Buckeyes Need to Get More Production From Bench

Ohio State's loss this past Saturday at West Virginia showed a weakness that the Buckeyes have had all season long- their bench.

The Mountaineers had worn down the Buckeyes by the end of the game. Evan Turner, David Lighty and William Buford played the entire game. It was clear in the last couple of minutes that these three were tired. And it showed. Their shots were coming up short and they were a step slower than usual.

Evan Turner is about as close to Superman as anyone in college basketball, but you can't expect the kid to play 40 minutes and be 100% from start to finish. He needs to get some rest at some point in the game so he can have his legs at the end.

The bench provided a grand total of zero points. Zero. That just can't happen if OSU wants to advance into the postseason.

Someone needs to step up from the bench and provide OSU with a consistent scoring option when the starters need rest.

A lot of this can fall on Thad Matta's shoulders as well. The Bucks are not a very deep team, but he's going to have to give his starters some rest and trust the guys off the bench, or this team won't go anywhere.

Buckeyes Can't Hold On in Morgantown

For the first twenty minutes of the game, everything was looking good for our Buckeyes. OSU got up 40-28 at halftime and all they had to do was hang on for another twenty minutes, and theyd be heading back to Columbus with a very sweet non-conference victory.

But the Mountaineers had other plans.

West Virginia came out in the second half and scored the first ten points. They cut the lead to 40-38, and we had a serious ball game on our hands.

WVU got hot from three, and took the lead with a little less than nine minutes left.

As the Mountaineers got hot, the Buckeyes got cold.

OSU only made one field goal attempt during the final eight minutes of play. They did cut it to 69-65 with 56 seconds left, but that was as close as they would get.

The final score read 71-65.

Ohio State falls to 14-6 on the year.

Bucks Cruise Past Northwestern

The Buckeyes wasted no time tonight in their rout of Northwestern. Seven minutes into the game, OSU was up 17-3, and by all means, the game was already over.

Northwestern played most of the game in a 1-3-1 zone, hoping to force the Buckeyes into traps that would lead to turnovers. Good strategy, unless the guy you're trying to trap is Evan Turner.

The 6'7 point guard had little trouble getting by the 1-3-1 zone, using his height and athleticism to get the ball over and through the Wildcats defense.

Turner, who said after the game that he's about 90% back from his injury, flirted with a triple-double, which would have been his 3rd of the season. ET had 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists. Not bad for a guy who isn't even 100%.

Jon Diebler had 17, and Dallas Lauderdale added 14.

The one troubling aspect of this game is that the Buckeyes only received 10 points from their bench. While the poor output by the bench wasn't a factor in a blowout such as this, the Bucks are eventually going to face a talented team that likes to run and play the game at a fast tempo. And when that happens, OSU is going to need to get some production from their bench.

With the 76-56 victory the Bucks improved to 14-5 on the season, 4-3 in Big 10 play. Next up for OSU a road contest against #9 West Virginia.

Early Look at Northwestern

The Buckeyes have a chance to win their 3rd straight Big 10 game tomorrow night when they take on Northwestern.

Northwestern is 13-4, 2-3 in Big 10 play. The Wildcats are coming off a huge win over #6 Purdue, the same team OSU defeated earlier in the week.

Sophomore forward John Shurna leads the Wildcats. He averages over 16 points and 7 rebounds a game. Hes 6-8 and can stroke the three ball, and will be a very tough match-up for the Buckeyes. Evan Turner probably matches up best against him. Shurna gets most of his points from the outside and Turner should be able to keep with him and limit his shot opportunities.

On the other side of the court, Northwestern doesn't really have a player that matches up with Turner. Northwestern's biggest guard is freshman Drew Crawford at 6'5. Turner should be able to use his height advantage to get points in the paint.

I see the Buckeyes winning this game, not by a big margin but comfortably. Northwestern is a solid team but the Bucks athleticism will be a little too much to handle for the Wildcats. 75-62 is my prediction.

Bracketology

The Buckeyes are currently a 5 seed in Joe Lunardi's latest bracket. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology.

Lunardi has 5 Big 10 teams making it, with Michigan State being the highest seeded team at 2.

Buckeyes Back in Hunt

The Buckeyes currently sit at 3-3 in the Big 10 Conference, good for 6th place in the conference. But after a week in which the Bucks defeated two top 15 teams in Purdue and Wisconsin, OSU has to be considered a favorite for the Big 10 Title.

The only team hotter than the Bucks in the Big 10 is Michigan State, who has yet to lose a Big 10 game.

12 Big 10 games remain, which gives the Bucks plenty of time to catch up to the Spartans.

Wisconsin

The Bucks take on #15 Wisconsin tonight, with OSU hoping for a much better outcome than their last game against the Badgers; a 65-43 loss in a very uncompetitive game. Wisconsin completely shut down OSU offensively. The Buckeyes do have one thing going for them in this game that they didn't have last time, Evan Turner.

Turner, the National Player of the Year favorite before getting injured in a game against Eastern Michigan on December 6th, has returned to action. He saw limited action in his first game back against Indiana, and was rusty in a game against Minnesota. His performance against #6 Purdue on Tuesday, however, showed why Turner was a favorite for POY. He had a career high in points leading the Bucks to a second half comeback over the Boilermakers.

In order for the Buckeyes to beat Wisconsin tonight, Turner is going to have to have another outstanding performance. Wisconsin is one of the best defensive teams in the country. ET's ability to penetrate and create opportunities for his teammates will be a necessity if the Bucks want to take down the #15 Badgers.

The Buckeyes have some momentum going with the win over Purdue. A win over Wisconsin would continue that momentum and give the Buckeyes two straight victories over top 15 opponents.

