Men's Basketball Buckeye Tidbits 2005-2006 Season

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

2/11/06

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Sylvester now riding high as OSU’s go-to guy

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Rob Oller
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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Just another face in the crowd, Matt Sylvester hit the celebrity jackpot after hitting the shot that stunned No. 1 Illinois last season.

Alas, fame does not always lead to fortune.

The Ohio State senior forward was in Las Vegas over the summer, sitting at a blackjack table at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, when a down-on-his-luck gambler recognized him.

"He notices me and says, ‘Hey, the guy who hit the shot,’ " said Sylvester, who faces Illinois on Sunday in Value City Arena for the first time since ruining the Illini’s perfect season in March. "He didn’t say he bet on the game or that he was an Ohio State fan. I didn’t ask. He was just losing a bunch of money at blackjack . . . and it was like, ‘Try to bring him some luck.’

"He ended up losing all his chips."

Sylvester considered the casino connection to be just another instance of how spotting up for a winning jumper, which he did with a three-pointer with 5.1 seconds left in a 65-64 win over Illinois, can get you spotted just about anywhere.

"I don’t know how much the shot changed my life, other than I’m a little more known around Columbus, and maybe on a national level," he said. "And the LSU shot helped, too. People look at me as a guy who can make shots late in games."

Sylvester popped a threepointer with 5.5 seconds left to defeat Louisiana State 78-76 on Dec. 31.

The clutch shots have not turned him into a household name — "I’m not an A-lister, maybe an E-lister," he said — but they have garnered the attention of coaches and fans who have come to expect him to be the go-to guy at the end of close games.

"If there’s a few seconds left, in people’s minds maybe they’re thinking I should get the shot," he said. "In the Michigan State game, when I hit the two threes late, I was looking over to their coaches and they were yelling, ‘You know he’s going to shoot it.’ "

The last-second baskets also have boosted Sylvester’s confidence.
"All around it’s made me feel better as a basketball player and person . . . kind of proved what I can do," he said.

The big shots also eased the frustration of a topsy-turvy career that has included numerous injuries, including a broken hand, broken toe and disc surgery his freshman year.

"I would call my first few years frustrating, almost depressing to a point. The last few, it’s been a sense of relief and a confidence booster," he said.
Coach Thad Matta described Sylvester’s career as an emotional roller coaster.

Kind of like those winning shots: up . . . and down.

[email protected]

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

2/12/06

<H1 class=red>Upset bolsters OSU's confidence against Illinois

</H1>

Sunday, February 12, 2006 Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus -- Two teams beat Illinois last season. When those two coaches saw each other after North Carolina defeated Illinois in the NCAA Championship, Ohio State's Thad Matta told the Tar Heels' Roy Williams:

"I don't know what you felt like, but if you felt half as good as I did . . ."
The Buckeyes' 65-64 victory over 29-0 Illinois in the regular-season finale at Value City Arena last season didn't win anything. But as No. 19 Ohio State (17-3, 6-3 Big Ten) prepares to host the No. 10 Illini (20-3, 6-3) today, the Buckeyes are in the thick of the Big Ten race, the future looks bright . . . and that upset on March 6 was the start of it all.

"That was our tournament game," Matta said.

The Buckeyes had barred themselves from the postseason as part of the fallout from the NCAA investigation into former coach Jim O'Brien, and their season would end five days later with a second-round loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten tournament. Most of the attention Buckeye basketball was receiving resulted from those NCAA violations.

"The negativity that had surrounded this program," Matta said, "for that day, [the news] was good. It was refreshing for something good and positive to happen. I don't know if we'll completely see the effect of what that game meant for us for maybe a few years, because I think it helped our program in a lot of different areas."

The players remember the ecstasy of the moment, Matt Sylvester's 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds to play, Illinois' Roger Powell missing a 3-pointer at the end, the jumping and hugging in the locker room.

"You'll never forget it, the fans rushing the floor, it was being talked about on ESPN all night and the next morning," center Terence Dials said. "It was probably the biggest win I ever had. It kind of ruined their season a little bit when they were trying to make history. The feeling was indescribable."

The win wasn't only about emotion. Five weeks before the win, Matta had instituted a starting lineup featuring five players back this season. The Buckeyes had started to take form, but they needed more.

"You're asking guys to have belief, but they have no evidence," Matta said.

"They're looking for the evidence of Will this work for us?'

"Beating the No. 1 team in the country, one of the best teams ever in college basketball, I think it validated what we were trying to accomplish, the system we were trying to put in place. It kind of put a stamp on it of we can accomplish these things."

