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Men's Basketball
Hoops Week in Review
By Tony Gerdeman

This edition of the Hoops Week in Review is dedicated to Lucy.

Recapping the Buckeyes’ Week

The Buckeyes went 2-0 last week for the first time in about a month. With wins at home against Indiana (77-53) and on the road at Michigan (65-58), the Buckeyes managed to move up to third place in the Big Ten behind Michigan State and Minnesota.

Game One

The Buckeyes shot 13-24 from three-point land in their 77-53 win over the Indiana Hoosiers last Tuesday. More impressive, however, were their 23 assists on 28 field goals. The Buckeyes had five scorers in double figures, led by William Buford’s 19 points.

Game Two

The Buckeyes went into Ann Arbor on Saturday night and contained the three-point parade that Jon Beilein’s Wolverines are becoming known for. Ohio State held Michigan to 10-29 three-point shooting in the 65-58 win for the Buckeyes. Overall, Michigan shot just 35.7% from the field, while the Buckeyes managed to shoot a hefty 54.4%. Evan Turner led the Buckeyes in scoring (19), rebounds (8) and assists (6).

Buckeye of the Week

Guard William Buford. Since Buford was inserted into the starting lineup nine games ago he has failed to score double digits just once, and that was in Ohio State’s loss at Minnesota. That game was also Buford’s low in minutes played as well, so there’s a pretty strong correlation between Buford’s minutes and his points. When Buford plays 30 minutes or more, he’s averaging nearly 15 points per game. And as he gets more comfortable, it wouldn’t be a surprise if those numbers continue to improve. As far as Buford’s week last week is concerned, he averaged 36.5 minutes, 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 3 steals per game.

Additional Buckeye Thoughts

I really like the way Jeremie Simmons is starting to take the ball to the basket now. Not only is his creativity opening up his own scoring, but it’s opening up everybody else’s as well. Against Indiana he had a season-high eight assists. His previous high for the season was only five. And then in just 22 minutes against Michigan due to foul trouble, Simmons found the time to hand out four more assists. He was even more aggressive taking the ball to the basket against Michigan and it will only help this team as they go on. If Simmons can continue to get into the paint, points will come easier and easier, which would be a good thing when the calendar gets harder and harder.

If you haven’t checked the rankings recently, you may not have seen what could end up being the Buckeyes’ best win sitting at 16/17 in the polls. The Butler Bulldogs still have only one loss this season and the longer they stay that way, the better it will be for the Buckeyes. Notre Dame will move up and down as they win and lose, but if Butler can stay strong, the Buckeyes will have a fairly decent hat-hanging resume on their hands.

Big Ten Week in Review

Michigan State 2-0 last week: wins over Penn State (78-73) and Illinois (63-57); 15-2 on the season.

Minnesota 1-1 last week: a win at Wisconsin (78-74) and a loss at Northwestern (74-65); 16-2 on the season.

Illinois 1-1 last week: a win over Michigan (66-51) and a loss at Michigan State (63-57); 15-3 on the season.

Ohio State 2-0 last week: wins over Indiana (77-53) and at Michigan (65-58); 13-3 on the season.

Purdue 2-0 last week: wins over Northwestern (63-61) and Iowa (75-53); 14-4 on the season.

Wisconsin 0-1 last week: a loss to Minnesota (78-74); 12-5 on the season.

Penn State 1-1 last week: a loss to Michigan State (78-73) and a win at Indiana (65-55); 14-5 on the season.

Michigan 0-2 last week: losses to Illinois (66-51) and Ohio State (65-58); 13-5 on the season.

Iowa 0-1 last week: a loss at Purdue (75-53); 11-7 on the season.

Northwestern 1-1 last week: a loss to Purdue (63-61) and a win over Minnesota (74-65); 9-6 on the season.

Indiana 0-2 last week: losses to Ohio State (77-53) and Penn State (65-55); 5-12 on the season.

Big Ten Notes

Illinois center Mike Tisdale had a career-night last week against Michigan, scoring 24 points on 10-12 shooting. Now it was his fourth 20-point game of the season, but it was his first against a meaningful opponent. Of course, a post player having success against Michigan isn’t really out of the ordinary, as the Wolverines just don’t have the size to match up with most teams. Tisdale’s confidence was so high against Michigan that he took, and made, his first three-point shot of the year. And it surprised nobody when it went in.

