Buckeye Blogger NetworkSome weekend, eh? Grab your coffee and let’s get right to it.
Men’s Basketball
A week that started out fairly well, then crashed and burned. In the NCAA’s, they’ve managed to dust Iowa State 78-75, Arizona 73-70 and then fell flat against Wichita State 66-70. I don’t have much to add to the fine recaps, above, however you can bet that after some musing on my part, I’ll have something to say next week. It seemed that Thad was pushing the right buttons and the team responded in the first two games. On Saturday, things were pretty disjointed. I’d hoped the 2nd half effort against Arizona would carry into the WSU game, but alas, no. Although the offense gott significant points from senior junior DeShaun Thomas and LQR, that was it, unfortunately.
General Thoughts
I hate to do this, but let’s start with a definition: to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest: to hate the enemy. Read More
.. I’m really not quite sure what to say to this..
School: Wichita State University
Location: Wichita, KS
Founded: 1895
School Type: Public
Student Population: 14,806 total, 11,763 undergrad
Stadium: Charles Koch Arena “The Roundhouse”
Seating: 10,506
Opened: 1955
Head Coach: Gregg Marshall
Experience: 6th year
Basketball’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
A big time showdown with the Indiana Hoosiers on the hardwood. Spring practice has started on the astro-grass. The weather must be warming up (soon?) in Columbus, Ohio. It’s Wednesday, let’s rumble!
Upset in B-Town
With the conference tournament and eventually the NCAA tournament still on the horizon, it can be tough to put a ton of stock into the importance of a regular season game these days in college basketball. There’s seemingly always tomorrow or another shot to fix what you have done wrong. Last night’s game in Bloomington, Indiana against the 2nd ranked Indiana Hoosiers was one of those exceptions, and the Buckeyes rose up to the challenge.
Deshaun Thomas and Lenzelle Smith feeling good in Assembly Hall
The Buckeye hoops team dropped a tough one in East Lansing. Recruiting rankings were released and the Buckeyes are on a roll. My girlfriend is hotter than Kate Upton. Yeah, so what if we’ve only met on the internet?! What’s the worst that can happen? Let’s rumble!
The Rivals top 100
On Monday, the newest and last Rivals top 100 for 2013 was released. Among those 100, Urban Meyer’s coaching staff has received seven verbal commitments and is still waiting patiently for answers from two others. The most “top 100” players the Buckeyes have ever claimed were 8 commits in 2008. If either Vonn Bell (safety from Rossville, Georgia, ranked number 32) or Dontre Wilson (running back from Desoto, Texas, ranked number 100) commit to Meyer’s 2013 class it will match or exceed that ’08 record. I am a math genius.
Vonn Bell… still deciding
After a demoralizing loss to the Kansas Jayhawks (again) on the Saturday before Christmas, the Buckeyes get one final tune-up before diving into conference play. Obviously there is still a lot of work for this team to do this year in order to reach their potential. There’s also the small matter of a Christmas wish that needs fulfilling. Let’s take a look.
It's another cat. Like we don't already have a zillion cat mascots.
| School: | Chicago State University |
| Location: | Chicago, Illinois |
| Founded: | 1867 |
| Student Population: | 7,131 |
| School Type: | Public |
| Division: | NCAA Division 1 |
| Conference: | Great West |
| Stadium: | Emil and Patricia Jones Convocation Center |
| Seating: | 7,000 |
| Opened: | 2007 |
| Head Coach: | Tracy Dildy |
| Experience | 2nd Year |
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 Winthrop Eagles arrived in Columbus ready to give the Buckeyes more than they wanted, and despite the 65-55 final score they certainly succeeded. The Eagles took advantage of a seriously hot-handed shooting night from beyond the arc, hitting 38.5% of their three point attempts to keep the game close most of the way through. DeShaun Thomas led all scorers with 21 points to go with his 9 rebounds. He was joined in double digits by Lenzelle Smith’s 14, and Derrick Henry’s 12.
The first half was easily described by the microcosm that was the last 10 seconds of the period. The Buckeyes put together a good play, got a wide open look for Thomas from long range. He missed it, which was quickly followed by a missed put-back by Aaron Craft. The Buckeyes for the half went 10-29 shooting, combined with a number of sloppy, unfocused plays that cost them possessions (but with limited actual turnovers). In response, Withrop sank a number of looks from outside, and took it to the Buckeyes inside to force OSU into 8 first half fouls – one of their highest totals of the season for a half.
Unfortunately, there was not a big change at the start of the second half. The Buckeyes struggled to get traction with their continued shooting slump, and Winthrop continued to rain in shots from long range. Eventually, DeShaun Thomas shook off his terrible 2-11 shooting start, hitting 5 straight buckets to give the Bucks some much needed momentum. It was enough to give the Bucks a temporary double digit lead, but Winthrop was not going to go away so easily.
Give Winthrop lots of credit. They are a pretty solid fundamental basketball team and simply forced the Buckeyes to play the Eagle’s game. In particular, they used good passing to put OSU’s defense on their heels, and used it to get good shots. They also took advantage of a hot shooting night from long range, far exceeding their usual 29% shooting percentage (they were hitting 50%, 9-18, mid-way through the 2nd period). They ultimately scored 30 of their points from long range – mostly on ugly shots that went in despite
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