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Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin Rally to Hand No. 1 Ohio State First Loss

February 12, 2011   Matt Snyder   1 Comment

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Every team in Division I basketball has now lost at least one game, as No. 1 Ohio State (24-1, 11-1 Big Ten) was taken down by Jordan Taylor and the feisty No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers in Madison Saturday, 71-67.

Interestingly, Ohio State was undefeated and No. 1 during college football season until visiting the Badgers.

Saturday, the Badgers (19-5, 9-3) opened up an early 24-19 lead before the Buckeyes started to click on all cylinders. The Buckeyes stormed into the half with a 9-2 run, taking their first lead of the game with a few seconds left on a brilliant up and under drive from David Lighty. This extended into the second half, as the Buckeyes eventually led 47-32.

That extended 28-8 run was coincidentally reversed by the home Badgers. Wisconsin outscored Ohio State 28-8 over the next few minutes, taking a 60-55 lead into a timeout. From there, the teams relatively traded buckets, with the margin lingering close to five points the rest of the way, and staying between three and seven.

Taylor led Wisconsin with 27 points and seven assists. He hit 5-of-8 3-pointers, including several big ones during the Badgers second-half run. Jon Leuer and Mike Bruesewitz added 12 each. Freshman Josh Gasser had 11 points on a dazzling shooting day. He made four of his five shot attempts, including all three 3-pointers. One of them was huge, tying the game at 47 and capping a 15-0 Badger run.

William Buford led Ohio State with 21 points. Freshman sensation Jared Sullinger contributed 19 points and 12 rebounds.

How it was won: Behind the arc. The Badgers made 12-of-25 from three while Ohio State only hit 3-of-9.

How it was lost: Ohio State simply didn’t keep its foot on the gas. With a 47-32 lead against a team that runs its offense at a snail’s pace, the game should have been over. But the Buckeyes’ offense grew stagnant and they simply couldn’t stop the bleeding once Wisconsin got momentum and the crowd on its side.

Inching closer: Jon Diebler is within an arm’s reach of the Big Ten 3-point record, but he only hit one Saturday. He needs two to tie the mark, held by former Penn State player Pete Lisicky.

Let the debate begin: There’s likely to be a new No. 1 in college basketball. The only question is who it will be. Duke? Kansas? Texas? Pittsburgh? Or maybe Ohio State should still retain the spot? After all, Wisconsin is now 150-11 at home under Bo Ryan and beat last year’s eventual national champion, Duke, at home. Personally, I’d leave Ohio State at the top. If you look at the body of work, the only other one-loss team in contention is Kansas, which lost a game at home. The road loss is better than the home loss.

“Overrated?” Granted, it’s not the entire fan base, but the Badgers student section was chanting “overrated” late in the game. Talk about devaluing your team’s hard-fought victory. If Ohio State was overrated, the Badgers shouldn’t have had much trouble beating it at home.

Where to from here: Ohio State will get the chance to get back to its winning ways Tuesday at home against the woefully underachieving Michigan State Spartans before another tough road trip next weekend (Sunday at Purdue). Wisconsin makes that trip to West Lafayette to face the Boilermakers Wednesday.

 

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Indiana Holds Off No. 20 Minnesota

February 02, 2011   Matt Snyder   No comments

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In his first 2 1/2 seasons on the job, Tom Crean had led his Indiana Hoosiers past zero ranked opponents. Now he’s done it twice in a week.

Despite building a 16-point lead in the second half, the Hoosiers had to sweat it out late. Minnesota started to lock down Indiana on defense and started to hit some big shots. The Gophers got as close as one, 55-54, but Verdell Jones III scored five straight points to give his team some breathing room. A contested Blake Hoffarber 3-pointer was missed at the buzzer, as the Hoosiers prevailed 60-57.

The game was Jones’ first since Indiana (12-11, 3-7 Big Ten) lost to Wisconsin January 20. He missed the following three games with a knee injury. Of course, his return came on the same night Christian Watford was shelved after having surgery on a broken hand bone. The Hoosiers’ leading scorer and rebounder is out indefinitely. Maurice Creek — a starter at the beginning of the season — is also out with a knee injury.