Northwestern almost had a great week last week, although by their standards, I’m guessing they’re still pretty happy with it. On Thursday night, #19 Purdue came to town and the Wildcats gave them everything they could handle. Northwestern actually led 34-21 at the half before the planets realigned and Purdue’s JuJuan Johnson hit two free throws with two seconds remaining on the clock to give the Boilermakers the 63-61 win. A loss like that could’ve done a lot of teams in, but the Wildcats wouldn’t fold. On Sunday, the #17 Minnesota Golden Gophers came to Evanston and Northwestern was looking for a bit of redemption. The Gophers led by three points at the half before Northwestern really turned the redemption on. The Wildcats outscored the Gophers 43-31 in the second half and won 74-65, giving them their first win over a ranked opponent since February of 2006. Needless to say, if all Big Ten teams aren’t ready on any given night when they’re not playing in Bloomington, anything can happen this season.

Game of the Week

Arizona State 61 - UCLA 58 (OT). Arizona State led for most of the first half, and even a portion of the second half, but UCLA eventually built a 54-43 lead with 8:12 to play in the game. The Sun Devils then closed with an 11-0 run to tie the game at 54-54 at the end of regulation. Arizona State’s Derek Glasser made two free throws with eleven seconds remaining in overtime to give the Sun Devil’s a three-point lead. Then, with the ball and eleven seconds to play, UCLA couldn’t even manage to get off a shot before the clock expired because the ASU defense was so stifling. James Harden led Arizona State with 24 points.

Team of the Week

The Louisville Cardinals. Last Monday, the Cardinals beat #13 Notre Dame 87-73 in overtime, outscoring the Irish 16-2 in the extra session. And then on Saturday, they handed #1 Pitt their first loss of the season, winning 69-63 at Freedom Hall. Louisville is now 3-0 against ranked opponents this season.

Player of the Week

Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks. Last Tuesday at Tennessee, Meeks scored 54 points on 15-22 shooting, including 10-15 from three-point land and 14-14 from the free throw line. He also grabbed eight rebounds and handed out four assists in the 90-72 win. It was almost a perfect game. Then in their 68-45 win on Saturday at Georgia, Meeks decided to take it easy and only put 22 points on the board. For the week, he averaged 38 points per game and was 23-39 from the field, and 13-23 from behind the three-point line. He was also a mediocre 17-18 from the free throw line.

Some Things Without a Category

Despite their 12-5 record, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are ranked 19th in both polls this week. Granted, they have had some quality losses, but last week they lost games by 14 and 19 points, respectively. And they’re 2-3 in their last five games. But they did beat Georgetown, so I guess that has to count for something. Actually, I’m guessing it accounts for about six spots in the Top 25.

Memphis almost lost their first Conference USA game in nearly three years when the Tigers went to Tulsa last week, but a driving lay up at the buzzer by Antonio Anderson gave Memphis the 55-54 win. However, if there was ever a year for Memphis’ conference foes to get the Tigers, this is the year. If it doesn’t happen this season, it’s never going to happen.

Wake Forest is the last undefeated team in the nation, and fittingly, they are currently ranked #1 in both polls. Although, as is usually the case, four writers and six coaches feel Duke is more deserving. Duke’s lone loss of the season came up at Ann Arbor, which has me wondering if those people have seen Michigan lately.

The Iron Bowl. Alabama versus Auburn. Some call it the best rivalry in all of sports. Well last Saturday, Alabama and Auburn played at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum in Auburn, Alabama, and the raucous crowd of 8,788 saw the hometown Tigers come away with the 85-71 win. Those 8,788 in attendance had quite the party, and it wasn’t too crowded either, considering the arena holds 10,500.

In Summation…Taking joy in beating Indiana when they are down like this is probably a lot like eating deep-fried bacon…Yeah, it’s probably the best thing you’ve ever tasted, but too much of it will eventually kill you…Actually, that doesn’t sound anything like enjoying Hoosier misery…Pass me the bacon!…Enjoying beating Michigan is probably a lot like breathing…It sustains life…William Buford was named the Big Ten Player of the Week…That’s usually bad news for Buckeye freshmen…Mike Tisdale destroyed the Wolverines last week…“Michigan--building confidence in the gangly for almost 200 years!”…Northwestern isn’t just happy with moral victories, they actually COUNT them!…Jodie Meeks just hit another three…Notre Dame didn’t--and they still moved up…Memphis is the hillbilly UNLV…Even though UNLV’s mascot is the one with guns…Irony…

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