The first meeting since the upset finds the teams awash in the feelings of last March. Ohio State is coming off its biggest statement since the Illinois win -- Thursday night's victory in Michigan, the first road win over a ranked team in Matta's two seasons in Columbus. Illinois is coming off its biggest shock since the OSU loss -- last Saturday's home loss to Penn State.

"I think [the test] is more that Ohio State is good and one of the challengers for the Big Ten," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said, "and you throw in how we lost to Penn State and you add in last year's loss and how we lost, it's a little bit of a factor."

The winner of today's game will stand alone in second in the conference, half a game behind Iowa, while the loser will fall into a tie for third. This year, the Buckeyes don't have to be convinced they can run with the Illini.

"We know we're a better team this year," Sylvester said, "and if we could do that last year and we're a better team this year, why can't we play with anybody in the country?"

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[email protected], 216-999-4479

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

2/12/06

Several story lines, but no title as of yet


By GREG STEWART

COPLEY NEWS SERVICE


Published Sunday, February 12, 2006

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Just because the football season is over doesn't mean there isn't any sports drama on television at noon today.

Several story lines highlight the Big Ten Conference men's basketball battle between No. 10 Illinois and No. 19 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.


Most importantly, the winner will stay on the heels of league-leading Iowa, which won at Indiana on Saturday to build a one-game cushion over the Illini and Buckeyes. Illinois (20-3, 6-3) is looking for its third straight Big Ten championship. OSU (17-3, 6-3) last figured in the league title when an 11-5 mark gave it a share in 2001-02.

"If I had to predict a winner right now, I don't think I could do it," said Buckeyes coach Thad Matta, whose team took a huge step forward with Thursday's 94-85 win at Michigan. "It's going to come down to who gets on a roll and can steal a couple road wins. It's up for grabs, but the strong are going to survive."

Last year at Ohio State, Illinois had its unbeaten streak end at 29 games in the Illini's last regular-season game. Guard Matt Sylvester scored a career-high 25 points, capped by a 3-pointer in the waning seconds that gave OSU a 65-64 victory.

"It (last season's loss) would have been a lot more talked about if not for Saturday's game," Weber said of the Illini's 66-65 home loss to Penn State. "It's a little sidebar in (our) motivation, but Ohio State is good and they're one of the contenders for the Big Ten title. I guess it will be a little bit of a factor, but not the main one."

Weber's recollection of the loss to the Buckeyes isn't all bad.

"I did receive a letter from his father right after that," Weber said of Sylvester, a senior who has started 16 of 20 games this season. "It was kind of surprising. Obviously, he was happy to see his son make that shot, but it was a nice, complimentary letter about our team and our season. We received a lot of notes last season, but that is one I do remember."

This game also matches Weber, the Big Ten's coach of the moment, against Matta, who has a bright future.

Weber is the second-winningest coach in the nation over the past 41/2 seasons, with 135 victories over that span. Only Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (137) has more. Weber is 83-12 at Illinois (.874), the most successful stretch in school history.

Matta, 38, is considered one of the best young coaches in the game. A Hoopeston native who was mentioned as a candidate for the Illinois job when Bill Self left, Matta had successful stints at Butler and Xavier before taking over at OSU last year.

Butler, his alma mater, had a school-record 24 wins in his only year there (2000-01). A 79-63 first-round victory over No. 23 Wake Forest gave Butler its first NCAA tournament win since 1962 and Matta a trip east on Interstate 74, from Indianapolis to Cincinnati. Matta moved on to Xavier, where he was 78-23 (.772) in three years and led the Musketeers to the 2004 Elite Eight, the best finish in that program's history.

The Buckeyes were 20-12 last season, ineligible for the postseason because of NCAA penalties for violations under former coach Jim O'Brien. The sanctions didn't hurt Matta's recruiting efforts, though. The Buckeyes will welcome what some consider the nation's top recruiting class next fall, led by 7-footer Greg Oden.

Statistically, the game has one key matchup to watch. Illinois leads the Big Ten in 3-point defense, limiting opponents to .286 from the arc. Ohio State is the league's second-best 3-point shooting team (.421).

The Illini will have to account for Je'Kel Foster, whose 3-point percentage (.513) is second only to Illinois freshman Jamar Smith (.520) in the Big Ten. Foster, a junior-college transfer, has made 12-of-14 3s in his last two games. Adding to the challenge is a Buckeyes offense that spreads it around as well as any team.

