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Men's Basketball
Craft, Sullinger Shine vs. Gators, Make Ohio State National Contenders
By Brandon CastelFreshmen playing in their first collegiate road game against a top-10 team in the country aren’t supposed to be this good.
Aaron Craft
Photo by Jim DavidsonThey aren’t supposed to be able to tune out a hostile crowd or break a tough full-court press like it didn’t exist.
They aren’t supposed to grab double-digit rebounds or throw down monstrous two-handed dunks against a trio of senior forwards.
They aren’t supposed to be this good this early, unless of course they are this good.
It’s only the beginning for Ohio State freshmen Jared Sullinger and Aaron Craft, but already they have the 4th-ranked Buckeyes looking like true national contenders after just two games.
“I think Ohio State has a better chance of being a better team this year than they did a year ago,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said.
“Evan Turner is a great player, was the player of the year in the country, and they won 29 games and did a great job, but when you have that kind of player you become a little more one-dimensional. They're a complete team who probably has chance to do a little bit more this season because there's going to be more balance to their team.”
David Lighty
Photo by Jim DavidsonFifth-year senior David Lighty was the catalyst in Ohio State’s 93-75 win at No. 9 Florida Tuesday night. He scored 26 points, four shy of his career-high, including 12 in the first half as the Buckeyes exacted a little taste of revenge for their loss in the 2007 national title game.
“That banner up there, it could have been back there in Ohio, in Columbus,” said Lighty, who was one of the five newcomers on that Ohio State team during the 2006-07 season.
“We were shooting around yesterday and I saw it. It just brought back memories so it gives me a little more motivation.”
Junior William Buford added 16 points and eight assists while Jon Diebler finished with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from behind the arc, but it was the play of the freshmen that allowed Ohio State to beat a top-10 non-conference team on the road for the first time since 1961.
With senior Dallas Lauderdale in early foul trouble and his team getting pounded on the glass 19-8 in the first half, Sullinger abused Florida’s frontcourt of Vernon Macklin, Alex Tyus and Chandler Parsons. At point, he even posterized Tyus with a NBA-caliber dunk on his way to 26 points and 10 rebounds in 34 minutes.
“He had a great demeanor coming in here. It was a game that he knew going in that he was going to have play well in order for us to have a chance to win,” Matta said of his 6-foot-9 freshman.
“He's a special player. He's a special kid. It was amazing, we had some time outs in the second half, our guys talking, our veterans, and he was the one saying 'Lets run this to exploit that,' so his mind is always thinking the game.”
The reigning national high school player of the year was 13-of-17 from the floor, hitting nearly everything around the basket, as the Buckeyes made 24 of their 34 shots (71 percent) in the second half. They were 6-of-11 behind the arc, but it was the way they neutralized Florida’s full-court press that eventually wore down the Gators into a state of submission.
“We just kept coming at them and coming at them and coming at them and they kind of wore down a little bit,” said Lighty, who had three of the team’s 22 assists on 39 made baskets.
“We did a good job of breaking the press and controlling the tempo even though they were trying to force us to play a little faster. Us not turning the ball over and getting good shots was the key to the game.”
The Buckeyes committed just eight turnovers on the road against a team that had 11 steals (and forced 20 turnovers) in their season-opener. Craft did have three of those turnovers (the first three of his career), but it was his ability to bring the ball up the floor and find the right guy in transition that changed the dynamic of the game.
“Clearly with Craft at the point it allows Buford and Lighty and Diebler to do what they need to do and not have to worry about running the team,” Donovan said.
“And I though Craft had a terrific game.”
Buford ran the point for the first five minutes of the game, but it wasn’t long before Matta brought Craft off the bench. The baby-faced kid from Findlay immediately brought a level of calmness to the OSU offense that can rarely be attributed to a freshman.
The Gators tried to rush him, but he took his time. They tried to trap him, but he found the open man. They tried to rattle him, but he kept his cool.
“It's real important, and my hat's off to Craft,” Lighty said.
“He reminds me of myself my freshman year. He just does what it takes for the team to win. Whatever coach asks of him or us seniors asks of him, that's what he goes out and does.”
Craft finished with seven points and five assists in 29 minutes. He now has 15 points, 14 assists and just three turnovers in his first two games as a Buckeye.
Sullinger, a teammate of Craft’s on the All-Ohio Red AAU team, is now averaging 22.5 points, 12 rebounds and two assists in his first two games as a Buckeye. He is the first OSU freshman to record back-to-back double-doubles since Herb Williams in 1977.
There is still plenty of season to be played, including the entire Big Ten schedule, but after two games it looks like this Buckeye team is going to be hard to beat when they rebound the basketball.Donate by Check :
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