Minnesota (16-6, 5-5) has faced its share of losing players as well, with Al Nolen out with a broken foot and Devoe Joseph having transferred.

Jones led the Hoosiers with 12 points — along with an unlikely fan favorite for the night. Tom Pritchard, long maligned by fans for much of his career, has been playing well lately and came through with one of the biggest games of his career. He hit all five of his shots for 12 points, also pulling down seven rebounds. He also hit both of his free throws (he entered the game shooting a putrid 20 percent from the line) and brought down the house with a thunderous put-back dunk in the first half.

Hoffarber led the Gophers with 15 points, but struggled, hitting just 4-of-12 shots and turning it over four times.

Key Stats: Indiana made 13 free throws to Minnesota’s 11. Of course, Minnesota attempted 22 while the Hoosiers only needed 15. Also, despite a really huge size advantage, the Gophers only out-rebounded the Hoosiers by one.

How it was won: Indiana played great defense, again, despite being undersized. Crean constantly switched from zone to man to even a box-and-one on Hoffarber. The different looks left the Minnesota offense stagnant for much of the game until the late rally.

How it was lost: Rebounds and free throws, as mentioned above — but the Gophers also failed to take advantage on the interior with big height advantages across the board, hitting just 14 of their 36 2-point attempts.

Freshman moment: After a stellar entry pass from Jordan Hulls, Victor Oladipo electrified Assembly Hall with a big dunk in the second half, but he hung on the rim screaming for a second or two — earning a technical foul.

Where to from here: The Gophers needed this one. They just lost at Purdue and now have to host No. 1 Ohio State. Unless some major improvements are made before Sunday, the Buckeyes won’t have their hands full.

Indiana has done this since Jan. 15: Blown out Michigan, taken Wisconsin to the limit at the Kohl Center, beat Illinois, taken Michigan State to overtime at the Breslin Center and beaten Minnesota. Oh wait, I left out getting worked at Iowa — which appears an anomaly at this point. As fate would have it, the Hawkeyes visit Assembly Hall Saturday. If this team has truly grown in the past month, we’ll see a blowout win.

 

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Indiana’s Christian Watford Has Surgery on Broken Hand, Out Indefinitely

February 01, 2011   Matt Snyder   No comments

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Christian WatfordThe Indiana Hoosiers can’t catch a break. Heading into the season, the starting lineup looked to be: Guy-Marc Michel, Christian Watford, Maurice Creek, Verdell Jones and Jordan Hulls. Michel was ruled ineligible by the NCAA, Creek is out for the season with a knee injury (for the second straight season), Jones is currently on the shelf with his own knee injury and now Watford will join them.

The sophomore forward, who leads Indiana with 17.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, is going to be sidelined indefinitely after having surgery on a broken left hand. He was averaging more than 22 points per game in his last three, having found his stroke both inside and outside.

Watford injured the hand late in the second half in a loss to Michigan State Sunday evening. He briefly exited the game and appeared to be in pain, clutching his hand. He did re-enter the game and ended up playing all the way through the end of overtime.

Indiana (11-11, 2-7 Big Ten) went through a six-game losing streak a few weeks ago, but has shown signs of life recently — winning two league games and taking both Michigan State and Wisconsin to the wire on the road. But at some point, the injuries are going to take a severe toll on an already depleted roster.

The Hoosiers host No. 18 Minnesota Wednesday night.

 

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No. 1 Ohio State Eviscerates No. 12 Purdue

January 25, 2011   Matt Snyder   No comments

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Anyone wanna question Ohio State now?

The nation’s top-ranked team left little doubt Tuesday night in its superiority, beating Purdue 87-64 in a game it led by as many as 30. The Buckeyes never trailed and led by double digits for 34 minutes.

Sure, it was at home, but the Buckeyes thoroughly dominated the 12th-ranked team in the nation — a team coming off a resounding victory over Michigan State. Ohio State (21-0, 8-0 Big Ten) is clearly the best team in the country right now.