OSU has four players scoring in double figures, not counting sophomore point guard Jamar Butler, who had a career-high 20 at Michigan.
"Defensively, they will be as challenging as anybody we face this year because they have so many weapons," Weber said.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

2/13/06

COMMENTARY
Throw out records when Buckeyes are lighting it up from downtown

Monday, February 13, 2006


BOB HUNTER

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The polls don’t do a very good job of measuring a team like the Buckeyes.

They say the Ohio State men’s basketball team is either No. 19 or No. 17, depending on which group of pin-the-tail-on-thedonkey "experts" you prefer, and that’s probably pretty close if you’re measuring the season in total. But it isn’t much of a guide if you’re curious about the relative strength of various teams on any given day.

When the Buckeyes are hitting their three-point shots, which is most of the time, they’re definitely top-10 caliber and they might even be top five. When they’re not, they can be just another bunch of guys named Joe looking for a good sports bar to hole up in and watch the NCAA Tournament.

It sounds crazy, but whether today’s Buckeyes are No. 5 or No. 50 could come down to whether or not Je’kel Foster and Jamar Butler have the hot hand.

Yesterday, No. 10 Illinois caught the Buckeyes when they were hitting their threes and fell with a thud, 69-53. Same thing with No. 22 Michigan, a 94-85 loser to Ohio State on Thursday night in Ann Arbor.

The enchanted power of the three? The Buckeyes fell behind the Wolverines 21-8, then made 11 threes in the final 11:04 to go in at halftime up 49-43.

In two of the three games OSU has lost this season — to Michigan State and Iowa — the Buckeyes had an off night beyond the arc and paid for it with a loss.

As simplistic as it seems, everything for the Buckeyes seems to start with the three. When they’re hitting them, their intensity naturally goes up on defense. When they’re hitting them, it draws defenders to the perimeter, which creates more space for Terence Dials down low. When they’re hitting them, the math is also in their favor — duh — when they trade baskets, they often get three points to the other guys’ two.

So it does start there, right?

"Yeah, it does," OSU coach Thad Matta said, albeit reluctantly. "Honestly, I think the thing that helps us is, with the exception of one today, we took great shots. . . . (But) I don’t honestly want us to be known (as a team) that’s gonna come in and shoot 50 threes, and if they go in (we) win, and if they don’t .

" ..

It’s understandable why he would feel that way; most successful coaches, including him, preach that defense is the only part of the game a player can control. Some days, your shots just don’t fall, and if your defense isn’t up to par, you have no chance to win.

Still, perimeter shooting is undeniably this team’s strength. After OSU lost to Michigan State 62-59 in double overtime on Jan. 15, Spartans coach Tom Izzo called it "what I think is the best-shooting team I’ve seen — ever — on film." Believe that or don’t, those numbers are impressive: OSU leads the Big Ten, by hefty margins, in fieldgoal percentage (.489) and three-point percentage (.437).

"We shoot the basketball a lot," Matta said. "I’m sure we’re going to have some days when we don’t shoot it particularly well. Michigan State, that game was a prime example. The thing I was happiest about today was that we kept defending."

It’s an interlocking puzzle. Foster (5 of 5) and Butler (2 of 2) were perfect from beyond the arc in the first half, and the noise level in the Schottenstein Center seemed to rise with each one. The dazed Illini rushed their shots, turned over the ball and went to the locker room looking as if they had been poked repeatedly with a cattle prod.

"I don’t think we realized where he was going to pop up and shoot, whether it was Foster or Butler," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "They do a good job in their schemes. They spread you out, and they get you in the ball picks. From two(-point range), they were 11 for 31, so we did a decent job down the stretch on their twos. But they’re shooting big-time shots; they’re shooting the ball well. They’re playing at a high level right now." No. 19? Better get a ladder.
Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch
.
[email protected]

 

[lvbuckeye]

After OSU lost to Michigan State 62-59 in double overtime on Jan. 15, Spartans coach Tom Izzo called it "what I think is the best-shooting team I’ve seen — ever — on film."

WHOA!!!

that is some pretty high praise...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Link

2/14/06

Ramblin' Reck: Iowa, Ohio State pace Big Ten play
By Tom Reck
The Tribune-Star

Iowa and Ohio State are looking more and more like the teams to beat in the Big Ten men’s basketball race and one or both could take major steps with victories this week.

The Hawkeyes lost at Northwestern and won at Indiana last week to move to 8-3 in the league.

