SPOTLIGHT GAME
The #5 Ohio State Buckeyes
(17-3, 5-1 in Big Ten)
vs.
The Michigan State Spartans
(17-4, 4-2 in Big Ten)
___
Value City Arena - Columbus, OH
January 27, 2007
9:00 pm EST
Tonight's game versus Michigan State is special for a number of reasons. For starters, it is the first of five games that constitute what is arguably the toughest stretch of games of Ohio State's conference schedule. The ESPN GameDay crew will be in town, providing some positive media exposure to a team and school that could probably use some. At Friday?s interview session, Coach Matta said of the events, "Three years ago, the only time [ESPN] showed up was to report bad news. Now, coming in here and bringing College GameDay is great for our program." The festivities of a nationally televised game are accompanied by the much-publicized 'White Out' fan action, which - if all goes to plan - will unify the crowd and give the Buckeyes the same kind of home court advantage that so many of their opponents enjoy. Roll in the fact that Ohio State has not gotten a home win versus the Spartans (the most recent 2OT loss still relatively fresh in everyone's mind) since 2001, and all of a sudden this is an awfully important game.
Tom Izzo, despite losing a host of seriously talented players, has coached this team to what will certainly be another 20-win season and NCAA Tournament berth. While the household names Ager, Davis and Brown have all moved on, this Spartan team boasts a wealth of size (six players above 6-6, three above 6-10) and is plenty deep, featuring a solid nine-man rotation and another five guys who have logged significant minutes. The clear leader of the team is junior guard Drew Neitzel (6-0, 180), but there is a ton of young talent at Izzo's disposal--seven of their nine regulars are underclassmen, and there's not a senior to be found on the roster. At 17-4, it's clear that the youth movement in East Lansing is doing something right. Nevertheless, each of their four losses (Maryland, Boston College, Iowa and Indiana) has come on the road, where experience and leadership are the most valuable. The Buckeyes need to and should win this game, if for no other reason than to keep pace with the Badgers. Here are the likely match-ups:
FRONTCOURT
0 Idong Ibok - So. (6-11, 255)
vs.
20 Greg Oden - Fr. (7-0, 280)
14 Goran Suton - Jr. (6-10, 245)
vs.
3 Ivan Harris - Sr. (6-7, 220)
2 Raymar Morgan - Fr. (6-7, 225)
vs.
12 Ron Lewis - Sr. (6-4, 200)
BACKCOURT
5 Travis Walton - So. (6-2, 195)
vs.
14 Jamar Butler - Jr. (6-2, 200)
11 Drew Neitzel - Jr. (6-0, 180)
vs.
1 Mike Conley, Jr. - Fr. (6-1, 175)
BENCH
41 Marquise Gray - So. (6-8, 235)
23 Maurice Joseph - So. (6-4, 190)
34 Drew Naymick - Jr. (6-10, 245)
22 Isaiah Dahlman - Fr. (6-6, 185)
vs.
31 Daequan Cook - Fr. (6-5, 210)
23 David Lighty - Fr. (6-5, 220)
45 Othello Hunter - Jr. (6-9, 225)
42 Matt Terwilliger - Jr. (6-8, 230)
By all accounts, Oden is really starting to hit his stride. Having posted three double-double in his last four games, he now has All-Americanesque numbers to accompany his already imposing stature. Ibok, despite having only been playing basketball for about four years now, continues to improve and still has a 7-foot-5 wingspan. He-s only logging a little over 11 minutes a game at the moment, but seems to have found a spot in the starting rotation of late. He certainly has the size to guard #20, but his lack of experience may leave him exposed against such a technically sound center. Key Point: With three centers on the roster, Izzo can let Ibok play. Suton is solid and bench stud Drew Naymick leads the team in blocked shots (33), so you can expect Ibok to guard Oden tight.
Across the rest of the board, size is an issue. When asked if he had any personal challenges going into Saturday-s game, Ivan Harris commented, "They're a big team, so it's basically just rebounding, getting in there and banging with the big guys." As far as an overall key to victory, however, it may simply be Ohio State's ability to neutralize Neitzel. Conley and Butler have proven their defensive acumen, yet this team has a habit of letting the opposition's star talent run wild. It will be interesting to see how the backcourt shakes out. Whatever the case, here's hoping the crowd can come out in full force and show a national television audience that this top-5 team has the fanbase to match.
Prediction: tOSU 68 - MSU 64
