Men's Basketball
The Buckeye Watch - OSU vs. Wisconsin
By Tony GerdemanThe referees stole the opportunity for Buckeye fans to get another 40 minutes out of Evan Turner in this one, but David Lighty wasn’t going to just sit quietly and let the largest ticket-buying audience of the year go unentertained.
Lighty got the 40 minutes that Turner wasn’t permitted, and used them to score 18 points on 7-10 shooting. And the Buckeyes needed every last one of those points to secure the 60-51 win. No, the game wasn’t decided by just a score or two, but they did use all eleven of Lighty’s points in Turner’s absence to build a 12-point halftime lead over the Badgers.
And then Evan Turner came back in the second half and the Buckeyes smothered several Badger runs, and two or three runs by the refs themselves.
As an aside, people sometimes underestimate referees, but I believe the group doing the game tonight won like three AAU national championships in a row a few years back. They’re no jokes.
This was a necessary win for the Buckeyes. You can’t lose at home in the Big Ten and expect to get any leniency from the Selection Committee. And as long as the Buckeyes continue to protect their home court, they’ll be fine.
Until they run into an officiating crew who “has their number”, of course.
7:10 I’m warming up for the Badger game by watching Jersey Shore. There is no punchline here.
7:22 Now I’m watching Purdue at Northwestern because I need to get my mind right.
7:41 And with the Wildcats about to pull off the upset, the knowledgeable Northwestern fans are chanting the worst chant in all of sports: “Over-Rated!”. Because you just can‘t clap to “I Can’t Believe We’re Winning This Game, Obviously It’s Because Our Opponent Isn’t Very Good, Because If They Were Any Good, Then Obviously We Wouldn’t Stand Any Chance Against Them Due To Our Massive Sucking”.
7:58 There are few things more exciting than a Wisconsin basketball Buckeye Watch. If I start talking about the Colts, please just bear with me.
7:59 Or maybe I could write in the manner of a Spanish soccer play-by-play guy. “Trevon Hughes dribbles it. Dribbles it! DRIBBLES IT!!”
8:00 Over/under on Jason Bohannon three-pointers is 11.5, by the way.
8:03 Looks like a full house tonight. LOL. Just kidding. This place is as empty as a Cincinnati library.
8:06 Hmm…maybe the previous shot of the crowd was earlier in the night. Hammy tells me there will be about 19,000 folks in the seats tonight.
8:07 Up and under post move by Evan Turner drops in for two points. Is there a better point guard/post player/rebounder/distributor/driver/American in the nation than Evan Turner? Oops, two more for Evan on a jumper in the lane. The Buckeyes lead it 4-0. I’m thinking shut out.
8:08 David Lighty drives and “passes” it off of the backboard to Dallas Lauderdale who drops it in. I noticed that Dallas didn’t dunk that. I think he’s trying to fudge some stats because he doesn’t like the fact that most of his made field goals are dunks. In the stat sheet, that last lay-up will look like a 14-foot hook shot from the wing.
8:15 Trevon Hughes leads the game 8-7. He’s hit two in-your-face three-pointers. And Bohannon hasn’t even taken a shot yet. This does not bode well.
8:16 Evan Turner quiets the storm with a jumper at the top of the key. And now he just picked up his second personal foul. And this one was away from the ball. And there’s 14:16 to play in the half. Ridiculous. Wisconsin grabs and pulls more than an octopus at a taffy factory, and yet we’re the ones getting whistled.
8:18 The Buckeyes are flat-footed on defense right now. Jordan Taylor and Trevon Hughes have free runs into the paint.
8:19 William Buford ties it up at 12-12 with a three-pointer. Would be nice to get his shooting going while Evan Turner is being punished by the referees.
8:24 The refs stop play to yell and point at assistant coach Jeff Boals for yelling for a traveling call. “You don’t run the show around here. We do! I can destroy you.” At least, I think that’s what they told him.
8:28 Mark Madsen just hit his second baseline jumper of the night, giving the Buckeyes the 18-14 lead with 8:40 to play. He’s slowly morphing into Matt Terwilliger…at least in relation to making open baseline jumpers. Of course, with such constrictions on comparisons, I guess we could also say he’s morphing into Larry Bird.