It was the very definition of a total team effort. Ohio State got six players in double figures in points, with no one having more than 19. It had five with at least four rebounds, with no one having more than eight, and five guys with at least a pair of assists — and none with more than six. The Buckeyes hit 11 of 19 from 3-point range, with five players hitting at least one. And on and on. Just look at the box score.

William Buford led the Buckeyes with 19 points. The junior nailed five of his six threes. Burly freshman Jared Sullinger had 17 points and seven boards.

JaJuan Johnson led the Boilermakers (17-4, 6-2) with 22 points and seven rebounds. E’Twaun Moore contributed 16 points, but wasn’t near his best.

How It Was Lost: Purdue seemed to implement the “let’s let anyone but Jared Sullinger beat us” defense early. That proved to be a mistake, because Ohio State is no one-trick pony. The Buckeyes have lots of weapons, and it showed. You cannot just leave Buford, Jon Diebler, David Lighty and Deshaun Thomas alone for jumpers.

How It Was Won: Pick your poison. Ohio State dominated every single facet of the game from the start. Offensively, defensively, on the boards, in transition, etc. It was just pure domination.

What We Didn’t Like: E’Twaun Moore had a good first half against Michigan State, but he has since resumed his shooting woes. The senior made only 1 of 7 from the floor in the first half and ended 4 of 13 on the game. He did get to the line eight times — making seven — to help his total points, but he has to shoot better for the Boilers to be an elite team. JaJuan Johnson can only do so much on offense.

More Than One: It’s easy to only concentrate on Sullinger. No one could blame the general public for that. But Ohio State has two other stellar freshman and it showed Tuesday night. Once Purdue realized it couldn’t continue to give up wide-open threes, Aaron Craft began to penetrate the Boilers’ defense and came through with a big game. The freshman point guard ended with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. And by the way, he was being guarded by Kelsey Barlow, who is no Chris Kramer but still regularly shuts down his man (just ask Talor Battle or Kalin Lucas). Not to be completely outdone, Deshaun Thomas announced his presence with authority as well, pouring in 13 points and six rebounds.

With a trio of freshman, a trio of seniors and one star junior, the Buckeyes survive with the best group of seven players — not just one — in all of college basketball. Think about how we haven’t even mentioned Diebler’s 13-point, 8-rebound, 6-assist effort yet. Or Lighty’s lock-down defense and 10 points. Or Dallas Lauderdale‘s post presence on defense.

That’s what makes a No. 1 team. And not just a placeholder No. 1. Ohio State is the best team in the country. Period.

 

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Tom Crean’s Progress Requires Patience

January 21, 2011   Matt Snyder   No comments

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… make it slow and we’ll come together fine. All we need is just a little patience …

We’re seven games into Tom Crean’s third season of Big Ten play as the Indiana basketball coach. The Hoosiers have not performed as well as most expected them to thus far in 2011, and many critics began to circle like vultures in early January. The past two performances prior to Sunday’s loss to Iowa may have quieted them for the time being, but a remaining Big Ten slate that is likely to yield only a handful more wins could ramp things up from the skeptics heading into the summer.

It’s just still so premature. In order to see this, one need only examine the special circumstances and what is potentially on the horizon.

Tom Crean took the coaching job at Indiana University April 1, 2008. What followed with the roster was nearly unprecedented in major college basketball. Defections, graduations and dismissals left Crean with just two returning players. Kyle Taber, who averaged 1.3 points per game as a junior, and Brett Finkelmeier, who brought back 1.6 minutes per game of experience. That was it.

Simply put, Crean was starting a program from scratch. In the Big Ten. You can talk about Indiana’s history all you want; that doesn’t mean anything. You can talk about how quickly John Calipari resurrected Kentucky, but he had Patrick Patterson to build around — not to mention the recruits who came with him and the fact that he wasn’t handcuffed by probation.

