Men's Basketball
Same Script, Same Ending, In Never-Ending Story of OSU's Season
By John Porentas

It's a whole lot like watching television reruns. For what seems like the umpteenth time this season the Buckeyes played well enough to be competitive and not well enough to win, this time falling to Indiana (24-4, 13-2 Big Ten) by a final of 70-67 in Bloomington.

OSU's league losses have had a recurring script, a stretch of time where at least one phase of the game is severely lacking. That stretch happened early against Indiana, like from the opening tip.

The Buckeyes (17-11, 8-7 Big Ten) played the first ten minutes of the game like they were afraid offensive and defensive rebounds would cause some sort of serious and potentially fatal illness. They succeeded in avoiding rebounds, and in doing so succeeded in sabotaging a second half effort that it was a shame to waste.

The lack of rebounding in the first 10 minutes of the game allowed Indiana to grab 25 first half rebounds, 12 of them on the offensive end. That in turn allowed the Hoosiers to build a lead of 12 points in the first half and a halftime lead of nine despite the fact that the Hoosiers did not shoot the ball particularly well. Indiana shot just 35 percent from the field and just under 19 percent (1-12) from three point range, but still controlled the half on the strength of OSU's lack of board work.

"In the first half they got all those rebounds," said OSU freshman guard Evan Turner. "That's what a good team does. Those first couple of minutes killed us," Turner said.

"We got off to such a bad start for whatever reason. The rebounding got us," agreed OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

Like the other losses, the Buckeyes refused to fold, refused to be blown out, but in the end still came up short despite some second-half heroics, particularly on the part of freshman center Kosta Koufos. Koufos scored just three points in the first half, but dominated down low in the second to end the game with a team-high 21 points. Along with the early rebounding problems, the fact that OSU could not get the low post game going early is what made them close losers once again rather than winners. Sadly, the Buckeyes knew coming into the game that Koufos could be effective, but it just didn't materialize early.

"When we looked at the game film (of the first game with Indiana), that's what should have happened," said Turner. "Koufos scored. They can't hold him. They didn't want to foul him and they didn't want to guard him," Turner said.

"We went there (to Koufos) in the first half but he just didn't score in the first half," said Turner. "We gave it to him, it just didn't go in. The second half it worked better."

Turner was dead on with his comments. Koufos was just 1 of 6 in the first half, and that one was a three. His five misses included another three point attempt and four shots in close, none of which fell. In the second half however, Koufos lit it up hitting seven of 12 including a three point field goal.

"The first 10 minutes of the half they (Indiana) had all the confidence, they had offensive boards, they were really boarding," said Turner. "He couldn't make anything, but then he started fighting back and he loosened up. That's how it went," said Turner.

"I had to get into a rhythm, I guess you could say I was tight," said Koufos of his early play.

"I had to get into a little rhythm. My teammates were supporting me on the bench and I just tried my hardest," Koufos said.

The Buckeyes finally got on the glass in the second half and actually outrebounded Indiana 17-14 after the intermission. More importantly, they limited the Hoosiers to just five offensive boards, seven less than they allowed in the first 20 minutes. With Koufos scoring, the Buckeyes actually got close, drawing to within one point at 42-41 with 10:57 still left to play,

"I was very pleased with how they continued to fight," said Matta of his team.

"He (Koufos) did a very nice job of finishing. We did a better job of moving the basketball and we were getting stops," said Matta of his team's play in the second half.

Though the Buckeyes got close they never quite got over the hump to get a lead. Indiana was able to re-extend its lead to nine at one point but just couldn't put the Buckeyes away. The Hoosiers with 1:02 to play and were able to convert on their free throw attempts late in the game when the Buckeyes were forced to foul to stop the clock. Two late threes by Jamar Butler, one as the final buzzer sounded, made the final score closer than the game really played.

Matta was pleased with the way his team fought back, but is concerned that they don't really play at the level they are capable until something bad, like falling behind, happens in the game.

"We've got to get that corrected because I thought we dug ourselves into a hole today that we just weren't able to get out of completely," said Matta.

"We were right there peeking out but just couldn't get over it. It's one of the big things with this team and we don't want to be a team where something great has to happen for us to play. Hopefully we can keep learning lessons here.

"I think that we're making strides. Hopefully the offense getting going a little bit in the second half we can carry that over and continue to build on that because that's kind of been the biggest challenge for us is putting the ball in the basket all season long."

The Hoosiers were led by guard Armon Bassett with 23 points that included four of eight shooting from three point range. Freshman guard Eric Gordon added 17 and senior center D. J. White 16.

Freshman guard Evan Turner scored 13 for the Buckeyes. Senior guard Jamar Butler and senior forward Othello Hunter added 12 each. Butler also contributed a game-high eight assists.

Box Score

Photo Coverage

Return to the-Ozone Columns and Features

Return to the-OZone Front Page