Iona +13.5 vs tOSU at Dayton (ov/un 145.5) Fri 7:15 pm CBS

[ScriptOhio]

Re: Ohio State was in as a No. 2 and New Mexico a No. 3 in the West, even before the Buckeyes tipped off against Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament title game Sunday. "At the end of the day Ohio State was just that much better," Bobinski said.

Very interesting...

 

[LitlBuck]

Brought this from the Bracket/Selection thread.

Yeah our leading scorer is Momo Jones. He was the starting PG for Arizona 2 years ago when they made it to the elite 8. Craft without a doubt will be the best defender he has faced at least the 2 years he has been at Iona. To be honest this is not the matchup we wanted. We thought we would get a 14 seed. Sean Armand is a great 3 pt shooter and also averages 17/game. The things we have going for us is that we do have a lot of BCS level players who transferred to Iona and this team has shown a lot of toughness. We need to shoot lights out and for OSU to be off their game or looking ahead, somehow be in the game midway thru the second half and see what happens. Really just hoping for a competitive game

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Taking a peek at their board, it looks like the only difference between the MAC and the MAAC is the letter A. Lots of "they don't respect us...we'll show them" stuff you usually see in late August from Ohio/Kent St/Miami(Oh).

 

[OSU_Buckguy]

i like osu facing a team whose best player is a 6' guard. moreover, i like osu facing a team whose backcourt is the strength.

 

[AFK4403]

i like osu facing a team whose best player is a 6' guard. moreover, i like osu facing a team whose backcourt is the strength.

Agreed. I looked at Iona's performance in the conference tourney (small sample size obviously, but recent games) and Jones only went off against Canisius. Canisius is ranked 258 in scoring defense allowing 69.9 PPG.

 

[NastyNatiBuck]

According to kenpom.com/ (a fantastic site), Ohio State has a better offense against FAR better defenses. Does anyone remember why everyone tries to slow the game down against OSU? Because our half court execution is scary against good teams and our athleticism enables us to score well in transition. Well, Iona is a team that loves to push the tempo, with their pace being 17th in the nation. Look for OSU to run Iona out of the gym.

I would much rather face teams who have dominant guards to dominant bigs, and Iona is a guard heavy team (from what I can see on paper.) I am looking forward to an easy win.

 

[NastyNatiBuck]

Agreed. I looked at Iona's performance in the conference tourney (small sample size obviously, but recent games) and Jones only went off against Canisius. Canisius is ranked 258 in scoring defense allowing 69.9 PPG.

Canisius is ranked 238th in defensive efficiency this year according to kenpom.

 

[Gaelsfan]

Jones played the entire tournament sick with a fever. Quite frankly the only way for Iona to stay close and even dream of an upset is the play of our frontcourt of Laury, Ridley and Bowman. They have to play smart and stay out of foul trouble and make shots. Our rotation is short with the loss of a 6'9'' center and 6'5'' wing who supplied toughness and another 3 point shooter who played solid defense. If nothing else Iona will come to play and will not be intimidated, what that translates to in the game remains to be seen. According to a couple of OSU posters on our board Iona should not even bother to show up. Like I said hope for a good and injury free game

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

No offense, but you guys are a 15 seed and from the MAAC. Every 2 seed fan should feel that way. It shouldn't be a shock, nor should it anger anybody.

 

[exhawg]

The only thing I worry about is that the team is so used to the crappy no blood no foul B1G refs and the starting lineup fouls out in the first half. I could see Craft getting a couple quick fouls if we get NBA refs.

 

[LitlBuck]

Jones played the entire tournament sick with a fever. Quite frankly the only way for Iona to stay close and even dream of an upset is the play of our frontcourt of Laury, Ridley and Bowman. They have to play smart and stay out of foul trouble and make shots. Our rotation is short with the loss of a 6'9'' center and 6'5'' wing who supplied toughness and another 3 point shooter who played solid defense. If nothing else Iona will come to play and will not be intimidated, what that translates to in the game remains to be seen. According to a couple of OSU posters on our board Iona should not even bother to show up. Like I said hope for a good and injury free game

Well, Jones will probably not have the flu Friday but he could have a bad case of Craft I know that Ohio State fans are probably taking this game lightly, as I am, but you have to remember that we just won the Big Ten tournament championship and the Big Ten has been called the toughest league by many analysts this season so I guess you can see why we are pretty optimistic when it comes to this matchup. I too hope it is a injury free game but I would like to see a blowout so we can rest our starters for the last couple minutes. With that being said, it probably will be a nail biter.

 

[Gaelsfan]

No offense taken or anger at all. But the 15 seeds have pride also and know this could be a once in a lifetime chance at something special. I am sure Duke-Lehigh and Norfolk St.-Missouri felt the same way last season and we all know what happened. Not predicting an Iona win at all, in fact as I stated earlier this was a real bad matchup for Iona, but the games are played on the court not on paper.

 

[Gaelsfan]

The only thing I worry about is that the team is so used to the crappy no blood no foul B1G refs and the starting lineup fouls out in the first half. I could see Craft getting a couple quick fouls if we get NBA refs.

Lol, actually that is what Iona is hoping for. Jones is relentless driving to the basket throwing up crazy shots at times but he is strong and draws a lot of fouls. Last time I checked he led the country in foul shots made. Believe me I understand it was against teams that are far inferior to OSU, we are just hoping for the refs to call the game tight. We need every advantage we can get.

 

[HorseshoeFetish]

According to a couple of OSU posters on our board Iona should not even bother to show up.

With all due respect this is the second time you've talked about tOSU fans not "showing love" to Iona. The last time I looked at the Iona board we were all fat, dumb, and looking past you guys. I also noticed our team is like ripe fruit, and you guys have someone who can handle craft line to line because your dude is quicker.

While I can't speak for everyone here, I'm not scared of Iona. Not because it's Iona, but because I'm a Buckeye fan. I can't think of anytime over the last 10 years or so that a Championship wasn't the ultimate goal in either basketball or football. I guess when you have that as your goal as a fan, player, or a coach, you become well aware of just how important every game is. My only concern with Iona will be the same with every game we might be fortunate enough to play. Will our defensive effort be rewarded with points at the other end?

 

[ScriptOhio]

No offense taken or anger at all. But the 15 seeds have pride also and know this could be a once in a lifetime chance at something special. I am sure Duke-Lehigh and Norfolk St.-Missouri felt the same way last season and we all know what happened. Not predicting an Iona win at all, in fact as I stated earlier this was a real bad matchup for Iona, but the games are played on the court not on paper.

Yes it has happened (i.e. a 15 seed beats a 2 seed):

Richmond over Syracuse in 1991
Santa Clara over Arizona in 1993
Coppin State over South Carolina in 1997
Hampton over Iowa State in 2001
Norfolk State over Missouri in 2012
Lehigh over Duke in 2012

but the odds are overwhelming in favor the #2 seed, but as you say the game is played on the court.

P.S. you should bet your vDollars on Iona.