Men's Basketball
The Buckeye Watch
By Tony GerdmanThe Buckeyes now sit at 17-5 overall and 7-4 in the Big Ten with their 64-58 win over the Golden Gophers. The win was the fifth for the Buckeyes over a ranked opponent. And of their five losses, four of them came to ranked opponents.
This is a pretty good Tournament resume, but the way the Buckeyes finish their final seven regular season games will sort of act like the “references” portion of the resume, or as I call it, “Friends and Family”.
But those are games still to be played. Let’s not forget about the game that just happened.
The Buckeyes couldn’t shoot, but they sure could defend--as long as we’re not talking about Hoffarbers, of course. (Which we never are.)
Ohio State has been able to do just enough lately to close games out and get a semi-comfortable win, but I would like to see them shut the door for good with more than five or six minutes to play. And the Buckeyes had chances to do that against the Gophers, but they just couldn’t get it done.
But look at me complaining about not winning quickly enough. I guess I just don’t realize how good we have it.
If not for a few thousand illegal phone calls, we could be Indiana. In which case I guess I would complain about not taking long enough to lose.
I guess I’ll just have to learn to live with these long, drawn out wins over ranked opponents.
Sigh.
8:03 Okay, get this Northwestern - Iowa game off of my television screen. My pupils are struggling to take in all of the whiteness.
8:05 Why do teams have to take bad losses before coming to town? First Michigan State and now Minnesota. Why can’t teams come here and just be lazy--like Michigan did.
8:06 Lots of empty seats tonight. Did “Pink Panther 2” open this weekend?
8:08 Dallas Lauderdale wins the tip and the rout is on!
8:09 The Buckeyes have missed their first two three-point attempts. Why aren’t we shooting 60% like we always do? C’mon!
8:11 Lauderdale with the huge swat down low! Dallas’ neighborhood is one of those places that when you’re driving through it, you make sure the windows are up and the doors are locked.
8:12 Cold shooting for both teams so far. There is no score with 17:22 remaining in the first half. Jeremie Simmons just bricked a three-pointer from the top of the key. I’m not sure why he always jumps towards the basket when he shoots. I think he’d have better success if he would just jump straight up. It’s tough to hit a moving target from 22 feet away.
8:13 There’s the first basket. William Buford off of the dribble with the pull up. That is becoming automatic.
8:15 The threes aren’t falling. The Buckeyes are now 0-4 and they’ve had good looks. Eventually those start falling, right?
8:18 Simmons drains the three from the wing! Yes, he was jumping towards the basket. I stand by my point as evidenced by his under 30% shooting percentage. At least I assume it’s still down around 30%.
8:19 Evan Turner has turned it over a couple of times already after getting the ball in the middle of the zone. Once he gets it, he’s getting swarmed and stripped.
8:21 Turner misses the 16-footer at the top of the key that is supposed to be the weak spot of the zone defense. These shots have GOT to start falling.
8:22 Ohh! There you go. Evan Turner just threw an alley oop from half court to B.J. Mullens. Now THAT’s how you increase the shooting percentage. If we can get about 30 more of those, we’ll be looking pretty good.
8:24 Shot clock violation for the Gophers!! Of course, the clock started at about seven seconds, but the Ohio State defense cannot be praised enough for their performance in not letting the Gophers get a shot off in those seven seconds, even though Minnesota had no idea the clock was running down.
8:27 Minnesota gets another open look down low and they lead it 13-7.
8:28 There’s Buford’s pull-up jumper again! It’s nice to have the feeling that the shot is going to be good as soon as it goes up.
8:29 Diebler for three! Nice play as the Buckeyes found Diebler wide open on the wing, and he buried it. So far the baseline jumpers aren’t falling, but the threes from the wings are. Minnesota leads 13-12 with 10:00 to play.
8:31 Buford is heating up. He just nailed a three from the baseline with a hand in his face! And there’s a steal by Diebler who gets it up to Turner, and Turner is fouled. A nice little burst by the Buckeyes right there to get the lead. Turner hits his first free throw. And his second. The Buckeyes lead 17-13 with 9:00 to play.
8:32 Minnesota turns it over again and the Buckeyes have gone on a 10-0 run. And I wonder if it’s a coincidence that it happened with P.J. Hill in there.
8:33 Lauderdale picks up an illegal screen foul--and right before Diebler hit a three from the baseline. Well, at least the shots are falling. It’s getting harder for me to get upset at the illegal screens because, apparently, they’re impossible to avoid. It’s like getting mad at the sun for being on fire. That’s just who the sun is.