Ohio State was impressive — particularly from 3-point range — in beating Michigan on the road and Illinois and is 7-3.

Iowa can deal a major blow to Michigan State’s title hopes by beating the Spartans tonight in Iowa City. Tipoff is 9 p.m. on ESPN.

The Hawkeyes hit the road again Saturday to play Minnesota which bested MSU in Williams Arena last week.

OSU also has one game at home (Northwestern) and one on the road that could be tough — it’s at Wisconsin. The Badgers are in a virtual tie for third at 7-4 and need to win all their home games.

Illinois is 6-4 and has the best chance to gain on the leaders if they slip with home games against Northwestern and Indiana.

MSU also is 6-4 and plays Michigan at home after facing Iowa tonight.

IU and Michigan are just about out of the title hunt but still can put themselves in a position for NCAA bids with some victories and a good showing in the Big Ten tournament.

The Hoosiers have yet to win on the road in the conference and will be at Penn State on Wednesday in additon to going to Illinois on Sunday.

Michigan is at home to Minnesota in addition to playing at MSU.

 

[jwinslow]

FoxSports

Team of the week: Ohio State.

An underrated offensive club, Thad Matta's Buckeyes defeated Illinois and Michigan to assume sole possession of second place in the Big Ten. A key to Matta's success? Balance. Six players average eight points each. Ron Lewis and Ivan Harris came off the bench to help Ohio State past Michigan. But starters Jamar Butler, Terence Dials, and Jekel Foster led the Buckeyes past the Fighting Illini. Notably, the win over Michigan is Ohio State's most significant road victory of the Thad Matta era.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Nice to see us get some national recognition.

We are a program to be reckoned with.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

PlainDealer

2/15/06

MEN'S BASKETBALL
The bald truth: OSU gets better with age


Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter

Columbus- Sophomore point guard Jamar Butler, the only Buckeyes men's basketball player among Ohio State's top six who hasn't been around college basketball for at least four years, hasn't seen much gray hair on his older teammates.

"A few of them are going bald, though," the 20-year-old said.

For the most experienced team in the Big Ten, their Rogaine prescriptions could be directly tied to a conference championship.

As much as their 3-point shooting or their improving defense, the passing of time has driven Ohio State to an 18-3 record, 7-3 Big Ten record and No. 12 ranking going into tonight's game at Wisconsin (17-7, 7-4).

"We really have been around the block," fifth-year senior Matt Sylvester said. "On and off the court, it's easier to deal with things. I think the lack of youth really helps."

There are eight fifth-year seniors getting regular minutes in the Big Ten, and the Buckeyes start three of them - center Terence Dials and forwards Sylvester and J.J. Sullinger. Senior guard Je'Kel Foster also starts, and seven of the nine Buckeyes in the rotation are older than LeBron James, who celebrated his 21st birthday in December.

Judging teams on their players who get at least 15 minutes of playing time per game, the Buckeyes lead the conference with four years of average experience. Besides the seniors and Butler, junior swingman Ron Lewis played two years at Bowling Green and sat out last season as a transfer, and guard Sylvester Mayes played two years of junior college ball.

That's a lot of games. The Buckeyes feel their experience in the little nuances of the game, in their tendency not to panic in tough spots, in the memories of their younger days when they thought they knew it all. Now they're old enough to trust coach Thad Matta, and he can trust them.

"I can see the things I might have done a long time ago, and now I'm not forcing the issue," Sullinger said. "I don't like the word 'old,' man, but we are experienced."

That jumped out at Illinois coach Bruce Weber after the Illini, 10th in the conference in experience, lost in Columbus, 69-53, on Sunday.

"I just think we're an older league," said Weber, in his third season at Illinois. "These guys have all played for how many years? They played before I was even here. Everyone is older and more experienced, and they understand the games and understand the intensity level."

Talk about the success of Big Ten leader Iowa, especially late in games, and it's attributed to their starting lineup of three seniors and a two juniors.

"We benefit from having a lot of juniors and seniors in the rotation that understand that kind of winning," Iowa coach Steve Alford said.

Ohio State's experience isn't necessarily winning experience. The only Buckeyes player to play in an NCAA Tournament game was Dials as a freshman in 2002. None of them ever has won in the Kohl Center, where Wisconsin awaits tonight.

"This is uncharted waters for these guys," Matta said of this stretch with a conference title in reach. "So I think they're kind of looking for guidance more than they normally would."