Buckeyes to Open 2010 Season on Thursday Night

The Ohio State Buckeyes football team will open their 2010 campaign on September 2, a Thursday night, against Marshall.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/12782424/ohio-states-2010-opener-moved-to-thursday-night

For those of you who want to catch a glimpse of future Buckeye Jared Sullinger, a top 5 recruit on almost all the 2010 recruiting boards, his high school, Northland, ranked #2 in the country by USA Today, will take on national power Oak Hill tomorrow on ESPNU at 4:00. Oak Hill is ranked #8 by USA Today.

Buckeyes Overcome Huge 1st Half by Hummel to Take Down #6 Purdue

After the end of the 1st half in the OSU-Purdue game, it was not looking good for the Buckeyes. Robbie Hummel finished the half on a tear, making eight three pointers and scoring 29 points. The Purdue crowd was going crazy, and even though the Bucks were just down by 12 at the half, the lead felt insurmountable.

Thanks to Evan Turner, however, the Buckeyes were not out of it.

Turner came out in the second half like Hummel did in the first. Purdues lead floated around 10 for most of the game, and if it wasn't for Turner, the lead probably would've gotten up to 20.

ET scored 23 of his 32 points in the second half and helped the Bucks keep inching closer and closer. The Buckeyes finally took the lead with about a minute left, and finished off #6 Purdue, 70-66.

This was only Turner's 3rd game back since his injury, and even though he had a career high in points, he is said to not even be back to 100%.

The Buckeyes and Evan Turner sent a message to the rest of the Big 10 last night, that they're back and should get even better as Turner fully recovers.

Purdue

While it's too early in the season to say that the Purdue game tomorrow is a "must-win", it is pretty close to it.

After starting off the year 7-1, OSU has since lost 4 out of their last 8 games, and started off Big 10 play 1-3, currently tied for second to last place in the conference. 6 of these last 8 games have been without star player Evan Turner, and it is clear that the team does not have the same chemistry that they once had before Turner got injured.

Tomorrow night's contest at #6 Purdue provides the Bucks to regain some of their momentum. A victory on the road against a top 10 opponent would do wonders for a team that seems to be in a real funk right now. Confidence is something that is surely lacking, but could be regained in a swivel if they can take down Purdue.

A loss could put the team into a tailspin that they might not be able to get out of. After tomorrow's game against Purdue, the Buckeyes have #16 Wisconsin at home, face Northwestern, and then travel to #9 West Virginia. All 3 of these games are going to be tough.

Wisconsin already beat the Buckeyes 65-43 in the first Big 10 game of the season. Northwestern is a very good team that appeared in the top 25 at a point this season. And West Virginia is a top 3 Big East team, and their top 10 ranking speaks for itself. The Buckeyes could very well go 1-2, or possibly even 0-3 in this stretch of games, which is why the Purdue game is so important.

Buckeyes Face Indiana, Turner Possibly to Return

As the men's basketball team takes on Indiana tonight at 8:30, all eyes will be on junior guard Evan Turner, who after injuring his back in early december, could possibly return to action.

The Buckeyes were 7-1 before Turner got injured, and have since lost 3 games and started off Big 10 play 0-2.

Evan Turner had been playing like a possible Player of the Year candidate, leading the Bucks in points, assists and rebounds. His loss was felt in great magnitude as OSU struggled on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor without him in the line-up.

Turner is expected to see limited action tonight as the Bucks should not have very many problems with the Hoosiers. His presence will be needed on Saturday, when the Bucks take on Minnesota on the road.

Victory At Last

After 3 straight BCS game losses, 10 straight years in which the Big 10 didn't win the Rose Bowl, and an abundance of criticism and doubt surrounding both the Ohio State program and the entire Big 10 conference, the Ohio State Buckeyes won the 2010 Rose Bowl over Oregon 26-17, ending all the streaks and putting to rest, or at least for a little while, the criticism of the Big 10.

Behind Terrelle Pryor the Bucks had their best game of the year on college football's biggest stage. Pryor had a career day and looked very similar to a former Texas quarterback who won the Rose Bowl 5 years earlier.

In 2005 sophomore quarterback Vince Young defeated Michigan in the Rose Bowl, showing off both his feet and arms. It was a coming out party for the dual threat QB who had been somewhat inconsistent up until that game. The following season Young and the Longhorns won the National Championship.

It's not too much of a stretch to say that this game for Pryor could prove to be what the 2005 Rose Bowl was to Young.

Pryor had career highs in completions and attempts. The touch and accuracy that Pryor showed on his passes is unprecedented in the sophomores career. Pryor was hitting pass after pass, and when he decided to tuck it and run, he was almost unstoppable. It took at least 2 defenders to bring him down on most runs. He was stiff arming safeties and linebackers like they were 150 pound cornerbacks.

Now, we have seen glimpses of this from Pryor in the past. But he has never performed this well and with such great composure on a stage as big as the Rose Bowl. I fully expect Pryor to ride the momentum of this game into the 2010 season. Lee Corso said after the game that in 2010, "There will not be a better player than Pryor".

Pryor was not the only player to perform well in the win over Oregon. The offense as a whole had a tremendous outing. Posey and Sanzenbacher had great days. Brandon Saine had a catch for a TD as well as another catch for 40 plus yards. The offensive line gave Pryor time and opened up running lanes.

The defense held Oregon, who some analysts dubbed the most explosive offense in the country, to a pedestrian 17 points and 260 yards.

The 19 man senior class led by safety Kurt Coleman and defensive tackle Doug Worthington leave Ohio State the winningest class in history with a 44-8 record. The seniors have won the Big 10 every year since their arrival on campus, and also, have a 4-0 record against that school up north.

It's a great day to be a Buckeye.