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NW'ern 47, tOSU 52 (Final)

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BB73

BB73

Loves Buckeye History
Staff member
Bookie
'16 & '17 Upset Contest Winner
I'll put the pointspread up Saturday.

A win in this game should clinch the NCAA bid, regardless of what happens in the conference tournament.
 
BB73;1421414; said:
A win in this game should clinch the NCAA bid, regardless of what happens in the conference tournament.
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I agree, 20-9/10-8 should be good enough this year with our sked. I'll still feel better with a BTT win or two, but first things first - we owe the Mildcats an ass whuppin.
 
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BuckeyeMike80;1423977; said:
But if they lose it, they will need to win 2 games in the Big Ten tourney IMO....
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I think if they lose this game that if they would just win one more game in the Big 10 tournament they would make the dance. The Committee has to make up for last year:wink2:
 
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The pattern has been tight win away, blow out win at home vs NU for a long time now. The first part got a little fucked, lets hope the second holds up.
 
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Well, Iowa trade you give the game to PSU but didn't. I am almost positive that with Penn State losing a victory by us over Northwestern will give this a first day bye and we will probably play Wisconsin since they play Indiana tomorrow.
 
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LitlBuck;1424064; said:
Well, Iowa trade you give the game to PSU but didn't. I am almost positive that with Penn State losing a victory by us over Northwestern will give this a first day bye and we will probably play Wisconsin since they play Indiana tomorrow.
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I think you're right on that. A first day game vs. IND wouldn't have bothered me much, as it could have been a nice tune up for the second round, but I think at this time of year, an off day would be more beneficial. Moving up to the 5 spot does make our road pretty rough. If the standings hold up as expected, we're looking at Wisky (winnable in a neutral setting), then straight to Sparty (not so much). Would a relative gimme over IND been more beneficial to our NCAA resume than if we end up losing to Bucky? We'll never know, but an extra game in the W column looks good, no matter how you got it. If IND somehow pulls the upset at Wisky, I would gladly take PSU for our first tourney game, but I'm not holding my breath.

As far as the NW game, I think defending the 3 has got to be priority #1. Last time, NW scored more than half their points from beyond the arc, at a %52 clip. If I were in Matta's shoes, I would grab PJ by the jersey, point at Moore, and say "That's your man". Let the other 4 play a zone, or man, or whatever, but take away their best offensive weapon for 20+ minutes. I can't remember which game, but Matta had Diebs man up on the opponent's hot shooter for the 2nd half, and it worked like a charm. PJ's a better defender, and he seems to have energy to burn; plus, I think he would respond to the challenge. At this point, we know who the deep threats are, I think it would be better to keep pressure on them from the tip off, and prevent them from getting in rhythm. I doubt that we will see that, but it's pretty clear that our perimiter defense has been a weakness, no matter what we've tried. Now that it's getting to "one and done" time, might as well try to attack what's been hurting us all season. Of course, if they play the same old zone all game, and pull out a win, I'll be just as happy. Go Buckeyes!!!
 
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generaladm;1424137; said:
I think you're right on that. A first day game vs. IND wouldn't have bothered me much, as it could have been a nice tune up for the second round, but I think at this time of year, an off day would be more beneficial. Moving up to the 5 spot does make our road pretty rough. If the standings hold up as expected, we're looking at Wisky (winnable in a neutral setting), then straight to Sparty (not so much). Would a relative gimme over IND been more beneficial to our NCAA resume than if we end up losing to Bucky? We'll never know, but an extra game in the W column looks good, no matter how you got it.
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I think being #5 last year cost us a possible bid. We were 19-12/10-8 and lost to #4 Sparty. Had we been #6 we would've opened versus #11 Northwestern. A win there would've given us 20 going into selection Sunday.

This year, however, a 20th win can come tomorrow. And with only 9 losses - not to mention some good OOC wins - our chances should be better. Playing Wiscy on a neutral floor would be a winnable matchup, too.

First things first...we owe the Mildcats, and we need a W.
 
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I'll take the win tomorrow first and foremost, but if a loss means we get Indiana in the first round, that is a good thing. It's essentially a guaranteed "w".

As someone pointed out, had we not gotten a bye last last year, we probably are in the tournament with an opening round win.
 
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billmac91;1424163; said:
I'll take the win tomorrow first and foremost, but if a loss means we get Indiana in the first round, that is a good thing.
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A loss puts us behind Northwestern in the standings, and most likely Wisconsin. We'd end up being the 7th seed playing Iowa. I don't think that would bode well for an at large bid this year, even if we beat the Hawkeyes.

We need the 5th seed and 20th win today.
 
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