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NIT: #1 Ohio State 73, #4 Cal 56 (at St. John)

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Gotta love the way this team is playing and it is only going to help us out come next season as guys continue to get more pt, and more practice time...

Wish we could of started playing as well as we have about a month ago, but it is still very nice ot watch these guys excel, they were so close all year...
 
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Dispatch

Ohio State 73, Cal 56: Good vibrations
Buckeyes have fun with stout defense, waves of scoring
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 3:10 AM
By Bob Baptist


The Columbus Dispatch
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NEAL C. LAURON | DISPATCH
Jamar Butler and Kosta Koufos celebrate during Ohio State's 73-56 victory. Butler led the Buckeyes with 20 points and Koufos had 17 points and six rebounds.


If you put stock in the stereotypes, California comes from the conference in which teams run and have fun, Ohio State from the league in which the first team to 50 points has a good chance to win.
Little did Cal know, Evan Turner said, that the Buckeyes are capable of playing both ways.
"We showed we could score and play defense," the OSU sophomore said.
Body-hugging, arm-waving defensive pressure by the Ohio State men's basketball team forced Cal into four turnovers in a span of four minutes, sparked a 17-4 run to end the first half and headed the Buckeyes toward a 73-56 win over the Golden Bears last night in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.

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Dispatch

Bob Hunter commentary: Schott can't match feel of amped-up St. John

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 3:08 AM
By Bob Hunter


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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NEAL C. LAURON | DISPATCH
Ohio State cheerleaders entertain the sellout-crowd of 13,276 in St. John Arena during a timeout in the second half.
hunter25.IMG_03-25-08_C1_UL9O7S2.jpg


There was something wrong here. The Ohio State-California game meant nothing. Zilch. It was a second-round NIT game -- N-I-T, as in Not Important Tournament -- and the noise was a lot like the water inside a covered pot sitting on a burner turned to high, boiling faster and faster until it felt like the roof, uh, lid was about to come off.


You can feel St. John Arena. No kidding. You can actually feel it. That has happened on a few occasions in the Schottenstein Center, although most of the time your sensory experience there consists of some kid winning a "Buckeye prize pack" for guessing that David Lighty's favorite country is New Zealand.
Maybe it's my imagination, but when the announcer said "Welcome to St. John Arena" last night, some of the fans cheered the building. If ever a place deserved it, this 52-year-old basketball cathedral does.

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Link

Bumbling Bears taken out by OSU

By Jeff Faraudo, STAFF WRITER
Article Created: 03/25/2008 02:34:16 AM PDT

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? Only the final score resembled what happened when Cal and Ohio State last met on the basketball court.

The Golden Bears and Buckeyes squared off 48 years after colliding in the national championship game, and Ohio State had things its way once more, posting a 73-56 victory Monday night in an NIT second-round game at rowdy St. John Arena.
The Buckeyes won 75-55 at the Cow Palace in the 1960 NCAA title game, but this one was played on a different plane.
These were not championship-caliber teams, but inconsistent clubs that simply wanted to extend their season in a tournament no one dreams about when practice begins in October.
The Buckeyes (21-13), a year removed from playing Florida in the national title game, get to try again Wednesday against in-state foe Dayton. The Bears (17-16) fell victim to issues that plagued them off and on for months ? defensive lapses, turnovers and an inability to keep the opponent away from the offensive boards.

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CPD

MEN'S NIT
Ohio State shows California who's boss

Tuesday, March 25, 2008 Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter

In an old gym against a ninth-place team in a game that served as the sideshow to a rock concert, Ohio State looked like an NCAA Tournament team again Monday night in Columbus.
Considering that the Buckeyes' 73-56 men's basketball win over California took place in the second round of the NIT, that is probably beside the point. Almost. But Villanova, an NCAA Tournament 12 seed that shared that bracket bubble with Ohio State nine days ago, did make a run into the Sweet 16.
So . . . this honestly will be the last time anyone dabbles in what-ifs. The mere suggestion of this perturbed OSU senior guard Jamar Butler. But other Buckeyes are thinking about what might have happened if OSU had squeezed into that other tournament.

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Link

Buckeyes use 24-4 run to KO Cal
By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer



COLUMBUS - Bruce Springsteen ended up being Ohio State's sixth man. Jamar Butler scored 20 points and spurred a 17-2 first-half run with three 3-pointers to lead Ohio State past California 73-56 in an NIT second-round game on Monday night played before a raucous sellout crowd of 13,276 at 52-year-old St. John Arena.

It was loud. The crowd got us going out there," Butler said. "That's what players want to do, to play in environments like this. They gave us a little boost to get us going."

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ToledoBlade

Article published Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Buckeyes blast Cal in return to St. John Arena, advance in NIT
OSU pumped at old venue

COLUMBUS - Value City Arena has not been around long enough to build up a reliable cache of positive voodoo.

But in St. John Arena, the basketball home of the Buckeyes for more than four decades before their new place opened, the spirits are plentiful and friendly.

Ohio State tapped into that energy source last night and blistered California 73-56 in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament in front of a sold-out crowd of 13,276 fans. The scarlet and gray was stacked almost vertical, five tiers high in the old barn, where the Buckeyes played before college basketball needed plush corporate suites, video boards and concession kiosks.

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Butler reminded me of Neitzel at times when he was running through all of those screens. I wonder where that has been all year. It just seems like they are coming together as a team now whereas before they almost seem to be playing as individuals.

Also, the intensity level seems to be much greater in the past few weeks that was for a majority of the season.
 
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I think this all started with the Purdue win. Ever since then the Buckeyes are playing better and they probably would have won the first round of the conference tournament if it wasn't for a couple of bad fouls. St. Johns Arena only intensifide this.:oh:
 
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It was electric inside the arena last night and for a guy like me who grew up watching some great teams play in there....it was special to be able to see another game there.....so much tradition.....you can feel the history. It will probably never happen but I would love to see Ohio State schedule some future games in there.....especially against Michigan State, Indiana and Wisconsin......it is a tough place to play for visiting teams.......I know the Schott holds approx 6,000 more people....but the noise level at the Schott is no where near what it is in St. John Arena......combination of people seating on there hands and the structure of the building......
 
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OSUBasketballJunkie;1123685; said:
It was electric inside the arena last night and for a guy like me who grew up watching some great teams play in there....it was special to be able to see another game there.....so much tradition.....you can feel the history. It will probably never happen but I would love to see Ohio State schedule some future games in there.....especially against Michigan State, Indiana and Wisconsin......it is a tough place to play for visiting teams.......I know the Schott holds approx 6,000 more people....but the noise level at the Schott is no where near what it is in St. John Arena......combination of people seating on there hands and the structure of the building......
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Totally agree. You could see the surprised expression on some of our players' faces when they came out of the tunnel. Heck, charge an extra $5 a seat to make up the 6,000 person difference, and you'd still sell out the big games. Unfortunately, the luxury box/PSL income would probably keep it from happening...who wants to buy an expensive seat license if you don't get to see the big games?
 
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