Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Close Out Regular-Season in Ann Arbor Saturday
By John Porentas

The man on the street thinks Ohio State basketball team doesn't have a lot to prove between now or tournament time. The Buckeyes, after all, have already locked up an outright Big Ten championship and now simply have to cruise into the tournament season. The one remaining game on their regular-season schedule is, for all intents and purposes, meaningless.

The Buckeyes don't agree.

"The biggest thing is us getting better," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

"Today is March 1 and we've always said we wanted to be playing our best basketball in February and March. The challenge for us is simply to improve. What I told them on Sunday was to enjoy this (Big Ten Title), we come back on Tuesday, it's time to go back to work," Matta said.

Matta has some motivational ammunition he could draw upon this weekend. He could be talking about things like NCAA seeds and national rankings. He could, but he isn't. He's taking a far-more fundamental approach.

"Honestly just winning, trying to get to 15-1," said Matta describing what he is talking to his team about this week.

"It's the next game on our schedule, and really, that's how we have approached that. We haven't talked about our ranking, our seeding or anything like that. It's just been that this is the next challenge ahead of us and lets go try and get it done."

Matta has a little help when it comes to motivation this week, because there is also the fact that the opponent is not just any old opponent. It's the Michigan Wolverines (20-10, 8-7 Big Ten), who will be fighting for their NCAA tournament life when they take the floor against the Buckeyes on Saturday. A quality win over the Buckeyes could take the Wolverines off the NCAA bubble. A loss, and their bubble will burst.

"We know Michigan has a lot to gain but nothing to lose and they're going to come at you with everything they have," said OSU freshman center Greg Oden.

And, according to Oden, there is the matter of a little thing called the Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry, something that Oden has embraced since becoming a Buckeye.

"It's Michigan. Being at Ohio State, it's Michigan, so there's always going to be something to play for," said Oden of the game this Saturday.

"Anything Michigan you get worked up," Oden said.

"I don't hate that much, I'm a lover," said a grinning Oden, "but going to 'The' Ohio State University you have that 'It's Michigan' (mentality)," Oden said.

Oden said his "It's Michigan, so it's special" mentality is something he developed even before getting on campus.

"When you know you're going here," Oden said when asked when he first started to understand that the Michigan game is always important.

"People are going to come up to you and they're going to say 'You see that Michigan guy over there?', you get things like that as soon as people know you're coming to Ohio State," Oden said.

Oden played well in the first meeting between the Buckeyes and Wolverines this season, a 76-63 OSU win at Value City Arena. Oden scored 17 points matching Michigan center Courtney Sims' 17 in the game. It was OSU guard Mike Conley, however, who really did in the Wolverines with a game-high 23 points.

Matta said he has seen no indication that the Buckeyes are just going through the motions heading into their season-finale in Ann Arbor.

"They've been good, very focused," said Matta of OSU practices this week.

"I think when we go up there it's going to be another great environment. I think our guys are used to that. Obviously, the stakes are high. Our thing is they're no higher for them than they are for us and we've got to play."

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