At least Matta knows he's entering the final weeks of the season with players he can treat as men. He also has used the sendoff for the seniors as motivation. He'd like these old dogs to try a new trick.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

[email protected], 216-999-4479

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

DDN

2/15/06

OSU NOTES
Buckeyes' Butler keeps getting better

By Doug Harris
Dayton Daily News

COLUMBUS | — Point guard Jamar Butler found himself outnumbered in transition on Ohio State's first possession of the second half against Illinois, but the sophomore from Lima figured the odds were in his favor.

He pulled up behind the 3-point line during the one-on-two "fastbreak" and hit nothing but nylon.

"I have a little more confidence right now," he said, shrugging. "My shot is falling for me."

Coach Thad Matta had misgivings about the fling ... until it fell.

"Honestly, the way he's shooting the basketball, when he gets a clean look, that's a pretty good shot for him," Matta said.

Butler had two 3-pointers in the first minute of the second half, giving the Buckeyes a 17-point lead and allowing them to coast to a 69-53 victory.

The former Ohio Mr. Basketball finished with a career-high 22 points and is shooting 49.2 percent on 3-pointers and overall this season. He made just 23 percent of his treys and 33.3 percent of his shots as a part-time starter last season.

Butler also has excelled defensively. He held reigning Big Ten player of the year Dee Brown, the One-Man Fastbreak, to 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting.

Michigan star Daniel Horton had a five-for-17 outing and six turnovers against Butler and the Buckeyes three days earlier.

"I love challenges," Butler said. "Coach Matta challenges me all the time, and I love playing against players like that, the top players in the league.

It's fun."

Matta has called Butler the most improved player in the conference, and Illinois coach Bruce Weber wouldn't disagree.

"He's playing with a lot of confidence," Weber said. "He uses the ball screen so well. He's just in a groove, and he has other players around him.

"With Dee, he doesn't have the complementary players, and it makes him do more (beyond his capabilities). But give Butler credit. He's playing like a point guard should."

Dials erupts

Senior center Terence Dials had his second double-double of the season with 19 points and 16 rebounds, making up for a dismal outing against Michigan (nine points, three boards).

"That was probably one of my worst games, and I tried to erase the memory of that and play as hard as possible," he said. "When I play hard, good things happen."

After complimenting Dials, Matta cracked: "At one point, I thought he was Wes Unseld. Then he threw that damn outlet pass (that was intercepted), and I knew he wasn't."

Foster on hot streak

After setting a school record with 12 straight three-pointers in the Buckeyes' previous two games (three short of the NCAA record), senior Je'Kel Foster made his first five bombs against Illinois.

The senior is 21 of 27 over the last four games, including an outlandish 17-of-18 in one stretch. He's shooting 52.9 percent beyond the arc this season.

Contact Doug Harris at 225-2125.

Buckeye bits

• OSU won back-to-back games against ranked foes for the first time since 2001.

• Matta, Weber and their assistants wore sneakers with their suits in honor of Coaches vs. Cancer weekend.

• The Buckeyes drew their second sellout of the season — 18,500.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

2/15/06

Let it rain

Wednesday, February 15, 2006


By Bob Baptist THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

It was an inconsequential nonconference game that coach Thad Matta scheduled in the middle of the Big Ten season because he didn’t want his players losing their edge during back-to-back, one-game weeks. He wanted them to have a workout against someone other than themselves during their mid-winter sojourn.


The Florida A &M game will be forgotten soon, if it isn’t already. But it put Ohio State on the wave it’s riding now, the one that has carried the Buckeyes to second place in the conference standings heading into a game at third-place Wisconsin tonight.

The Buckeyes (18-3, 7-3) entered the FAMU game in a slump, having shot 20 percent worse from three-point range, and 18 percent worse overall, in their previous four games than they had in the first 13.

The drought continued through most of the first half. They missed 13 of their first 17 three-point shots against a zone defense that dared the Buckeyes to beat the Rattlers from the perimeter.

Then, with 29.6 seconds left in the half, the best three-point shooter in the Big Ten, Je’Kel Foster, made his first trey in more than 45 minutes dating to the first half of the Iowa game two nights before.

Matt Sylvester made another just before the halftime horn. Foster made another 33 seconds into the second half, and another four minutes later.

"It was like the floodgates were let open," J.J. Sullinger said yesterday.

The rest of the Big Ten is still trying to close them.

Since Foster and Sylvester knocked down those pivotal threes 16 nights ago, the Buckeyes have made more than half their shots, including their threes, in a four-game winning streak over FAMU, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois. They made 28 threes and shot 59.6 percent outside the arc in wins last week over Michigan and Illinois, who were both ranked.

