Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Top Orangemen to Advance to Preseason NIT Final
By John Porentas

You can forget about that Findlay College thing.

Fifteen days after falling flat on their faces in the second exhibition game of the season the Ohio State Buckeyes (3-0) went out to New York and stunned the talented, high-flying 23rd-ranked Syracuse Orangemen (3-1) by a final of 79-65. In the process the Buckeye served notice that their early season stumble was an aberration, and that just like last season, Thad Matta has another very competitive team.

Freshman center Kosta Koufos scored a game-high 24 points but got plenty of help at the offensive end as four Buckeyes scored in double figures. Othello Hunter notched 15 in what was probably his best all around game as a Buckeye, Jamar Butler added 14, and Jon Diebler 12 in OSU's balanced offense. Freshman Evan Turner added six and David Leighty five.

After faltering in the first nine minutes of the game the Buckeyes finally began to solve the Syracuse zone. OSU began to put the ball on the floor and penetrate the gaps in the Syracuse zone, and when they did good things happened. If they didn't get to the rim with their drives the penetration caused problems for Syracuse and left players open both down low and on the perimeter.

OSU's offense picked up at the 12 minutes mark, but it was their defense that really turned the tide of battle. The OSU zone created 11 first-half turnovers and was to a great extent responsible for an 18-4 run over a six minute span in the first half that saw OSU turn a seven point deficit into a seven point lead at 31-24. It wasn't quite a knockout punch, but it definitely stunned the Orangemen who were never really able to recover.

The Orangemen halted the run and got back to within 3 at 31-28, but OSU put together another spurt to close out the half holding a eight point lead.

Syracuse made one last run at the Buckeyes early in the second half to get to within 3 at 46-43, but that was as close as they would ever get. The Buckeyes led by as many as 15 in the second half and never less than nine after the Syracuse early rally in the second half.

OSU got balanced scoring, It also got a balanced effort in most every other way. Hunter had a great night with eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots to go with his scoring. Butler added five assists and two steals, Koufos nine rebounds, two assists and two steals.

The Buckeyes will take on Texas A&M on Friday at 7:00 PM for the tournament championship. Syracuse will meet Washington to determine third place in the tournament at 4:00 PM.

The-Ozone will have extensive additional coverage of the win over Syracuse on Thursday, including a post-game note and quotebook.

Box Score

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