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#1 Ohio State 89, #6 North Carolina 98 (Final)

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OSU-UNC looking like freshman all-star game By Andrew Skwara, Rivals.com College Basketball Staff Writer
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Ohio State travels to North Carolina on Nov. 29 for a game that will feature the largest collection of freshmen talent this season. The Tar Heels and Buckeyes landed the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked classes in Rivals.com's 2006 team rankings. Both groups have been compared to some of the greatest classes of all time.
The six-man group the Tar Heels signed has everything from big-name recruits to balance to depth.
Point guard Tywon Lawson, shooting guard Wayne Ellington and power forward Brandan Wright were all ranked among the top 10 in the class of 2006.
There's also power forwards Alex Stepheson and Deon Thompson, a pair of top-100 prospects from California. Three-star small forward William Graves is the only in-state recruit in the class.
Ohio State's five-man group is also balanced, but it's known best for including Greg Oden - the dominating 7-foot center. Oden has long been considered the No. 1-prosepct in this class. Many believe he is the best big man to come out of the high school ranks in decades.
http://us.bc.yahoo.com/b?P=7gFJi86....7078.7652979.8710623.1414694/D=LREC/B=3206613 However, Oden won't be playing against the Tar Heels unless it's in the NCAA Tournament. He is recovering from offseason wrist surgery and isn't expected back until January.
The Buckeyes also signed two other McDonald's All-Americans: point guard Mike Conley (who played with Oden at Lawrence North in Indianapolis) and shooting guard Daequan Cook.
Four-star shooting guard David Lighty and power forward Othello Hunter, one of the nation's top junior college transfers, round out the class.
But, it's not just the freshmen that have generated all the hype behind this matchup.
The Tar Heels might have the nation's deepest and most talented team. Six of their top seven scorers return from a young team that captured a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament last season.
That includes preseason ACC player of the year Tyler Hansbrough, who averaged 18.9 points and 7.8 rebounds a game on his way to collecting several National Freshman of the Year awards and All-America honors last season.
The Buckeyes face a different situation having lost four starters ? one of the main factors in their tremendous recruiting success. But they still bring back one of the Big Ten's top point guards in Jamar Butler, who averaged 4.6 assists per game last season. Another key contributor will be Ron Lewis, who scored 11.2 points per game as a sixth man in 2005-06.
All these factors have the Tar Heels and Buckeyes picked as the favorites in their respective conferences. The reasons above also illustrate why this may be the most intriguing matchup of the season.
 
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You guys are concerned over nothing. Carolina is a paper tiger. Lots of talent, a modicum of team. They still have no identity, while our guys are already playing like an elite forces unit. Winthrop could have taken them...are we better than Winthrop? Gonzaga DID take them. We have no Heyveldt, but we have a lot more everywhere else. Are Hansbrough and Wright good? Yeah, they're pretty good. Do you think Harris and Twig and Hunter are going to get punked THAT bad?

Our defense and rebounding have improved every game, and we faced a tall (though not that talented) team in San Francisco. Don't write off what has been accomplished. What Buckeye team has ever blown these early season opponents off the court like this team? I'm seeing a team that is very legitimately top-5, and they might be WAAAY ahead of the pack when Oden comes back.

Bucks with a comfortable ten-point lead at some point in this game, but can they close the game out in the Dean Dome....let's stay tuned.
 
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I have watched UNC play several games and they struggle at times on defense and they do not rotate well.....we have the advantage on the perimeter......college basketball is about guards......well we have more than enough.....if we can keep our poise on the road, we have enough to beat UNC.

A couple of keys to the game:

1. No careless turnovers
2. Consistent 3 point shooting
3. Force turnovers

I like our chances here guys......it will be a great game, but do not just assume since we are playing UNC we are hoping for a moral victory, this OSU team is talented and in my opinion the best player on the court on Wednesday will be Cook.
 
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Good call. And its probably safe to say that Cook is the best player on the court any night. He's a wonderful basketball player and looks great in a Buckeye uniform right along with his teammates!

Lets get some real predictions in here for the game.

My first prediction is that Jamar Butler gets player of the game. Double digits in scoring and at least 5 assists, 5 steals and 3 boards. Keep em coming.
 
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OSUBasketballJunkie;671696; said:
I have watched UNC play several games and they struggle at times on defense and they do not rotate well.....we have the advantage on the perimeter......college basketball is about guards......well we have more than enough.....if we can keep our poise on the road, we have enough to beat UNC.

A couple of keys to the game:

1. No careless turnovers
2. Consistent 3 point shooting
3. Force turnovers

I like our chances here guys......it will be a great game, but do not just assume since we are playing UNC we are hoping for a moral victory, this OSU team is talented and in my opinion the best player on the court on Wednesday will be Cook.
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I do not like our chances of winning this game, but I sure agree with your assessment of DaeQuan Cook. Hard to say a top-15 recruit was ridiculously underrated, but I think he was. What I've seen from the other top recruits (other than Kevin Durant - he's a beast!), they do not match up with DQ.
 
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HabaneroBuck;671679; said:
and they might be WAAAY ahead of the pack when Oden comes back.
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I heard someone in the hallway today at work say Odgen was not coming back this year - that he's being told by people close to sit out the year and dont risk injury then jump to the NBA.. but it kind of contradicts everything i've ever heard about him
 
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Bleed S & G;671785; said:
I heard someone in the hallway today at work say Odgen was not coming back this year - that he's being told by people close to sit out the year and dont risk injury then jump to the NBA.. but it kind of contradicts everything i've ever heard about him
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Dear Lord, it must be true! Screw the experts, some guy at work said Oden won't play. :tongue2: I kid, I kid.
 
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fourteenandoh said:
I can't wait to see how our see boys match up. I think these young guys will come out with a chip on their shoulder trying to prove to the country that they are for real. It's gonna be a matchup of 5star recruits all trying to show that they are the best. If we beat them we should definitely be #1 IMO. That ranking would be by default though because FLA lost. THey are the best team in the country. If we shoot the ball the way we have been this is a very winnable game.

Alum, that picture of Carrie is amazing. I love that chic.
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Yea she is the most beautiful woman in the world!!

I even tell my wife that!
 
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