country and have just started their run at back-to-back Final Four appearances.
I’m a Cleveland sports fan. I love and root for my Indians, Browns and Cavaliers, but they don’t win. Ever. I’m very thankful to be a fan of all things Ohio State.
But here are five things I’m thankful for that I am able to watch on the field or court:
Urban Meyer
I’ve gone on record as saying I was always a Jim Tressel fan. He and I are from the same area and couldn’t have been more excited when OSU hired him from Youngstown State. I will always appreciate what Tressel did for this university.
But Urban Meyer is something that Ohio State desperately needed. His honesty, passion and determination are all so real. You can see it in his eyes. You can hear it in his voice. He gives his all to this school and it is absolutely awesome that he’s our head coach.
Braxton Miller
Braxton Miller is the most exciting player OSU has had to watch since Ted Ginn. The difference, though, is Miller has the ball in his hands on every play. Personally, I think Miller is the most exciting player in all of college football.
The best part about this? He’s only a sophomore and we’ve got two more full seasons to watch Miller do his thing.
Buckeye Nation
It’s everywhere. The following Ohio State has is actually insane. There are OSU fans all across the country. I have friends from school who have all located to various cities throughout the country and they all say they have met someone from OSU.
Sam Thompson’s vertical jump
There isn’t a play in sports that can ignite a crowd like a big time dunk can in basketball. Thompson’s ability to soar in the air and create highlights over poor defenders gets you up and out of your seat. It can completely ignite the crowd at The Schott and completely leave the crowd at an opposing gym speechless.
TBDBITL
The way OSU fans support its band is really awesome. The band takes great pride in what it does and I just wanted to put them on this list because I think I speak for a lot of people when I say how appreciative I am of the band.
So as “The Game” nears us, I’m sure the football team will make us thankful for another drubbing of that team up north on Saturday.
Ohio State welcomed the Walsh Cavaliers into the comfortable confines of the Schott for an exhibition matchup to prepare for the season. Walsh played an excellent ballgame and kept up with the Buckeyes through the majority, finally falling 83-71. The difference in the game was a 17-3 run over the last 5 minutes of the first half for the Buckeyes that was led by the lineup of Aaron Craft, Shannon Scott, Sam Thompson, DeShaun Thomas, and Trey McDonald. DeShaun Thomas led all scorers with 25 points on 9-17 shooting. He was followed by LaQuinton Ross with 13 and Evan Ravenel’s 11 for the double digit scorers for OSU. Walsh was led by Kenny Kornowski and Jeff Copeland with 12 a piece.
The Buckeyes played as many as 9 different lineups during the course of this one as Matta examined the different looks available to him on the bench. Ultimately, we got to see every single scholarship player on the court for decent minutes, but it may not be too early to make guesses as to how this team might play out in the future. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Matta play 8 deep this year with Amedeo Della Valle and Trey McDonald riding the bench for the majority of the season.
Give the Cavaliers a lot of credit. They’ve been a solid team in the NAIA for the last few years, but this year they have what could be a special team. They have a number of good shooters, and their center will help them win more than a few games. Ultimately, their offensive balance, along with excellent coaching from Jeff Young, may be enough to give them a deep run in the postseason this year in the NAIA.
