Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Looking for Better Focus, Intensity against St. Francis
By Brandon CastelThe Buckeye basketball team will have plenty of chances to prove itself against top-notch competition this season, but they only have a handful of games left to work on getting better for the start of the Big Ten season, which is right around the corner.
Having played two big games against North Carolina and Cal last week in Madison Square Garden, No. 18 Ohio State (4-1) will have a chance to play two more big non-conference games in the month of December when they face Florida State and Butler in a span of 10 days.
First, however, they’ve got to focus in on closing out the month of November right with a better performance against St. Francis (Pa.) University (1-4) Saturday in Columbus (5:30 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network) than what they got this past Tuesday in their 84-64 win over Lipscomb University.
“Our minds weren’t right. That’s what the coach (Thad Matta) was saying in the locker room,” said forward Dallas Lauderdale after the team needed an 11-3 run at the end of the first half to give themselves a 9-point lead.
“We didn’t start the game off with our minds right, and that’s our fault. We’ve got to get ourselves ready to play the game, no one else can do that. We just need to learn from this and move forward.”
After that game, the Buckeyes know they have a lot to work on at both ends of the floor if they want to compete with teams like FSU, Butler, Wisconsin and Purdue over the coming weeks.
David Lighty
Photo by Jim Davidson“On the offensive end, just being solid with the ball, setting screens and getting people open. Getting position, where we want the ball and where we want to run the offense,” said junior captain David Lighty.
“On the defensive end, just communicating and talking. Knowing personnel and scouting.”
The Red Flash are just 1-4 on the season, having lost their last four games by an average of more than 13 points. They have yet to score 80 points in a game this season as they are shooting just 43 percent from the field. St. Francis does have three players scoring in double figures, including senior Devin Sweetney, who is averaging 18.8 points per game while shooting a scorching 59 percent from behind the three-point arc. They are shooting 73 percent from the free throw line, something that became a major concern from the Buckeyes this week after they went just 3-of-13 from the charity stripe against Lipscomb before hitting their last four foul shots to finish 7-of-17 for the game.
“That’s horrible. I need to start shooting a thousand free throws a day. That’s unacceptable,” said Lauderdale, who went 3-of-8 from the line in that game.
OSU was still able to win the game by 20 points thanks to Evan Turner’s second triple-double of the season (and the third in school history), but the 6-foot-7 point guard praised his teammates for knocking down 58 percent of their shots and 50 percent of their threes in that game.
“I just kept driving, kept trying to be aggressive and just looked for my teammates. My teammates did an excellent job making shots and taking the heat off me. I really need them to make shots, and when they do it just makes my life way easier.”
One thing that would certainly make life easier for Matta and the Buckeyes would be for William Buford to rediscover his shot. After scoring 19 points in the season-opener, Buford scored just 20 points on the entire trip to New York City, as he shot 7-for-27 from the floor in the two games at the Garden.
“Just tell him to keep being himself, keep doing what he does," said Lighty.
"That’s make plays, make shots. The only way he’s going to make a shot is if he shoots it. He might be a little discouraged about not making shots, but he’s still out there playing.”
Buford still didn’t have his shot against Lipscomb, going just 1-of-7 from the floor in 22 minutes, but the sophomore’s teammates are behind him and believe he will snap out of his funk any minute.
“We have full confidence in him,” Turner said.
“This is the same kid who went 8-for-12 all jumpers in our win over Purdue last year. He hits big shots and he’s a scorer. I think he’ll be fine in the next game. He’s a really hard worker and he always wants to contribute.”
Projected Starting Lineup for St. Francis:
54 F Kurt Hoffman 6-6 Sr.
40 F Cedric Latimer 6-5 Jr.
1 F Devin Sweetney 6-6 Sr.
22 G Anthony Ervin 6-4 Fr.
3 G Chris Johnson 6-0 Fr.
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