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#19 Ohio State 67, Minnesota 53 (Final)

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The thing is, every game that we were supposed to win this year, we have. The games that we could've won (Indiana, MSU, Wisconsin, Iowa) we're 1-3. This is a game we should win... I give the Bucks 15-20 pts on Minnesota. Come on, they lost to Gardner-Webb.
 
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Absolute must win. For a couple of reasons, we cant lose this game! First of all if we don't win this we may be two games back of first with a very rough road left to play. Thats putting way too much pressure on this team, though I think we can handle it. Secondly, we need quality wins and we need to stay away from upset losses as well. Even though we're in the Big10 and everyone is good this year, this game would like like an upset loss to an inferior team in the eyes of the selection committee. From this point on Matta should have our guys very focused on limiting turnovers and playing smart basketball. Its too late in the season trying to win games on athletic ability. I'd like to see about a 15 point win on the road going into the gauntlet of games the next two to three weeks.
 
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Every home game is a must win at this point, especially considering how tough it is to win on the road in the Big Ten.

OSU will win this one by 10-15 if we shoot decent. If we struggle it will be 5-10 point win. Minnesota is not very good honestly.
 
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toby34a said:
The thing is, every game that we were supposed to win this year, we have. The games that we could've won (Indiana, MSU, Wisconsin, Iowa) we're 1-3. This is a game we should win... I give the Bucks 15-20 pts on Minnesota. Come on, they lost to Gardner-Webb.
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I believe they were missing 4 key players, including Grier, for the Gardner-Webb game. A team that beats Indiana like Minnesota just did can't be overlooked. If this was a road game this would be a very, very tough game. At home, it's a game we should and must win, but it's certainly not a gimme. This team is better than their 1-6 Big Ten record suggests.
 
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dispatch

2/4/06

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

February, March are Matta months

OSU coach’s history could mean strong finish for Buckeyes

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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February is starting out a lot like any other month of the basketball season for Ohio State. Coach Thad Matta is harping on the same keys to success — defense, rebounding and taking care of the basketball — he has been for the past three months.

But February is unlike any other month with Matta, because he’s also reminding his players that their time is growing shorter, that if they don’t begin tying up their loose ends now, they may regret it later. Some will have forever to regret it.

"I never noticed it until lately," senior Matt Sylvester said yesterday, "but during meetings, he’ll call out the four seniors. ‘You, you, you and you. You’ve got a month left.

Let’s make the best of it. And you other guys, it’s the last time for you to play with these guys.’

"He does a good job of relaying messages at the right time. He just kind of sneaks them in there. It’s kind of like part of Thad’s magical mental games that he knows how to play. He knows how to motivate people."

In Matta’s previous five seasons as a head coach, his teams were at their best in February and March. They won more than 80 percent of their games in the five or six weeks leading up to the NCAA Tournament.

His sixth team — and second at Ohio State — begins that stretch today when it hits the midpoint of the Big Ten season against Minnesota (10-8, 1-6) in Value City Arena. The Buckeyes (15-3, 4-3) are one of seven teams separated by only a game in the loss column at the top of the conference standings.

"This is the time now," guard Ron Lewis said. "We have to stay focused and keep doing what we have to do to get better as a team and keep getting wins. This is the time of the year where some teams slide off. We don’t want to be one of those teams. That’s what (Matta) always tells us, don’t be the team that slacks off and gets tired of winning."

Matta’s most noteworthy stretch run was two years ago at Xavier, which was 10-9 entering February. The Musketeers won 13 of their last 14 games, including a 20-point win over No. 1-ranked St. Joseph’s in the Atlantic 10 tournament. They followed that with wins over Louisville, Mississippi State and Texas in the NCAA Tournament before losing by three points to Duke in a regional final.

Four months later, Matta struck it rich by taking the Ohio State job.

He said he does not know, but wishes he did, why his teams have played their best in February and March.

"I think it’s just the constant pursuit (of getting better), challenging guys to do things a little bit better than we’ve done them in the past," he said.

"Maybe (we show them) a little bit more video individually just trying to make each guy a little bit better in the context of the team."

Matta said he also reviews his practice notes to see what he did at the same point in previous seasons.

"I go back at night and I look at what we were doing five years ago at this time, four years ago at this time, where our team was, what’s the mind-set I want them to have," he said. "It’s funny how you take a little bit (from those)."

Ohio State plays five of its last nine Big Ten games at home, where its only loss this season was to Michigan State in double overtime.

And in a scheduling oddity, all five home games are on weekend afternoons, when the Buckeyes have drawn their two biggest crowds of the season in Value City Arena — a sellout of 18,500 for Michigan State on Jan. 15 and 16,136 for LSU on Dec. 31. The four road games are on weeknights.

"I don’t like guys to miss class and we’re going to miss some class," Matta said. "But I love the Saturday home games. Hopefully, as we come down the stretch here in February and March, this place is going to be a zoo."

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Saturday, February 04, 2006
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