Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Blow by VMI, but Shooting Problems Persist
By John Porentas

The Buckeye (4-1) got back on the winning track after their loss on Friday to Texas A&M in New York with a relatively easy 90-57 win over VMI (2-3) at St. John Arena on Sunday night.

It was a nice win, but a troublesome problem persisted.

OSU's loss to the Aggies was precipitated in large part by some horrible shooting from the field by the Buckeyes, particularly from long range. Only Jamar Butler was consistent from the perimeter against A&M, and the Aggies had enough inside strength to offset center Kosta Koufos. It all added up to a loss for the Bucks.

The Keydets' smallish lineup had no answer for Koufos who scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, but the shooting problems persisted in OSU's win. Butler was once again on his game, knocking down four of his eight three-point attempts, but the rest of the Buckeyes were 0 for the duration, combining for 0-11 from three point range.

On the plus side, the Buckeyes' 3-2 zone continued to be effective and took the three-point game away from the Keydets. VMI shot 49 treys against OSU but made just 11 of them to shoot 22.4 per cent from long range.

"Ohio State is very big, very athletic and very strong. Our forte coming into this game is shooting threes and they did a good job of contesting our shots," said VMI Head Coach Duggar Baucom.

"They were dunking and we're missing threes that are contested and not making them, shooting 11 of 49.

"Believe it or not we've got good shooters but they (OSU) had a lot to do with that, contesting shots. It's quite a one-two punch when you have Butler that can make threes like he does, I just hope Koufos is here for a while because he's a pretty good player," Baucom said.

OSU took away VMI's three point game and also coped well with their full-court pressure defense. VMI traps whenever possible, even on missed shots, but the Buckeyes were able to handle the full-court pressure effectively most of the game. VMI was effective for about the first 10 minutes of the contest, but OSU acclimated and had little trouble with the pressure thereafter.

"I thought it was two different games," said Baucom.

"I thought the first 10 minutes we did a great job attacking, It was 29-25, we made a few shots, our energy was up, our best player Reggie Williams goes to the line and almost breaks the backboard on one free throw, misses the next and then he misses a lay-in. In that span Butler is hitting threes on the other end, Koufos has a dunk and they go on a 14-4 run to end the half.

"The last 30 minutes they just took the fight to us. We're so small we have to play the way we play which is trapping and pressing and shooting threes. When you do that with not great energy, and I credit Ohio State with that, they kind of took our spirit away. You're out there bustin' it on your pressure and it gets discouraging to kids when balls are bouncing off their head after they go through the rim," said Baucom.

The Buckeyes dominated play from about the 10 minute mark on. OZSU outrebounded VMI 55-31 and registered seven blocked shots from their zone defense.

"I don't think I've had so many jump shots blocked," said Baucom.

OSU also got to the free throw line. The Buckeyes attempted 31 free throws and made 22. VMI took just seven and made two.

The Buckeyes will take on No. 1 North Carolina at Value City Arena next Wednesday.

"I think a game like North Carolina is a great game for our program," said Matta.

"I think it's one of those deals where we're going to play a great basketball team on Wednesday night, a lot like last year when we went to Chapel Hill.

"A lot of good came out of that game for our team even though we didn't win the basketball game, but I think we made a lot of strides. I think that game won us a lot of games down the stretch throughout the course of the season."

Game Notes:

* Record Setter: OSU guard Jamar Butler got into the OSU record books against VMI.

With a triple at 3:06 remaining in the first half, Butler moved into first on the all-time 3-point field goals made career list with 154 treys to give the Buckeyes a 34-25 lead. The senior stands atop the all-time career list with 157 3-pointers, passing Brent Darby (2000-03) and Scoonie Penn (1999-2000) who are now second with 153. Currently, the Lima, Ohio, native is fifth in career 3-point field goals attempted with 416 and eighth in career 3-point shooting percentage (157-416).

"It means a lot to go in the record book here at Ohio State," said Butler.

"I didn't even know how close I was. I had no clue where I was on that list. To get that record is a great feeling."

* St. John Arena: The game vs. VMI was played in St. John Arena because the Schottenstein Arena had another commitment. Butler and Kostas Koufos seemed to enjoy the experience.

"Out there it seems like everything is a little bit packed in on you and it's louder. If we could play every game over here I would, but The Schott is our home and we're looking forward to going there Wednesday night and playing North Carolina," said Butler.

"It was a blessing," said Koufos.

"It's more of an ACC atmosphere. The Schott is more spread out, more of an NBA type arena. It's just nice to play in a different type arena."

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