Men's Basketball
The Buckeye Watch
By Tony Gerdeman

The Buckeyes got the win they needed--or at least avoided the loss they couldn’t afford.

They did what Purdue and Michigan State failed to do--beat Northwestern at home.

Ohio State hasn’t had many pretty wins this Big Ten season, but then this isn’t a pageant. And if it was, Indiana would be the fat one with the parents who are disappointed in their child and actually enjoy trotting their kid out there and embarrassing them by making them go through with the swimwear and talent competition.

(No, I am NOT projecting.)

Anyway, the Buckeyes got a win when a win looked to be in jeopardy, which they’ve done several times this season. To put it another way, they are battle-tested--which is what a team needs to be prior to a grueling tournament.

Unless the battle-testing has worn them out--then it’s exactly what they didn’t need.

However, Big Ten Tournament success has never been an indicator of future success anyway. Actually, it might just be the opposite.

But I’ll take success wherever I can get it.

Except for pageants--I just can’t go back to that lifestyle.

4:57 It’s going to be an emotional Senior Day for the Buckeyes. It’s always tough saying goodbye to managers.

4:58 Is it safe to assume the winner of this game is in the NCAA Tournament? That’s what I’m thinking. Does it mean a loss knocks the loser out? I’d say only if it’s Northwestern who loses.

5:00 Today’s game is the biggest game between these two since 1924 when Fiddle McCaffrey’s Northwestern Shoremen team--as they were known back then--scored an unheard of 17 points in a 17-9 win over Ohio State to win the Big Ten Championship and move on to the Great West Tournament of Champions, which featured five universities, two professional teams and a squad of Canadian lumberjacks all competing for the title of greatest North American basketball team.

5:01 Northwestern didn’t get a shoot around because their bus driver didn’t know it was time to “spring forward”? I thought Northwestern was the smart school? Of course, it’s the geniuses who have no common sense.

5:05 Hey, there’s University Hall. I had about ten classes in there. One was taught by a former CIA guy. Another was taught by a guy who always wore Batman t-shirts. It takes all kinds…

5:08 The sweet stroke of William Buford puts the Buckeyes on the board first. You could call it “Sweet and Low”, but the trajectory is so high that the nickname wouldn’t make any sense, and “Sweet and High” has too many bad connotations.

5:09 Pure Jumpshooter! P.J. Hill nails a three and he is as close to automatic as college basketball has ever seen.

5:09 Stupid Craig Moore makes a three with a hand in his face. That guy is so annoying. He’s like the kid that would always talk about chorus while you were playing basketball at recess. Nobody cares about your freaking solo, now shoot the ball!

5:17 Sometimes I wish P.J. would just stop dribbling and start shooting.

5:18 Except that time! He made an extra pass over to William Buford who drains the three! The only reason P.J. passed that is because he knew Buford was going to make it. That’s the only reason P.J. would pass up a sure three-pointer of his own.

5:19 So far Kevin Coble has been shut down and he’s been covered by everyone from Dallas Lauderdale to Jeremie Simmons.

5:20 Ha! The failed alley oop to B.J. Mullens leads to chaos and an open three for Jon Diebler! The Buckeyes lead it 18-6.

5:24 Diebler again from the same exact spot! No, it wasn’t a glitch in the Matrix.

5:27 Walter Offutt at the point? Oh, it’s just in order to get the ball to Turner. Makes sense. I’m just glad to see Offutt in there. Frankly, I don’t care where it is.

5:28 You just never know which way Jeremie Simmons is going to launch himself on a jumper. He’s like one of those suction cup things on a spring. You press him down and wait for it to jump, never really knowing where it will end up. However, if you have an open coffee cup nearby, chances are it will end up there. It’s science.

5:34 It’s 21-10 right now, but I get the feeling that Northwestern is about to go on a little run here. Dang it. Moore just hit a three. I hate it when I might be right. Good thing I don’t have to deal with it often.

5:38 The Buckeyes are really struggling to find a shot right now. It’s to the point where you sort of wish P.J. Hill would just wave everybody off and take over.