8:32 David Lighty got called for traveling at the top of the key, and you could see him getting ready to do it. I just don’t understand how players can travel so easily. Probably from watching LeBron all the time, I’m guessing.
8:34 Diebler and Buford on a two-on-two break. Predictably ends in a turnover.
8:35 Jon Diebler comes off a screen and drills a big three-pointer, giving the Buckeyes the 23-17 lead. That’s his first open look of the game. And then Stupid Jason Bohannon answers Diebler’s three with one of his own. He’s ruining it for everybody!
8:38 Give me a break. Jason Bohannon gets bailed out on a jump fake and they call a foul on the Buckeyes. There’s certainly no home court advantage with the refs tonight. That brings us to the final television timeout of the half with the Buckeyes leading 27-20 with 3:39 to play.
8:40 Pretty impressive that the Buckeyes have built this lead with Evan Turner on the bench. But Thad knows the refs have itchy whistle fingers tonight, and he doesn’t want to risk a staring foul.
8:46 David Lighty just dropped in a deep three from the top of the sky. The Buckeyes now lead 34-22 with 27 seconds remaining. Lighty now has a dozen. I love that shot when it’s falling.
8:47 The Buckeyes have the final possession and Thad calls a timeout with 17.0 remaining in the half. Thad is no doubt dialing up something where everybody stands around until P.J. Hill is forced to throw up a 21-footer at the buzzer. But at least we’ll get a shot up.
8:48 That was dumb of me. I spoke too soon. They called David Lighty for a charge with 2.1 seconds remaining. That’s his second. Trevon Hughes was already falling backwards prior to actually getting hit. Lousy refs this half. And by “lousy”, I mean “amazingly typical”.
8:50 Fortunately, Wisconsin is unable to get a shot off and the Buckeyes lead it 34-22 at the half. Now I’m going to go have some Cookie Crisp. Well, let me see what the BTN guys say first…as long as they hurry.
8:51 Okay, nothing said of interest. Off to cereal land!
9:01 The Badgers have one assist and nine turnovers. That’s no way to win a game! What was Bo Ryan thinking with this game plan? Two weeks ago, he was uber-superior to Thad Matta. Amazing how much the venue reduces or improves your ability to coach well.
9:04 By the way, this 12-point lead with Evan Turner only playing six minutes is pretty impressive. Of course, you’re going to tell me about how much different the Badgers are without Jon Leuer, which is fine. Just remember that road goes both ways with regard to Evan Turner being out the last time around against the Badgers.
9:06 The game is back on. The Badgers get the ball and Bo Ryan wants a minimum of 17 passes before the first shot goes up. And Trevon Hughes disobeys and hits a three with zero regard. Time to yank that guy.
9:07 Wisconsin has opened the half with two misses, two subsequent offensive rebounds and five points. The Buckeyes now lead it 34-27.
9:08 Jason Bohannon just got called for a three-second violation. I’m guessing that’s his first ever.
9:10 Tim Jarmusz just hit a three-pointer and now Wisconsin is back in it, down only 34-30. Not that they were ever out of it, of course. Thad calls a timeout in order to give his team time to go back into the locker room and then come back out again. Like a symbolic rebirth that those hippies like to talk about.
9:13 And now Evan Turner gets called for an offensive foul. His third. Both he and David Lighty have three fouls a piece. It was a flop. This isn’t even fun right now.
9:14 Jon Diebler takes it down low, gets bumped. No call. Dallas fortunately cleans it up and lays it in. Again, noticing that he could have dunked it but chose not to. He’s crafty, that one.
9:16 Twitter tells me that this game is featuring a season-high 18,402 tickets sold tonight. I bet the refs are stoked to be playing in front of such a large crowd. I hope they all set their DVRs properly.
9:19 Evan Turner with the catch-and-shoot from the inbounds play. The Buckeyes now lead it 38-30 with 14:00 to play. Hopefully the Wisconsin run has now been withstood.
9:21 Some nice passing by the Buckeyes leads to a lay-in by Madsen, who I have also noticed is refusing to dunk. Interesting.
