Somebody stop this guy!
Ohio State’s Ivan Harris and Jamar Butler chase Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel. - AP Photo

by Matt Barker
January 31, 2007

First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Patrick Hayes and the staff of Riverside Methodist Hospital. For well over a week now, I have been suffering from trochanteric (hip) bursitis. It’s a type of pain I wouldn’t wish on my worse enemies, like Michigan fans, but I am finally able to walk without much pain.

In the nearly two weeks of discomfort, it’s time to catch up on what has transpired with the Ohio State basketball team in the past week, as well as looking ahead to tonight’s game against Purdue.

On Saturday night, Greg Oden lost his best friend, Travis Smith, who was killed in a auto accident in Muncie, Indiana.

Smith, a freshman golfer at Ball State University, was a passenger in a car that went left-of-center and struck an oncoming vehicle as it was attempting to make a left turn.

Smith and Oden attended grade school together in Terre Haute before Oden and his family moved to Indianapolis, where he attended high school.

Oden practiced with the team on both Sunday and Monday before traveling to Terre Haute. He missed Tuesday’s practice and will attend Smith’s funeral on Wednesday, then meet up with the team in West Lafayette.

Oden learn of the news on the death of his beat friend shortly after Ohio State defeated Michigan State, 66-64, on Saturday night.

Oden scored 19 points and pulled down six rebounds to lead the Buckeyes, who nearly blew a 20-point halftime lead.

Michigan State has a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but Maurice Joseph’s three-pointer hit the front of the rim.

It was a tale of two halves as Ohio State was 15-of-24 from the floor, including 6-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half to take a commanding 43-23 lead into the intermission break.

As though it almost seemed like the rim on the other end of the court was much smaller, the Buckeyes could only hit 5-of-21 shots from the field in the second half, and a mere 1-of-9 from three-point range.

Michigan State, which shot 30 percent (9-of-30) in the first half, caught fire in the second stanza.

Led by guard Drew Neitzel, who scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half, he single-handedly brought the Spartans within a point with after he was fouled by Jamar Butler while attempting a three-pointer with 1:41 left to play.

With Michigan State trailing 65-62, Neitzel was only able to covert two of his three chances at the foul line.

Neitzel missed two three-pointers on consecutive possessions for the Spartans before Oden made one of his two free throw attempts with 15 seconds remaining that set-up Michigan State’s final play.

The Buckeyes chased and double-teamed Neitzel before he gave up the ball to Joseph at the top of the key and he hoisted what would of been the game-winner, but it fell short of its mark as time expired.

Last Wednesday in Evanston, Illinois, Oden scored 17 points and pulled down a season-high 17 rebounds as Ohio State hung on to beat Northwestern 59-50 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Oden had 10 of his 17 points over the final 10-plus minutes of the game after Northwestern’s Tim Doyle hit consecutive buckets to pull the Wildcats within a point at 39-38 with 10:17 left, but Northwestern could not get any closer.

Ivan Harris led the Buckeyes with 18 points.

Tonight, Ohio State looks to earn their sixth straight victory when they visit Mackey Arena to take on the Purdue Boilermakers. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00pm ET.

The game will be televised on ESPN 2 with Brent Musberger and Steve Lavin calling the game action, while Paul Keels and Ron Stokes handle the play-by-play on the 59-station Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Network.

The Boilermakers (14-7, 3-4) have won just two of their last five overall, including Saturday’s 64-47 victory over Illinois.

David Teague, a 6-foot-5 senior guard, scored 18 of his career-high 28 points in the second half.

Purdue’s leading scorer, 6-foot-7 senior forward Carl Landry, played just 20 minutes against the Illini due to foul trouble, had 17 points.

Landry ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 19.1 points per game.

Purdue does not have any player taller than 6-foot-7 who averages more that seven minutes per game.

Freshmen post players Johnathan Uchendu (6-11) and Dan Vandervieren (6-10) played a combined 11 minutes against Illinois. Look for head coach Matt Painter and his Boilermakers to use a packed 2-3 zone against the Buckeyes in hopes that Ohio State’s shooting is as cold as the winter air.

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Michigan State point guard Drew Neitzel. - AP Photo
 by Matt Barker
January 27, 2007

The fifth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes hope to extend their home winning streak to 22 games tonight when they host the Michigan State Spartans. Tip-off at “The O-Den” is scheduled for 9:00pm ET.

Ohio State’s last home loss came on January 15, 2006, when Michigan State point guard Drew Neitzel scored on a runner and his two free throws in the final 45 seconds of the second overtime helped the Spartans hand the Buckeyes their only home defeat of last season.

The game will be televised on ESPN 2 with Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale calling the game action, with Erin Andrews reporting from the sidelines.

ESPN’s College Basketball GameDay crew of Rece Davis, Digger Phelps, Hubert Davis and Jay Bilas along with Andy Katz will also be on hand.

Ohio State did avenge their loss last year by winning at the Breslin Center in East Lansing by downing Michigan State 79-68 on February 22, the last time both teams met on the hardwood.

