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#7 Ohio State 63, Penn State 56 (Final)

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Dispatch

3/10/06

MEN’S BASKETBALL

OSU knows Big Ten tournament is not do or die for it this time

Friday, March 10, 2006

Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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INDIANAPOLIS — Je’Kel Foster cracked a smile when asked if the Ohio State men’s basketball team has to stay on the pace being set by the OSU women’s team.

"Definitely," he said.

But is that motivation enough, after what the Buckeyes have been through the past two months, to try to add, as the women did, a Big Ten tournament championship to the regularseason title they already have?

Five days after winning the program’s first conference title since 2002, and two days from being invited to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since then, top-seeded Ohio State (24-3) plays eighth-seeded Penn State (15-13) today in a Big Ten tournament quarterfinal in Conseco Fieldhouse.

No one, including coach Thad Matta, will really know how much this matters to the Buckeyes until noon today.

"Nobody wants to lose. That hasn’t even entered my thought process," Matta said.

He acknowledged that, unlike last season, when the Buckeyes were banned from the NCAA Tournament for NCAA rules violations and ended their season in the conference tournament, "you know when it’s over (this year), you’re still going to be playing basketball."

No matter what happens in Indianapolis, Matta said, "whenever you get back home, it’s like, ‘Boy, I can’t wait until 6 Sunday night.’ "

That’s when the 65-team field for the NCAA Tournament will be announced.

The Buckeyes, as Big Ten champions and No. 7- ranked team nationally, are projected to receive as high as a No. 2 seed and play close to home, perhaps in Dayton, the first weekend. They could strengthen their case by winning the conference tournament.

"We understand what it means to win the Big Ten tournament. It could possibly mean a No. 1 seed," center Terence Dials said. "That’s our goal we’re going to shoot for right now.

"But I don’t think guys are going to stress too much like we have to have it."

Matta is similarly ambivalent.

The Buckeyes played twice a week in one of the two toughest conferences in the country the last four weeks of the regular season; their last bye was Feb. 1. Despite winning eight of nine games in that span, they showed signs of fatigue at the end, shooting 25 percent or less from three-point range in five of their past six games.

Matta used an eight-man rotation the last eight games. That could be shallower without the team’s only backup center, Matt Terwilliger, who is out today and possibly longer while he recovers from appendectomy surgery on Wednesday.

"I take so much more pride in where we finish in two months of going through the Big Ten. That to me is far more important than (three) days in one city," Matta said.

"At this stage of the season, kids are wearing down, and knowing that you’re in the NCAA Tournament, you want to keep freshness and try to do the best you can in that first weekend of the (NCAA) tournament.

"My thing with these guys (this week) is, ‘Hey, let’s go over, play our best basketball, have fun, enjoy it.’ "

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Friday, March 10, 2006
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yahoo.com

3/10/06


Penn St. (15-13) vs. (7) Ohio St. (23-4)

Penn St. (15-13) vs. (7) Ohio St. (23-4)Preview - Box Score - Recap

Game Info: 12:00 pm EST Fri Mar 10, 2006
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Ohio State tries for its seventh consecutive win over Penn State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament Friday at Indianapolis.

The seventh-ranked Buckeyes (23-4) enter the tournament as the top seed after winning the regular-season title with a 12-4 mark.

Big Ten player of the year Terence Dials scored 20 points to lead the Buckeyes to a 76-57 win over Purdue on Sunday, giving them the outright conference crown for the first time since 1992.
"The one thing we always talk about is humility," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "Staying grounded starts with me and getting our guys to understand the goal for this team is not to have people write nice things about you, but to play good basketball. When you have four seniors with that type of experience, it's hopefully a little easier than most times."

One of those seniors is Dials, who leads the team with 15.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game and has reached the 20-point mark in two of his last three games.


Dials, though, didn't have his best games against Penn State this season, getting held to 13 combined points in two wins over the Nittany Lions. He suffered a right leg injury in the first half of the second victory Jan. 21 before returning, but played only 24 minutes.

Ron Lewis keyed Ohio State's success against Penn State this season.

Lewis averaged 20.5 points in the two matchups, including a season-high 26 in a 104-69 rout Jan. 5.

The junior has played a key role for the Buckeyes this season after transferring from Bowling Green. He is averaging 10.5 points in 21 games as a reserve, and 14.5 in six starts, during which the Buckeyes went 5-1.

The Buckeyes knocked the Nittany Lions out of the conference tournament last season with a 72-69 first-round win. Ohio State hasn't lost to Penn State since a 64-47 defeat Jan. 10, 2004.

Geary Claxton scored 17 points and grabbed 10 boards to lead the eighth-seeded Nittany Lions (15-13) to a 60-42 rout of Northwestern on Thursday.

The win was Penn State's largest ever in the tournament and its first tourney victory since 2001, when it shocked then-No. 2 Michigan State 65-63 in the quarterfinals. That year also marked the last time Penn State qualified for the NCAA tournament.

"We have a lot of firsts this year," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "We hadn't won a road game in several years and we won three. We hadn't had a winning record in a few years and now we have a winning record. I think we've built a foundation and now have to put the sides up. We just have to keep moving. I feel great about our kids and where we're going."

Claxton, a sophomore swingman, leads the team with 15.5 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He's averaging 16.4 points and 9.2 rebounds in five games against Ohio State -- all losses. The Nittany Lions are guaranteed their first winning season since 2000-01, when they finished 21-12.
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I hate this tournament thing. It cheapens the whole year, it puts teams in the real tourney who don't belong there. But mostly I hate it because it wears out kids, kids who are already exploited enough by big time college sports, for the sake of making money. The Big 10 should be ashamed of caving in on this issue.
 
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I really don't think it tires the kids out to much, plus, they have 4 or 5 days to rest after its over. I think i listened to an interview with Jim Foster during the women's tour. and he said he didn't think the kids got worn out at all.
 
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