They have five of the top eight three-point shooters in Big Ten play and rank second nationally in three-point percentage (.428) to Utah State (.432). Foster leads NCAA Division I in three-point field-goal percentage (.529).

They are the talk of the Big Ten.
"I would like to think we could have done a better job of getting to certain places and had better coverage," Michigan coach Tommy Amaker said. "But it sounds like a lot of people are having the same difficulty we did."

Matta traces the surge in part to two lessons learned from the FAMU game: the importance of ball movement, which the Rattlers’ zone forced, and what Matta calls "shot preparation," which in his words is having your "hands and feet ready (to shoot) and not being surprised when you get the ball and you’re open.

"You go back to the first half of that Florida A &M game, we were open, and our right foot was in front of our left foot and our hands weren’t ready and we bobbled passes," Matta said. "Now it’s more like, ‘Hey, if you don’t have (the ball), expect it and be ready.’ "

The Buckeyes, especially point guard Jamar Butler, also got more aggressive last week in attacking the basket off the dribble, which further opened the perimeter for threes.

"We’re going to try to keep that up," Foster said. "That’s something that coach has been preaching all season, to attack the basket more. They know we can shoot the ball. He wants to see us attack the basket."

It must be noted that two of the teams the Buckeyes played in their four-game slump in January were Wisconsin and Michigan State, teams they will face again, this time on the road, in the next eight nights. The Badgers and Spartans have two of the best defenses in the Big Ten. But Illinois had the best.

"Any time you’ve got a quick team like Michigan State or a tall team like Wisconsin, they’re going to alter your shots a little bit," Sullinger said. "But we feel like if we move the ball the way we know how, and we share the ball the way we know how, we can get any shot we want and we can get a good shot. Then it just comes down to knocking that shot down."

[email protected]

 

[ohiostate=life]

Andy Katz Gived OSU Team of the Week

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2329516

TEAM OF THE WEEK: OHIO STATE

AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato
Terence Dials holds down the Buckeyes' fort inside.


By Andy Katz, ESPN.com


Ohio State had the most impressive week by our account. The Buckeyes stunned Michigan in Ann Arbor with a hailstorm of 3s and then took out Illinois at home in Columbus to move to within a half-game of first-place Iowa in the Big Ten. The two teams are tied in the loss column with three each.
Ohio State has a great shot to win the Big Ten. Sure, the Buckeyes still have to go to Wisconsin and Michigan State, but the remaining home schedule of Northwestern, Michigan and Purdue provides three winnable games, and the other road game at Northwestern is as well.

Ohio State has had balance, poise and plenty of pop when it matters most. The win over Illinois on Sunday was as convincing as they come for a team in the balanced Big Ten.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Wow, is all I can say to Butler's and Foster's 3 point shooting.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

2/17/06

BOB HUNTER


Some Indiana fans think Ohio State coach Thad Matta, who has strong ties to their state, could be lured to the Hoosiers. They know Matta has a dream recruiting class, including Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. of Indianapolis, headed to OSU next season, but reason a basketball program revered as much as football at Ohio State might be too much to resist for Matta, who grew up a Hoosiers fan and once considered it his dream job.

Matta acknowledged understanding how they could feel that way. He declined to say this week whether he would be interested if the job opened but said he would definitively answer if it did.

Until that definitive comment comes, you can’t blame some OSU fans for being nervous, knowing Matta’s rush up the coaching ladder from Butler in 2000 to Xavier in 2001 to Ohio State in 2004. As one caller to Matta’s weekly radio show said Monday night, "Coach Matta, do us a favor. Give us three more years. We know your history."

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

yahoo.com

2/22/06

Most Improved Player

Front-runner: Aaron Gray, Pittsburgh. Gray averaged 4.3 points and 2.8 rebounds as a sophomore, playing behind Chris Taft. With Taft in the NBA, Gray is averaging a double double and has become the foundation of Pitt's fifth straight 20-win season.

The field: Je'Kel Foster, Ohio State; Thomas Gardner, Missouri; Chris Lofton, Tennessee; Kevin Pittsnogle, West Virginia; Al Thornton, Florida State.
The race: This isn't an official award, though it is in the NBA. Gray is a terrific player, but his enhanced production has a lot to do with opportunity. He was good last season but played behind another future pro.

The best choice is Foster, now a better ballhandler and defender. His shooting has improved from 43.5 percent last season to 55.1 percent, and he nearly has doubled his scoring average.