5:39 Dallas Lauderdale is down. He got his hand hit on a field goal attempt. He’s in some pain. This doesn’t look very good.

5:43 Dave Revsine is saying it’s a shoulder thing. William Buford shot the free throws, so that’s not a bad trade-off, assuming everything will be fine very soon.

5:44 Northwestern looks like an entire team of guys you see walking to the library while you’re walking to the game.

5:46 P.J. Hill misses a three! There must have been a flash or something that distracted him. Lousy photographers always thinking it’s about them! By the way, don’t forget to check out Jim Davidson’s photos of the game online now!

5:48 The Buckeyes have the ball with 30 seconds remaining in the half, up 25-15. They’ll hold it for one. P.J. Hill gets it stolen and Northwestern heaves a 70-footer which is way off, and probably ended up hitting a spectator in the side of the head. That reminds me of my grade school days when our recess would be rained out and we‘d have to have it in the gym. Our principal would give a pack of gum to anybody who made a half-court shot, so the entire 20 minutes or so would consist of kids launching half-court shots and trying not to get nailed in the head from wayward shots on your way in for a rebound. It was like sanctioned dodge ball with basketballs. It is one of my most cherished sporting memories. Oh, the Buckeyes lead 25-15 at the half by the way. What an exciting game!

5:49 So exciting!

5:50 I’m still buzzing!

5:52 Northwestern is 2-13 from three-point range. Obviously that’s not going to last, so the Buckeyes are going to have to score around 35 points in the second half to guarantee victory. If the Buckeyes can get to 60 points, I don’t see the Wildcats scoring the necessary 45 points to stay in it.

6:05 Game on. Dave Revsine said Dallas Lauderdale sprained his shoulder and his return is questionable. However, B.J. Mullens opens the half with an offensive rebound and basket. I’ll take that.

6:07 Craig Moore with his third three-pointer. I’m always interested to find out which guy is going to be the one that we don’t feel the need to guard. I usually call him “The Team’s Best Shooter”.

6:11 Awesome. Craig Moore hits another one! It’s like being the team that wins the Heisman for somebody every single game! It’s like getting punt returns for touchdowns against you every night.

6:12 Lauderdale is back in! And wastes no time getting an offensive foul. At least we know everything is normal.

6:13 Thompson gets into the act and he nails a three to cut the Buckeye lead to 27-26. Northwestern has gone on a 11-2 run to start the half. I still stand by my earlier assertion that Northwestern isn’t going to score 45 points this half. Of course, by the looks of things right now, they’re not going to need to.

6:16 Buford has been stripped at the basket twice now. He obviously needs to get stronger, but getting a foul call here or there wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

6:22 Kevin Coble gives Northwestern the lead with a pump fake one-footer. Ohio State has scored two points this half.

6:22:13 Make it four! William Buford nails a fading 16-footer to retake the lead.

6:22:21 Which is then given back to Northwestern at 30-29 on a Nash jumper.

6:23 Alley oop to Mullens from Evan Turner for the lead again…again! Buckeyes lead 31-30 with 11:07 to play in the game.

6:26 Another alley oop to Mullens to re-regain the lead 33-32 for the Buckeyes. The offense has been terrible for a long time now, but it’s going to be the defense that has to win the game for Ohio State.

6:28 Mullens with another offensive rebound and putback. He has eight of the team’s ten points this half. Northwestern has no answer for him other than to wait for the Buckeyes to start ignoring him on offense--which is a pretty strong plan of attack.

6:29 Another alley oop to Mullens from Evan Turner! Why have we not done this more? This is like when John Cooper used to run away from Orlando Pace’s side because he knew the defense was expecting it. What does it matter what the defense knows if they can’t stop it? Buckeyes lead 37-32 with 8:15 to play.

6:31 Craig Moore again…or should I say, Craig “More” again. He gets another three-pointer with a hand in his face. It doesn’t even matter. He drew the short straw today and there’s just nothing we can do about it. May as well just let him run free and guard the other four players with five defenders. Moore is all-time quarterback and we just have to accept it.

6:36 Hey hey, Craig Moore hits another wide-open three. Ohio State leads 39-38 with 6:14 to play. I’d complain about Moore being so open, but I know the rules around here.

