Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Open Season with Win Over Delaware State
By John PorentasThe Michigan game is Saturday, and not many Buckeye fans have yet turned their attention to basketball as witnessed by the sparse crowd of 6,388 on hand for OSU's season opening 70-42 win over Delaware State in a game played in venerable St. John Arena. With 3:05 still remaining , the band and student section reminded everybody of the upcoming football game when they broke out into "We don't give a dam for the whole state of Michigan" and did so again when the final buzzer sounded. Before that, however, the people who bothered to show up got some very entertaining play from their basketball team.
The Buckeyes left absolutely no doubt as to outcome of the game just six minutes into the contest. OSU opened a double-digit lead with a 15-3 run to start the game and never looked back. The Hornets never got the lead under double-digits the rest of the way.
"We knew coming in that we pretty much didn't want them to get off to a good start and they got off to a 15-3 run," said Delaware State Head Coach Greg Jackson. "We kind of played uphill the rest of the game."
Dallas Lauderdale
Photo by Jim DavidsonOSU sophomore center Dallas Lauderdale got the starting nod at center over freshman B. J. Mullens. Lauderdale missed much of the preseason with a shoulder injury, but showed the ability to run the floor in the first half with several thunder-dunks on fast break opportunities. He then showed his athleticism at the defensive end in the second half with consecutive blocked shots on a Delaware State possession with about six minutes remaining to play. His double-rejections led directly to a shot clock violation for a turnover. Lauderdale added another swat later in the half and received a standing ovation from the crowd for his effort as he left the game for a substitute. He ended the game with seven points and seven blocked shots.
"I thought we were playing volleyball that one time,' lamented Jackson. "He's a big kid, a very talented kid. He's going to cause a lot of problems in the conference because he blocks shots extremely well," Jackson said.
"It was just a pumped up moment for me," said Lauderdale of the possession on which he blocked two shots. "I was just pumped up. That was a big stop for our team and that's what we needed at the time," said Lauderdale.
William Buford
Photo by Jim DavidsonAs he did in the team's exhibition game, freshman William Buford showed his versatility by scoring inside and out. Buford contributed 13 points, 9 of them in the second half. Buford has shown an uncanny ability to get up a volume of shots while not really taking bad ones, a trait not normally found in young players.
"I think that's kind of the thing we saw in William throughout his high school career," said Matta.
"He's got a great feel (for the game). He's got a pretty good first step. I love the pull up (jump shot).
"The biggest thing with him that I've been most pleased with is his defense is getting a little bit better. I've been on him the most about understanding what he has to do defensively. He's coming along in that respect," Matta said.
Buckeye fans suffered through last season waiting for sophomore Jon Diebler to break out of the shooting malaise that plagued him last year. The leading scored in Ohio high school history, Diebler just could not get his shot to fall with any kind of consistency in his freshman season, but Diebler showed signs of doing just that in the season opener this year. Diebler his three threes in six attempts and ended with nine points.
Six Buckeyes scored three or more field goals in OSU's balanced attack that also produced 14 assists against just seven turnovers.
"I thought offensively we did a pretty decent job of sharing the basketball, taking good shots," said Matta.
Game Notes and Quotes
* The return to action of Lauderdale gives Matta some real flexibility in his combinations along the baseline. Against Delaware State, Matta played Lauderdale on the floor with 6-11 Kyle Madsen and also played 7-0 B. J. Mullens on the floor with Madsen. The one combination he did not play was Mullens with Lauderdale, but that is definitely in the cards for a later date.
"You will, no question," said Matt when asked if that is in his plan this season."
* Ten Buckeyes played eight or more minutes in the game and Matta used many different combinations of players.
"They have a lot of talent on all areas on the floor," said Delaware State Head Coach Greg Johnson. "We knew coming in that even though they have some young players that they're so talented from the guard position to the center position. I can see this team really causing this team a lot of problems because they have so many guys that can hurt you in so many different ways."
* The Buckeyes got up just 42 shots against Delaware State. The Hornets adopted a style of play in which they used almost the entire shot clock each possession before getting up a shot. The slow style limited the number of possessions for each team and therefore the number of shots each was able to get up.
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