Please patronize our advertisers to help
keep theOzone.net free for everyone.
 |
|
||||||
Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Look to Correct Mistakes in Second Meeting with Minnesota
By Brandon CastelWhen the Buckeyes faced Wisconsin earlier this season without Evan Turner in the lineup, they shot just 33 percent from the floor while being outrebounded 34-25 in Madison. They turned the ball over 12 times and went a frigid 1-for-8 from behind the arc in the second half of a 65-43 loss.
It was the kind of performance that keeps Ohio State Head Coach Thad Matta awake at night.
But in their next meeting with the Badgers in Columbus, the Buckeyes forced Wisconsin into 14 turnovers, were even on the glass and shot 52 percent from the floor and 50 percent from behind the arc in a 60-51 win.
The 20 th-ranked Buckeyes (15-6, 5-2 Big Ten) are hoping for a similar turnaround Sunday at Value City Arena when they face Minnesota (13-7, 4-4) for the second time this season (1 p.m. ET, CBS).
“We made a lot of silly mistakes, defensive breakdowns and things we can correct,” forward Dallas Lauderdale said of OSU’s 73-62 loss in Minneapolis.
“Coach was talking about some plays we would leave (Blake Hoffarber) and we can’t really do that. You leave him for a split second and it’s going up and it’s going in more than likely.”
With Turner back for just his second game since injuring his lower back a month earlier, the Buckeyes held a 33-32 halftime lead on the road but watched the Gophers outscore them 41-29 in the second half.
And they sure did a lot of watching, as Hoffarber knocked down seven of the Gophers’ 11 baskets from behind the arc while scoring a game-high 27 points in 31 minutes. The 6-foot-4 junior is averaging only 11.6 points per game this season, but he is shooting nearly 53 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arc and the Buckeyes saw firsthand how dangerous he can be when he gets hot.
“Get there. You got to stick to him like white on rice. That’s the truth,” Lauderdale said.
“You can’t really lose him. You’ve got to be consumed with not letting him shoot because he’s shooting a great percentage and when he’s feeling good he’s feeling good. You saw what he did to us in Minnesota.”
But Hoffarber wasn’t the first or last hot shooter to make Ohio State pay for not being consumed with keeping the ball out of his hands this season. In the very next game, Purdue’s Robbie Hummel hit a season-high eight threes in the first half against the Buckeyes, who seem to lose track of which player can hurt them the most at times.
“You can’t really get frustrated. You’ve just got to keep a straight face and keep moving forward,” Lauderdale said.
“People are going to hit shots, the only thing you can do is get there to try to stop the shots from going up.”
The Buckeyes shot 46 percent from the floor in their loss to Minnesota earlier this month with Turner, William Buford and David Lighty accounting for all but 11 of the team’s 62 points. They went just 5-of-18 from behind the arc and 7-of-13 from the free throw line, but the most alarming number was their 17 turnovers.
“We lost a couple games because of turnovers and not taking care of the ball down the stretch,” said Buford, who turned it over three times in that game, but also 17 points on 17 shots.
“We’re learning from those mistakes. When we take care of the ball, we get shots up and we shoot real (well) from the field and that really helps us.”
Under Head Coach Tubby Smith, the Gophers have become known for their high-pressure defense that often extends the length of the floor, but in their last meeting they did a brilliant job of forcing turnovers by trapping Turner as soon as he crossed midcourt.
“(We’ve) just (got to) come to the ball to help Evan out when he gets trapped,” Buford said.
“Come to the ball and get to open spots and just try to break their press.”
Breaking that press should be a little easier this time around, and not just because Turner has had some time to get comfortable bringing the ball up the floor again. Unlike the game in Minneapolis, the Gophers will be without junior point guard Al Nolen, who was ruled academically ineligible for the second semester.
“He’s a good player but they’ve got other guys just like him, maybe not as experienced,” Matta said.
Even without Nolen, the Gophers go are a much deeper team than Ohio State. They had 10 players play at least 10 minutes in their last game against Northwestern, and only one player played more than 30 minutes.
Compare that OSU, who had all five starters play over 30 minutes against Iowa, including Lighty who went all 40 minutes.
The Buckeyes did a good job of finishing the game against the Hawkeyes, but they know they will need a more complete performance to get their payback against Minnesota this afternoon.
“(We have to) stay hungry the whole 40 minutes,” Buford said.
“They wanted it more at the end of the game and we got comfortable.”
The-Ozone Mall
Interesting, Fun companies with interesting, quality products - and the-Ozone gets a piece of the action!
Donate by Check :
Ozone Communications
1380 King Avenue
Columbus, OhioHelp us bring you more Buckeye coverage. Donate to the-Ozone.
Click here to email this the-Ozone feature to a friend...or even a foe.
(c) 2010 The O-Zone, O-Zone Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, rebroadcast,rewritten, or redistributed.
|
|
||||||