8:34 Buford nails another pull-up jumper, but this one was from behind the three-point line! William looks very serious right now. Evan Turner’s shot isn’t falling, but it’s a good thing Buford’s is. And I think Diebler’s is about to start as well.
8:39 Simmons is back in and the score is 19-15. Let’s see how things play out.
8:39:41 Not so bad! Simmons just hit a pull-up jumper of his own!
8:41 Simmons drives the baseline and lays it in after getting knocked to the ground! This ain’t too bad right now. Ohio State leads 23-17 with 4:34 to play. But I’m not going to say that I stand corrected with regard to my comments about Simmons. (I have factual scoliosis.)
8:42 Evan Turner misses another shot in the lane. The shot just isn’t falling for him tonight. I would not be surprised to see him make his contributions on defense and playmaking instead.
8:43 And there it is! Turner just found Madsen under the basket from half court with two guys getting ready to trap him. Great vision and a nice finish by Madsen.
8:44 The Gophers have just grabbed two straight offensive rebounds by following their own shots. Why don’t we follow our shots?
8:47 Wow. Turner just fought and spun his way into the lane and got the kiss off the glass to fall. If his shot starts falling, then I really like our chances tonight.
8:48 P.J. Hill comes back in with the score 27-21, so the Buckeyes led 8-6 while Simmons was in. I’ll take it.
8:49 Ouch. Devoe Joseph just hit a deep three from the top of the key to bring the Gophers to within three at 27-24.
8:50 Diebler hits another three that doesn’t count because of a foul that happened prior, but this time it was Kyle Madsen who got fouled…and then missed the front end of the one-and-one. That’s not a winning sequence for the Buckeyes at all.
8:52 The Buckeyes have the ball with 40 seconds to play in the half. And Evan Turner turns it over again as the Gophers get a lay up out of it to cut the lead to 27-26.
8:53 No turnover this time, however, as Turner drives again and gets the shot to fall in the final seconds of the first half to give the Buckeyes the 29-26 halftime lead.
8:54 Well, there was nothing pretty about that half. But once Turner’s shot starts falling--as it started to late--and he stops turning it over, the Buckeyes should be able to pull away. Of course, it’s helped that Lawrence Westbrook and Al Nolen have been kind of quiet and the Gophers are turning it over every other time down court. We probably can’t expect that to last, however. This is going to be one tough second half.
8:59 The Buckeyes need to get the ball down low as well. Or at least try to get Mullens involved. Of course, sometimes players need to show that they want to be involved, and that can always be done on the offensive glass.
9:10 The Buckeyes open the half by going down low to Evan Turner, who gets his shot blocked again. He’s been complaining an awful lot tonight. He needs to just play.
9:11 Ohio State goes down low again, this time to Dallas Lauderdale, who gets fouled. He misses his first free throw and his second. (I wrote that he missed his second before he actually did.)
9:12 Colton Iverson gets the ball down low and dunks it while getting fouled by William Buford. And now the game is tied at 29-29.
9:13 Three for Diebler off of an offensive rebound!! The Buckeyes get a fortunate bounce and a much-needed basket.
9:15 Turner gets his shot blocked for the third or fourth time tonight. And they’ve all been clean. The Gophers have done a great job preparing for him.
9:16 Jim Jackson just said that William Buford will be a great player in this league. I just hope he gets the chance.
9:19 Boom! Buford drives and dishes to Mullens, who drops it in! And Buford with the steal…oh, but he misses the three. That would have been ridiculous. The Buckeyes lead 36-31 with 14:34 to play.
9:20 There you go! Mullens got it down low, missed the shot and then got the offensive rebound and got fouled. He makes both free throws. Go and get it, Chief!
9:21 The Buckeyes are getting out-rebounded 26-18. That’s not very good.
9:22 There’s Mullens on the offensive glass again! The tip in gives the Buckeyes a 40-34 lead. Stay aggressive.
9:24 P.J. Hill just got stuck with the ball while the shot clock was winding down again. Why doesn’t Turner or Buford go and help him there? They are the guys who should have the ball when the clock is under ten seconds.
9:31 Simmons for three!! I love calling players out and having them respond. It makes me feel good about myself. The Buckeyes now lead 43-36 with 10:00 to play.
