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Men's Basketball
Buckeye Defensive Effort Leads to Lopsided Win Over Oakland
By John PorentasNo. 2 Ohio State (12-0) ended up with a relatively easy one-sided 92-63 win over Oakland (7-8) at Value City Arena in front of 13,459 fans. Lopsided wins are beginning to become routine for the undefeated Buckeyes, but this one looked anything but routine for the first 20 minutes of play.
Aaron Craft
Photo by Jim Davidson
The Buckeyes have been a very good shooting team this season, knocking down shots from the field at a just under 50 percent clip. In the first half against the Grizzlies however, it sometime looked like there was a lid on the basket. OSU missed numerous shots in close, shots that have been routine all season, yet they still went to the locker room with a 37-28 lead at intermission. That's because they practiced what OSU Head Coach Thad Matta has always preached in his tenure as OSU's head coach. They didn't tie their defense to their offense, and in the end that paid off handsomely for them.
"We just weren't making shots today. We were getting a lot of good looks, they just weren't falling for us," said OSU senior captain David Lighty.
The shots weren't falling, but the Buckeyes still played tough, tenacious defense. The result was 10 Oakland turnovers and seven Buckeyes steals in the first half. They also harassed Oakland shooters into a paltry 33 percent shooting percentage from the field. It was classic Matta "Don't tie your defense to your offense" at work.
"Most definitely this was a good example of that," said Lighty.
"IUPUI game we let our offense tie to our defense. We weren't making shots and our defense wasn't as intense as it should have been. Today I think we came out and did a complete opposite."
Oakland was within four at 31-27 with 1:45 remaining in the first half, but the Buckeyes put on a spurt at the end of the half to turn a four point lead into nine.
The Buckeye first half defensive effort was effective across the board, but particularly against Oakland post player Keith Benson. The 6-11 center came into the game averaging a team-high 17.4 points per game. The Buckeyes held Benson to six in the first half and just 8 on the game, well under his average.
While OSU big men Jared Sullinger and Dallas Lauderdale both helped take Benson out of his game, OSU's perimeter players also helped by making it difficult for the Grizzlies to get the ball down to Benson in the first place.
"We told our guards 'It had to start with you guys. You are the best post defense we have,' and I thought we did a very good job with that," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.
When Benson did get it down low, Sullinger and especially Lauderdale made his life miserable.
"Dallas and Jared did a great job on him," said Lighty.
"I think Dallas had him real frustrated, blocking a lot of shots and making life hard for him, not giving him any easy looks, and guards digging down and helping in the post," Lighty said.
The Buckeyes were prepared to grind out a win with exceptional defense but in the second half they also got it going offensively. That was bad news for Oakland. The Buckeyes shot 58.3 percent from the field in the second half and put 55 points on the board. The rejuvenated offense combined with the stifling defense that was just as effective in the second half as it was in the first turned a relatively competitive game into a one-sided laugher.
"We did a great job of getting stops when we needed to and pushing the ball, and our shots finally started falling and it kind of snowballed from there," said freshman point guard Aaron Craft.
The Buckeyes extended their nine point half time lead to as many as 37 in the second half.
A total of six Buckeyes scored in double figures led by 17 from freshman Deshaun Thomas in 15 minutes of play. Sullinger added 16 in 19 minutes. Lighty and Jon Diebler both scored 13, and William Buford and Craft scored 12 apiece. Craft's point total was a career-high for him.
Matta was pleased with the defensive effort and balanced attack, but was especially pleased with OSU's assist to turnover ratio that included a whopping 21 assists against just five turnovers.
"21-5 assist to turnover ratio is huge for us. That's the thing I'm most excited about," said Matta.
Defensively the Buckeyes made life miserable for Oakland at every position, but especially at the point guard. Craft registered four of OSU's 11 steals and helped harass Oakland into 20 total turnovers.
"I like Sullinger, but I tell you the guy I like is Aaron Craft," said an impressed Oakland Head Coach Greg Kampke.
"Man, does that kid make that team go,"
Craft's night included 12 points and a game-high six assists to go with his four steals. He also committed just one turnover.
Senior forward Dallas Lauderdale recorded a career-high six blocked shots. He moved into third place all-time on the OSU shot blocking list. His career total now stands at 190 blocks and enables him to pass Brad Sellers on OSU's career list.
Oakland's scoring was led by Travis Bader who came off the bench to score 17. Guard Larry Wright also reached double figures with 12. Benson failed to reach double-digits in scoring, but did collect a game-high 10 rebounds. Sullinger led the Buckeyes in rebounding with nine.
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