6:37 Kevin Coble was tired of Moore ball-hogging it, so he took his own wide-open three-pointer…and made it. Northwestern leads it 41-39. And Evan Turner ties it with a drive and scoop with 5:08 to play! Thad Matta calls a timeout to tell his team that open shooters are bad for the defense. I hope the lesson sticks.

6:40 Evan Turner is looking to take over the game and send his team into the Tournament, and he just dropped in a 10-footer backing his way into the paint. It’s time for somebody other than Coble or Moore to take over. Please. Buckeyes lead 43-41 with 3:54 to play.

6:43 What?! Michael Thompson just hit a double-clutch three-pointer off of the glass as the shot-clock was expiring…and they called Jon Diebler for the foul! What is going on? Thompson isn’t Craig Moore! Northwestern is CHEATING!!

6:44 I’d say that shot was unbelievable, but I’d be lying. Northwestern leads by two with 3:30 play.

6:46 Diebler drains a baseline three to regain the lead! He always has the answer for the Buckeyes! Ohio State leads 46-45 with 2:45 to play.

6:48 Evan Turner drives through the entire Northwestern team for the layup! He beat everybody on that drive and yet didn’t force anything. It wasn’t a nervous drive--he was under control the entire time, and that’s how we need him. Ohio State leads 48-45 with 1:52 to play as Northwestern calls timeout.

6:49 Shot clock violation for Northwestern! The Buckeyes have the ball and the three-point lead with 1:27 remaining. Be patient and be smart. I beg of you.

6:50 William Buford steps out of bounds before hitting a huge jumper. Northwestern ball.

6:51 Craig Moore misses a three! Miracle of miracles!! I can see an image of Craig Moore’s face in my toast!

6:51 But Thompson doesn’t miss--he hits a floater to cut the lead to 48-47. Thad Matta calls a timeout with 46.2 seconds to play. Thad is going to draw up the Evan Turner drive here. I hope he doesn’t draw up the Evan Turner drive and dribble out of bounds wildly off of any random Buckeye knee available.

6:54 Evan Turner with the huge jumper! He couldn’t get into the lane so instead he hit a pull-up 16-footer from the wing! That was different, but I like it! Timeout is called. Buckeyes lead 50-47 with 24.9 remaining.

6:54 Craig Moore must be stopped. And if Northwestern dribbles and stands around, feel free to foul when it gets to around five seconds remaining. Don’t let them get another chance to hit a clutch three, because chances are they’ll make it.

6:55 Coble misses the leaning three and B.J. Mullens gets the rebound…and gets fouled. That’s only Northwestern’s fifth foul, so they’ll be fouling like crazy for the next few seconds. And by the way, there was as much contact on that three-point attempt as the one Thompson took a few minutes ago.

6:57 No! Turnover Ohio State with 10.0 remaining. The ball went off of Evan Turner’s leg on the inbounds play. Dang it. Bill Carmody calls a timeout. If there’s one thing Carmody knows how to do, it’s draw up a three-point shot when your team needs it.

6:58 And the Buckeyes go with the foul. That was only their fifth. I like it. There is now seven seconds to play and they still have another foul to give. Smart. And now Northwestern calls their last timeout trying to get the ball inbounded.

7:01 Luka Mirkovic gets the look…and air balls it!! Jon Diebler gets the rebound and gets fouled. He makes both free throws and that’s going to be the ball game. The Buckeyes are going dancing! And then next Sunday, they’ll find out if they are going to be playing in the NCAA Tournament.

7:03 Well the Buckeyes definitely earned this one. Northwestern never quits--and why would they when they know their bus driver won’t be showing up for another hour or so. They’ve got nothing better to do because they’re not going anywhere. They may as well stick around and be the colossal pain in the butt that everybody knows them to be.

7:08 But what’s done is done. And Northwestern is done. Barring a Big Ten Tournament Championship Game appearance, the Wildcats will be NIT-picked in about a week--and they’ll be disappointed. But there’s something to be pleased about in being disappointed in a NIT bid…in a bi-polary type of way.

7:09 At least for Northwestern.

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