Really, the only recent situation even remotely comparable is what Scott Drew faced at Baylor. The events leading up to the coaching change were much different, but the rebuilding projects were similar. Actually, Drew had it much easier on that front. Baylor fans don’t expect what Indiana fans do. Not even in the same ballpark.

 

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NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Muddled Teens

January 20, 2011   Matt Snyder   No comments


Ranking the top 10 teams seems relatively easy. There are three elite teams outside of the Big East, a hat trick of them in the league, and San Diego State, Texas, Villanova and BYU are knocking at the door. From there, we’re bound to have lots of arguments because it’s simply a large group of teams that are relatively similar.

Take this web of round robin play with a handful of Big Ten teams. Minnesota beat Purdue in the waning seconds at home. Minnesota also lost to Wisconsin and Michigan State. Wisconsin lost to Illinois once and Michigan State. Illinois also lost to Wisconsin once, but beat Michigan State. Purdue needed a last-second shot to beat seemingly mediocre Penn State, but that same Penn State team beat Illinois and Michigan State, while also taking Ohio State to the wire. Purdue also lost at West Virginia — but then West Virginia lost to Marshall.

So how do you want to rank Wisconsin, Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan State? Good luck. There’s a hole to every single order. And you can do that with pretty much every team you’d consider for spots 11-16 in the power rankings.

What does this all mean?

It’s gonna be one hell of a Big Dance.

Ballots were tallied from college basketball editor Ray Holloman, editor Matt Snyder, national college basketball writer Terrance Harris and blogger Evan Hilbert. Points, listed in parentheses, were given in reverse order of rankings (16 points for a first place vote, 15 for second, etc.).

 

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JaJuan Johnson Buzzer-Beater Propels Purdue Past Penn State

January 19, 2011   Matt Snyder   No comments

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Purdue beats Penn StateWith 5.4 seconds remaining, the Purdue Boilermakers faced a home loss to Penn State. Trailing 62-61 after a big 3-pointer from Penn State‘s David Jackson, Boilermakers coach Matt Painter looked to his senior big man. JaJuan Johnson took the inbounds pass and coolly nailed an 18-footer. No. 14 Purdue (16-3, 5-1 Big Ten) had survived with a 63-62 win, snapping a two-game losing streak which had followed 10 straight wins.

Penn State (10-8, 3-4) likely leaves Lafayette with a pretty rotten taste in its mouth. Not only saddled with the loss, the Nittany Lions have a legitimate complaint with an officiating decision late in the game. On what could have been Purdue‘s final possession, E’Twaun Moore drove down the lane and lost control of the ball in traffic. It went out of bounds and was awarded to Purdue. Replays showed that Moore got a hand on the ball as it was on the way out. If he didn’t touch it last, he certainly touched it at nearly the exact same moment as the Penn State defender. The ensuing play was Johnson’s game-winner.

 

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Report: Ohio State Players Keep Pledge, Will Return as Seniors

January 18, 2011   Matt Snyder   No comments

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Prior to the 2011 Sugar Bowl, it was revealed that five Ohio State football players would be suspended for five games in the 2011 regular season for accepting improper benefits. The NCAA ruled the players could take part in the Sugar Bowl, and coach Jim Tressel told the fivesome they could all play in the game if they pledged to return for their respective senior seasons — instead of entering the NFL Draft one year early.

And they did. Quarterback Terrelle Pryor, wide receiver DeVier Posey, tackle Mike Adams, running back Dan Herron and defensive end Solomon Thomas all promised to return for 2011 and, in return, were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl. All five had a big hand in the Buckeyes’ dramatic 31-26 win over Arkansas.

The move was met with a collective scoff from most of the TV, radio and Internet community. The pledge wasn’t exactly enforceable or legally binding. Was Tressel simply grandstanding just to get that elusive bowl win over an SEC opponent?

Apparently not.

All five players will return to the team in 2011, along with every other junior, according to the Columbus Dispatch. The NFL will release the final underclass list for the draft Wednesday.