Both schools come into tonight’s matchup looking to extend four-game winning streaks. Ohio State is a game behind conference leader Wisconsin, while Michigan State is one game behind the Buckeyes in a three-way tie for third.

The Spartans are led by the aforementioned Neitzel, a 6-foot junior point guard who tops Michigan State in scoring with a career-best 18.2 points per game.

Michigan State’s four consecutive victories have come against conference opponents after it dropped its first two Big Ten games at Iowa and Indiana.

The Spartans had little trouble in Wednesday’s 70-46 home win over Minnesota, shooting 50.9 percent, the second straight game they have made more than half their shots.

Overall, the Spartans lead the league in rebounding and defensive statistics, while Ohio State leads the Big Ten in scoring. Plagued by injuries for most of December, MSU is starting to get back its cohesiveness on offense, as the Spartans lead the league in field-goal percentage in conference games and rank among the top scoring squads.

Michigan State’s only game against a ranked opponent this season was a 63-61 win over then-No. 19 Texas on Nov. 16.

Michigan State’s roster features two players from the Buckeye State, 6-foot-2 sophomore guard Travis Walton 6.8 ppg), and 6-foot-7 freshman forward Raymar Morgan (10.8 ppg).

Walton was the 2005 Northwest Ohio Player of the Year and a first-team all-state honoree, leading Lima Senior High School to a 19-4 record.

Morgan earned The Associated Press Division I Player of the Year honors as a senior at Canton McKinley High School and led the Bulldogs to back-to-back Division I state championships, as his school became the first Division I team to accomplish that feat since 1974.

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With the conclusion of the football season two weeks ago, and head coach Jim Tressel working around the clock before National Signing Day on February 7, Buckeye fans armed with OSU memorabilia know it’s now autograph season.

Eight players from the 2006 Ohio State football team will be signing their John Hancock’s this Saturday at the Secrest Auditorium, which is located at 221 Shinnick Street in downtown Zanesville. The event begins at 1:00pm, and the doors to the auditorium will open four hours prior at 9:00am.

Antonio Pittman, Anthony Gonzalez, Antonio Smith, Roy Hall, T.J. Downing, Stan White Jr., Justin Zwick and Jay Richardson will be signing autographs for the event.

Purchasing a $100 Super Ticket will net one autograph from each player. Pittman and Gonzalez autographs will cost $20 each and other individual autographs will cost $15 each.

Previous commitments will keep Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, Ted Ginn Jr., Quinn Pitcock and Doug Datish from participating in the signing event. Secrest seats 1,775 people, not including handicapped spots, which are available, and cameras are not going to be permitted in the auditorium.

This time of the year I get many requests for about these autograph signings and where they are located throughout the state, but I just don’t get it.

Obviously, I am just a big Buckeye fan as anyone else, but to spend $100 bills to stand in line for hours on end just to get a signature?

I have acquired quite of few autographs in my day from Ohio State players over the years, but they came from chance encounters. And for free!

The only time ever in my life did I stand in line to have something signed by a famous player was when I was about seven years old, as my mother purchased for me a copy of the book “Charlie Hustle,” which was autographed by none other than Pete Rose himself when he was still a member of the Cincinnati Reds at the Lazarus department store in downtown Columbus.

At that same store, I won an autographed football signed by Archie Griffin. Later, thanks to the help of family friend and dentist, I was able to get many more signatures on the football from some of the Buckeye greats of the 70s.

Later, when I was 13 years old, I was able to get an autograph from Clark Kellogg when I hung out by the locker room door in St. John Arena following a game against Michigan State.

When I was a freshman in college, I was able to get Jay Burson’s autograph simply due to the fact that me and my roommates where moving into the same apartment on Iuka Avenue that he was moving out of during the summer of 1987.

I was able to get Bobby Hoying’s and Mike Vrabel’s autograph at Brian Boru’s in the Short North, and Eddie George’s at Champps Americana at Lennox Town Center.

Just a few months ago, I was able to get the autographs of Craig Krenzel and Ryan Miller, who made an appearance at the corporate offices of Verizon Wireless in Dublin. The only problem is that I later noticed, that both of them signed it to BUCKEYEBANNER.COM.

Oh well, I am sure someday maybe I can get that fixed. It sits in a frame on my desk.

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For the second straight game, a certain someone had to sit on the bench due to a sports-related injury.

No, that certain someone wasn’t a player, but your brawny Buckeye blogger, and the bench was really an overstuffed brown tweed sofa. It marked the first time I have missed two consecutive home games since the Randy Ayers administration.

And even though I was a few miles away from Value City Arena, I could still feel the vibrations after “G-Od” threw down numerous two-handed slams.

“G-Od,” better known as Greg Oden, scored 18 of his career-high 29 points in the second half, including nine during a decisive 21-2 run as the seventh-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes ran away from the Iowa Hawkeyes, 82-63, in front of 18,963 fans at “The O-Den,” Saturday night.

“It was all my teammates. They got the ball to me at the right spot,” Oden said after the game. “They worked hard to get me the ball and I worked hard to score.”

