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Golferdow01
East-Coast Living
Big win today for the Bucks!
What I liked:
- Foster gets out of his slump in the best way possible!
- Butler's entire game: Shooting %, defense, assists
- Shut down Minny's best player Grier
What I didn't like:
- Sloppy playing down the stretch by JJ and Syl
- Unforced turnovers in the first half
Get ready for a tough three games coming up against scUM, Illinois, and Wiscy...
What I liked:
- Foster gets out of his slump in the best way possible!
- Butler's entire game: Shooting %, defense, assists
- Shut down Minny's best player Grier
What I didn't like:
- Sloppy playing down the stretch by JJ and Syl
- Unforced turnovers in the first half
Get ready for a tough three games coming up against scUM, Illinois, and Wiscy...
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sandgk
Watson, Crick & A Twist
Well JiMuzik -- question, think there is a good chance for us to actually pick up a road win?
(Those early RPI ratings don't look so solid a predictor of play on the road now. Though, truthfully, everyone in the Big 10 seems to be in the same home win, away loss mode).
(Those early RPI ratings don't look so solid a predictor of play on the road now. Though, truthfully, everyone in the Big 10 seems to be in the same home win, away loss mode).
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JiMuzik
Sophmore
Good question.
We have four left: Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Northwestern.
As of tonight, it would appear that Northwestern would be the easiest. However, we will have just played them at the Schott less than two weeks earlier, so anything could happen with such a quick turnaround.
Obviously, Michigan State would appear to be the toughest.
Wisconsin has been in a bit of a slide (ever since we beat them here), so that would seem to be a possibility.
I don't know much about just how Iowa demolished Michigan. I would bet there were some big plays that sparked the crowd and team, and emotion took over. Such things won't happen to Michigan when they play at home.
What do you think?
We have four left: Michigan, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Northwestern.
As of tonight, it would appear that Northwestern would be the easiest. However, we will have just played them at the Schott less than two weeks earlier, so anything could happen with such a quick turnaround.
Obviously, Michigan State would appear to be the toughest.
Wisconsin has been in a bit of a slide (ever since we beat them here), so that would seem to be a possibility.
I don't know much about just how Iowa demolished Michigan. I would bet there were some big plays that sparked the crowd and team, and emotion took over. Such things won't happen to Michigan when they play at home.
What do you think?
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crazybuckfan40
Head Coach
Well things are looking bright. I just hope we can survive this week. I like the fact that we are playing our best ball. I believe I herad Matta has over .700 or so career winning percentage in Febuary so lets hope that we continue that trend through this month and on into March.
Now why couldnt Foster of had just one of those 3's in the IND game and one in the MSU game. Then we would only be sitting at 1 loss.
Now why couldnt Foster of had just one of those 3's in the IND game and one in the MSU game. Then we would only be sitting at 1 loss.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
2/5/06
2/5/06
NO. 20 OHIO STATE 67 | MINNESOTA 53
Buckeyes able to handle grind-it-out Gophers
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> NEAL C . LAURON | DISPATCH Minnesota’s Adam Boone, right, finds Ohio State’s Jamar Butler in his face during the second half.
Regardless of what the bottom line says, nothing comes easy against the Minnesota men’s basketball team.
The Gophers run the shot clock down to the nub on seemingly every possession, trying to lull opponents into a mental breakdown. When they miss their shots — which they do more often than any other Big Ten team — the Gophers crash the glass for the rebounds. They bump. They grind.
"They’re not a great offensive team," Ohio State center Terence Dials said. "They need those types of games where they outhustle you, get all the loose balls. That’s how they get their wins (because) sometimes you’re not used to playing that type of game."
Ohio State did not handle it well last season, losing twice to Minnesota by a total of six points in games in which neither team scored more than 60. The Buckeyes shot 37 percent from the field in the two games and had 19 turnovers in one of them.
Their 67-53 victory over the Gophers yesterday in Value City Arena was a measure of how much they have grown in a year, coach Thad Matta said.
"That game was a carbon copy of the two games we played last year, and I thought that, for whatever reason, we’ve grown in some areas to make plays, to guard a little bit better in tough situations," Matta said. "They brought the shot clock (into play) a lot, and I thought for the most part we did a nice job of keeping our composure defensively. Offensively, once we eliminated the — ridiculous would be an understatement — turnovers, we were getting great shots."
Guard Je’Kel Foster, whose three-point shooting stroke had left him for two weeks in January, was in old form, making 7 of 8 shots from behind the arc and scoring 25 points to lead No. 20-ranked Ohio State (16-3, 5-3), which shot 54.3 percent from the field. Dials added 15 points for the Buckeyes, who made nine threes in the game compared with seven in their two losses to Minnesota last season.
Freshman Jamal Abu-Shamala led Minnesota (10-9, 1-7) with 16 points but scored only three in the second half, when Foster paid closer attention to him. J.J. Sullinger and Ron Lewis, meanwhile, took turns limiting the Gophers’ best player, guard Vincent Grier, to nine points.
"The bottom line is the area we said we had to control to win, we didn’t, and that was taking away the three from them," Minnesota coach Dan Monson said.
"They’re a very tough team to guard when they get in their offensive flow, and we let them get in their offensive flow. We felt this game needed to be in the 50s for us to have a chance and we just didn’t keep it there."
The Gophers also hurt their cause by turning the ball over almost as many times as they put it in the basket. They had 18 turnovers and 20 field goals.
"A sign of toughness is how you value the ball," Monson said. "Our 18 turnovers, a lot of them were just not being very tough mentally."
Ohio State had problems of its own with turnovers, however, and consequently was never able to get a comfortable margin until it led 60-49 with less than three minutes remaining.
At that point, though, Minnesota applied full-court pressure, forced turnovers on back-to-back possessions and cut its deficit to 60-53 with 2:16 left. But the Buckeyes burned the press twice in a row after that, Dials with a dunk and Foster a three, and the matter was settled.
The win kept Ohio State among six teams atop the Big Ten standings that are separated by one game in the loss column. The Buckeyes’ next two games are against teams in that group, Michigan and Illinois.
"There’s a lot more basketball left," Sullinger said. "We just want to get better. We have yet to play our best basketball."
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Sunday, February 05, 2006
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