 

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NCAA Basketball Power Rankings: Ohio State No. 1 A.D. (After Duke)

January 13, 2011   Matt Snyder   No comments

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For the first time of the 2010-11 college basketball season, the Duke Blue Devils are not the consensus best team in the nation. They fell Wednesday night at Florida State, 66-61, and will have to give up the perch they’ve had all season — the No. 1 spot in nearly every poll out there. It goes without saying that shift takes place atop FanHouse’s power rankings, as the Blue Devils tumble to No. 4.

Ohio State slides into the top spot, but it wasn’t unanimous. Two of our panelists voted for the Buckeyes to be No. 1, while two liked Kansas. A single rating point separates the top slot from second here. With conference play kicking into high gear, we’re finally about to see some shuffling in a top five that had been stagnant for quite a bit.

Ballots were tallied from college basketball editor Ray Holloman, editor Matt Snyder, national college basketball writer Terrance Harris and blogger Evan Hilbert. Points, listed in parentheses, were given in reverse order of rankings (16 points for a first place vote, 15 for second, etc.).

 

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Second-Half Run Pushes No. 2 Ohio State Past Michigan

January 12, 2011   Matt Snyder   No comments

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On a day when the University of Michigan announced Brady Hoke as its new football coach — and Hoke stated the No. 1 goal was to beat Ohio State — it was fitting that Ohio State and Michigan squared off. Even if on the hardwood and not the gridiron, it seemed to fit.

Unfortunately for the Wolverines, it was more of the same, as No. 2 Ohio State prevailed, 68-64.

Michigan (11-5, 1-3 Big Ten) actually either outplayed or played right with Ohio State for much of the game, though. A 12-0 Ohio State run after a 41-41 tie proved to be too much for the Wolverines to overcome. They scratched and clawed their way back to within two on three separate occasions in the final minute of play, but could never come up with the big takeaway or 3-pointer needed to get over the hump.

William Buford led Ohio State (17-0, 4-0) with 19 points and nine rebounds. David Lighty had 12 points and five assists, though his free throw shooting (just 6-of-13) left much to be desired. Star freshman Jared Sullinger had 12 points and seven rebounds, but he battled foul trouble and frustration throughout. He fouled out late in the game and at one point in the second half needed to be settled down by the officials.

Darius Morris led Michigan with 18 points and seven assists. Zack Novak had 16 points (including hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers), though he missed a crucial free throw late in the game that could have cut the Ohio State lead to one (it was the first of three free throws with Michigan trailing by four; he hit the next two). Evan Smotrycz added 14 points and six boards.

How It Was Won: Talent. Michigan probably played a better game, relatively speaking, but the Buckeyes are so good in so many different ways, they were able to overcome it. Buford was hot in the first half and many others hit big shots in the second, including big threes from Jon Diebler and Aaron Craft.

How It Was Lost: The Ohio State 12-0 run was actually sparked by Michigan. More specifically, Jordan Morgan‘s foul trouble. The 6-foot-8 sophomore was quite the match for Sullinger. Morgan pestered Sullinger to a first half of four points, two rebounds and three turnovers. Sure, there was double-teaming coming at Sullinger, but Morgan’s strength was making a huge difference. Once Morgan sat down with his third foul, Ohio State went on a 14-3 run (containing that 12-0 stretch). Without Morgan, the Wolverines had to spend much more manpower on Sullinger, which also created open looks from outside for the rest of the Buckeyes.

Where to Go From Here: Michigan played a top-three opponent at home for the second consecutive game. And for the second consecutive game, it made said opponent sweat quite profusely. There is no shame in this young team taking Kansas to overtime and then only losing to Ohio State by four. If the Wolverines play every team like these two, they’ll have a real shot at the NCAA tournament, which was not even a consideration entering the season.

On the flip-side, Ohio State has allowed Iowa, Minnesota (at home) and Michigan to hang around far too long in the past three games. Big leads have shrunk, and it could be alarming. It’s hard to worry when the team is 17-for-17 on the season, but at some point the Buckeyes need to go back to putting people away instead of relying on missed shots late to hold on.

 

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