9:33 Huge!! Mullens gets it down low and reverses it to Diebler who drains the monster three-pointer!! The Buckeyes lead it 46-36. Beautiful look by Mullens there and it’s great to see him being this aggressive in the second half.
9:34 Blake Hoffarber answers with a baseline three. Great play call by the Gophers because he was wide open.
9:36 Uh oh. Hoffarber for three again. This one was with a hand in his face. And then P.J. Hill travels. The Buckeyes lead 47-42 with 7:31 to play as we go to a television timeout. EVERYBODY JUST REMAIN CALM!
9:39 The Gophers throw it away on the inbounds play and Diebler recovers it for the two-hand slam! That’s one way to avoid the Hoffarber three.
9:40 Crap. Hoffarber hits his third in a row. Somebody stifle that guy! Why must we always run into a Crispin?
9:41 Lauderdale just got fouled. He’ll be shooting one-and-one. And he sinks the first one! Hack-a Laud has failed! And the second!! And now he’s coming out. The Buckeyes lead 51-45 with 6:30 to play.
9:42 Hoffarber gets open again, but finally misses one. How is he getting open like that?
9:43 Freaking Hoffarber makes another open three-pointer…and gets fouled by Turner. Stop kidding around. This is getting serious. He makes the free throw and the Buckeyes lead 53-49 with 5:07 remaining.
9:44 [In annoying PA announcer voice] TRAVELLLLLING! The Gophers turn it over and every turnover for Minnesota right now is like losing three points because it’s another missed opportunity for Hoffarber to score.
9:45 Freaking Hoffarber again for three! Right in Evan Turner’s face. Evan just watched it happen. I guess it was because he didn’t think he’d shoot it from that far out.
9:46 Hoffarber gets another open look, but misses. Honestly, how is this possible?
9:48 Evan Turner now has four fouls, but he’s staying out there with 3:03 to play. It would be “interesting” to see the Buckeyes play without Turner if he fouled out.
9:50 Is this a little box and one defense I spy? I guess that’s one way to stop Hoffarber--or maybe the ONLY way.
9:51 And it works! Steal by Evan Turner! The Buckeyes now have the ball up by three with 2:20 to play. Be smart. Oh!!! Diebler misses the three but Mullens slams home the rebound!! This has been a great half by Mullens, and it’s been much needed.
9:53 Crap. The Gophers just missed two free throws and then get the offensive rebound and score. The lead is cut to three with 1:15 to play and Thad calls a timeout. The Buckeyes keep getting so close to sealing this game, but they always fall one play short.
9:54 Evan Turner gets fouled on the drive. Some big free throws coming here with 1:04 to play. He makes the first! Buckeyes lead by four. The second is good as well.
9:56 Turner gets the rebound off of a Minnesota missed free throw and gets fouled again. Time to seal this sucker up, Evan. The first free throw is good…as is the second. The Buckeyes lead 61-54 and there is nothing Blake Freaking Hoffarber can do about it. Eat it, Blake! Turner gets fouled again with 29.3 remaining.
9:58 Turner makes both again and the Buckeyes lead by nine with 25 seconds remaining. Cue the music for the ending credits.
10:02 Minnesota fouls with 3.4 seconds to play and down by seven points. I can’t blame them. Who would want to go back to Minnesota. And there’s the ballgame. The Buckeyes win it 64-58.
10:04 Another day, another win over a ranked opponent. It’s just a good thing we keep getting them to play at our place.
10:08 And it’s nice to see the Buckeyes tough out a win when Evan Turner, Jon Diebler and William Buford’s shots aren’t falling like they normally do. Over the last few games, the Buckeyes have been able to win based solely on their shooting--and that was definitely not the case tonight. Tonight it was the little things. An offensive rebound here. A steal there. And about twelve unforced turnovers by the Gophers.
10:09 It’s great to see this team coming together at the right time. It seems like there’s no longer the David Lighty void that used to be there. Yes, there are still lapses, but they’re not as prolonged as they used to be. The team seems to understand that the energy and spark that Lighty provided can be found with hustle and intelligence. Just look at P.J. Hill as evidence of that. When he has been playing lately, the Buckeyes are actually opening leads, rather than just holding them. That’s a great accomplishment by a back-up point guard. Hill will always have some issues, but determination isn’t one of them. And it’s the determined team that plays in the postseason--not the one that thinks it is owed something, which is probably the difference between last year’s team and this year’s team.
10:10 Well, that and entirely new players.
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