9:25 Ugh. Evan Turner’s college choice came down to Wisconsin and Ohio State. Imagine him as a Badger. Talk about the most-hated player ever. I’m actually a little angry at him anyway.
9:26 But not anymore. Evan just nailed a 15-footer to give the Buckeyes the 42-32 lead with 11:25 to play.
9:27 So now Jon Diebler gets called for a foul in the corner by a ref that was thirty feet away from the play, and not by the ref who was only six feet away? Some refs just don’t know when to step up and be clutch, apparently. Meek refs don’t win championships, baby.
9:29 The Buckeyes are taking it to the hole now, and Lighty and Turner have scored back-to-back baskets. As long as they’re careful not to almost charge, they should be able to continue getting into the paint.
9:31 Wow! Jon Diebler just took it into the paint for the third time tonight, and he hit the little floater and got fouled. The free throw is good. The Buckeyes are now leading 49-34 with 8:36 to play.
9:32 I will say, however, that one of my pet peeves with this Buckeye team this year is the way…hold on, speaking of pet peeves, Trevon Hughes just hit a three to cut the lead to ten points. Anyway, I get annoyed at how often the Buckeyes leave their inbound man hanging as they run down court. Is it that hard to remember that you have to throw the ball in before you start running down court?
9:33 Evan Turner to the rim again and he throws it down with a two-hand dunk. The Buckeyes are back up by twelve. Wisconsin still has one more run in them, but as long as the Buckeyes can keep answering by getting into the paint, they should be okay.
9:38 Evan Turner gets the rebound and breaks out, leaving defenders behind him, and finally dishing it to Buford on the wing for the lay-up. Had Turner slowed down, he would have had the ball poke checked. Great awareness on that run, and tremendous job by everybody of staying under control while going at full speed.
9:39 And now Trevon Hughes gets the steal and goes coast-to-coast for the lay-up, cutting the lead to eight at 53-45 with 4:00 to play.
9:40 But David Lighty answers again by getting into the paint and hitting an easy five-footer.
9:41 Which is then more than answered by some big random white dude hitting a three-pointer to cut it to seven. I swear, the Badgers must do most of their scouting of prospects at the Bill Laimbeer Big Man’s Camp.
9:44 Evan Turner goes to the line for one and one with 3:05 to play. The first is good. The second is not. The Buckeyes lead it 56-48. Trevon Hughes comes down the court and bricks a three, which leads to a Dallas Lauderdale rebound and immediate foul. And his free throw is missed. No penalty on that exchange for the Badgers other than the loss of a few seconds.
9:45 Wow! Keaton Nankivil gets called for charging on Jon Diebler. The crowd is understandably shocked. They don’t know what to do! Parents are holding their puzzled children close to their chests, trying to calm them and figure out what exactly just happened!
9:47 Lauderdale gets fouled on the rebound again and will be given the opportunity to shoot a couple of free throws. The first is perfect. The second is even better. Don’t foul that guy. Buckeyes by 10 with 1:20 to play.
9:48 Bohannon misses the three, the Buckeyes get the rebound and Bo Ryan is calling off the dogs.
9:49 David Lighty is dribbling around , letting folks take pictures, smiling at the ladies, then hits a fade away as the shot clock was winding down to give the Buckeyes the 12-point lead with 15 seconds to play.
9:50 The Badgers come down and hit a three with 11.5 seconds to play and Bo Ryan calls a timeout, setting up the nine-point play…on defense.
9:51 The Buckeyes get the ball in bounds and the clock is running. And the refs call Evan Turner for traveling. Maybe it was a walk-on ref, just wanting his moment in the sun. Regardless, the Buckeyes win it 60-51.
9:52 A good win for the Buckeyes. A win they couldn’t afford to lose, so to speak. So now they get rewarded for their effort with upcoming games against Northwestern and West Virginia. And if they come into the Northwestern game thinking about anything other than playing the full 40 minutes, they could easily get beaten.
9:53 And if they go into the game at West Virginia with any animal pelts or half-smoked Winstons in their cars, they will definitely get stolen.
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