Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Give Matta Early Christmas Presents with Win Over Cleveland State
By John Porentas

OSU Head Coach Thad Matta hasn't really shared his Christmas wish list, but his team gave him some things in their 80-63 win over Cleveland State that Matta undoubtedly has been wishing.

After suffering through some miserable shooting nights in their three losses this season Matta's Buckeyes (7-3) have now had two-consecutive good-shooting outings. The Buckeyes set a Value City Arena shooting record last weekend against Presbyterian College, then followed up with a very good shooting performance on the road against the Vikings. OSU shot over 52 per cent for the game including a 58.6 per cent second half in downing Cleveland State (7-4).

"Everybody was ready and we were knocking down the shots," said senior forward David Lighty.

"We shot a high percentage again. Coach has been working on us with our form shooting, things like that, and it showed up in the game."

Matta's wish list had to include his team's shooting, and also had to include a specific wish that freshman guard Jon Diebler would find his much-publicized but as yet as a Buckeye missing shooting stroke. Diebler did just that against Cleveland State knocking down six of seven attempts from the field that included five of six from three point range. The effort made Diebler the game's leading scorer with 17 points.

"The biggest thing is he's taking good shots, he's not fading back now. I think it's good for him to finally see the reward because I don't think there's anybody working harder on improving their shot than Jon is," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

"Every day after practice I've been working with Coach Miller and we've just been getting a lot of repetition shots up," said Diebler.

"A lot of it was my footwork and I think my footwork is getting better now in preparation. My shot was fine but it was more my preparation and getting prepared for the ball coming to my side and being ready to shoot."

The Buckeyes are a young team that Matta is wishing would develop an identity before the start of Big Ten play. He may be getting that wish as well. Against the Vikings the Buckeyes were able to execute a pressing, pressure defense to force turnovers that led to scoring opportunities. The Buckeyes opened the game with a 17-3 run that all but determined the outcome of the game before the crowd had really settled into their seats. The run was highlighted by five forced turnovers that led to Buckeye baskets.

"Guys came in and did a pretty good job for us, but that would be what we're trying to create," said Matta of OSU's pressure style.

"We had some guys get a little bit tired out there. I thought we did a pretty nice job of getting them out and trying to keep fresh bodies in there," said Matta.

The Buckeye pressure defense was also helped out by their big men. Kosta Koufos and Othello Hunter combined for six blocked shots, five of them by Koufos. The tough inside defensive play led to indecision by the Vikings, and that in turn helped lead to turnovers.

"I think that effected them a lot," said Lighty. "There were a lot of big blocks out there."

"The guys in the front line were able to get their hands on a couple of balls, force a couple of traveling violations, that sort of thing, so it was obviously good for us there, because they're a high-paced team," agreed Matta.

Matta was able to get more mileage out of his bench and that seemed to pay dividends against the Vikings. Five Buckeyes scored in double figures. In addition to Diebler freshman center Kosta Koufos had 16, sophomore David Lighty 15, senior forward Othello Hunter 14 and freshman guard Evan Turner 11. No Buckeye played more than 30 minutes and seven logged double-digit minutes. An eighth, sophomore point guard P. J. Hill just missed double digits with nine minutes.

OSU led by as many as 14 in the first half and by no fewer than nine after their initial game-opening run. Any thought the Vikings had of a comeback were pretty much erased when Matta got another one of his wishes, a strong effort from his team to begin the second half.

The Buckeyes have had their problems getting things going after the intermission this season, but against Cleveland State outscored the opponent 13-6 before the first media timeout. That put them up 17 at 48-31 and all but ended the game.

"This season the first four minutes of the half we were 1-6 this season," said Lighty.

"We've lost the first four minutes. We call them wars, every four minutes is a war. We only won one the whole season so coach has been stressing that a lot," Lighty said.

Matta has to be happy about all those wishes coming true, but he was still disappointed about one lump of coal the Buckeyes presented him. His team's rebounding has been a major concern for Matta, and despite the one-side score they were once again outrebounded by Cleveland State. What has to be maddening for Matta is not only the 36 total rebounds, but the fact that 18 of those rebounds were offensive boards for the Vikings.

"We need to be a better rebounding team," said Matta sounding very much like the Grinch despite his team's win.

"You force a team to29 per cent (shooting) in the first half and you give up nine offensive rebounds. We've got to do a better job of coming up with the balls," Matta said.

OSU last game before Christmas will be this Saturday against Florida. Matta is hoping the progress his team appears to be making will carry over into that game.

"The biggest challenge is getting them to come in every day and understand what direction we're trying to head in," said Matta.

"Sometimes I have to grab them by the ears gently and point them in the right direction because everything is so new to them."

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Box Score

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