It appeared that I was going to be able to take my pain medication and slumber into La-La Land earlier than scheduled as the Buckeyes scored the game’s first nine points.

But the scrappy Hawks’ clawed back into the game, and after a three-pointer by Iowa’s Adam Haluska, the contest was deadlocked at 11-all.

While this game was tied on three different occasions, Ohio State never trailed.

The Buckeyes’ biggest lead of the opening 20 minutes came at the conclusion as Ohio State closed out the half on a mini 5-0 run, all scored by Oden, to lead 37-26 at intermission.

The Buckeyes began the second stanza by taking a 41-26 lead following a conventional three-point play by Oden with 18:59 left.

Just when you think head coach Steve Alford and his Hawkeyes would roll over, they came back to outscore the Buckeyes, 24-13, in the next seven-plus minutes and trailed just 54-50 after a triple by Tyler Smith with 11:04 left.

A three-pointer by Daequan Cook, a dunk and free throw by Oden, and a layup by Cook led to Alford calling a timeout with 9:24 remaining to stem the momentum as Ohio State took a 62-50 lead.

That timeout didn’t work, as the Buckeyes scored 11 of the game’s next 13 points capped off when Oden scored on an offensive board and jam with 5:25 left to put Ohio State up 73-52.

Oden was a near-perfect 12-of-13 from the field, his only miss came with 2:27 left in the first half on a 10-foot jump hook, and was an unblemished 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. He also pulled down 10 rebounds, had two blocked shots, and alter several others.

“I think he’s a super talent. He can have 29 points and 10 rebounds or 6 points and 10 rebounds and he doesn’t care,” Alford said about “G-Od” after the game. “He has never been about the points. It’s all about winning with him. He is a great leader and looks like a great teammate.”

Ron Lewis scored 12 points and Cook added 11 off the bench. Point guard Mike Conley Jr. had eight points, but more importantly dished out 10 assists to just three turnovers in 34 minutes of game action.

“Conley gets overshadowed a lot. He did in high school too. But he is a really special point guard, Alford said in the postgame press conference. “He takes good shots and he is in line to break a lot of records at this school which has produced a lot of good guards.”

The Buckeyes have now won three straight games and six of the last seven.

Smith netted 21 points for Iowa, which has suffered losses in three of the last four games. Haluska contributed 15 points as the only other Hawkeye in double figures.

Up next, Ohio State travels to Evanston to take on the Northwestern Wildcats, Wednesday night. Tip-off at Welsh-Ryan Arena is scheduled for 8:00pm ET.

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After watching the BCS National Championship live, then several times over the past week thanks to the help of my friend Johnny Walker and my DVR, I finally give you my thoughts and analysis.

I must admit I really never had plan on doing so. In fact, if you notice here on my web site, there is no mention of the game anywhere. It was painful enough to watch. let alone write about.

But as I watched, and watched again, the only hypothesis I have for the mountainous meltdown is actually a conspiracy theory.

And here it is: After Notre Dame was blown out of the Sugar Bowl against SEC member LSU, a band of angry Irish fans and a group of disgruntled leprechauns forced to work in Santa’s sweatshop during the month of December got together.

Their plan, which seemingly worked at first, was to hijack Ohio State’s team bus as it made it way from the Fairmont Princess Resort in Scottsdale, to the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

Somewhere along Loop 101 and the Black Canyon Freeway, the bus carrying members of the Ohio State football was diverted by a group of angry, drunken Irish fans and hundreds of the pint-sized leprechauns with magical powers.

This band of hooligans order the Buckeyes off the bus, and in their place stepped in the Fighting Irish football team, who eventually traveled the rest of the way to the stadium.

Meanwhile, the Ohio State football team was moved to a remote location where they were held hostage. While in captivity, the Buckeyes were forced to watch the movie “Rudy” over and over again.

Unfortunately, their plan to have Notre Dame disguised as Ohio State players did not work in the end, as the Fighting Irish met the same fate as they did days earlier in the Sugar Bowl.

They also hoped that when the crystal football was presented to what appeared to be Jim Tressel, that in fact it would of been Charlie Weis, as he ripped of the mask.

Now I am still trying to work out all of the details, especially on how Coach Weis would of been able to squeeze into a tiny Tressel costume, or how they were able to find anyone as fast as Ted Ginn Jr.

My theory on Ginn is that it was really him returning the opening kickoff, though he was never really injured. These impostors were hoping that they could hold on to a 7-0 lead, and Ginn was escorted back to the remote location where the rest of the Buckeyes were held against their will.

Seriously, Ohio State was just outcoached, outplayed, and outhustled. Out-everything.

Plus there were several motivating factors that aided Florida and head coach Urban Meyer.

From discussions about whether the Gators even deserved to be playing in the title game, as well as most pigskin prognosticators predicting a Buckeye victory.

The bottom line is, Ohio State seemed that they were never in the right mindset. They just don’t hand you that crystal football for showing up.

Ohio State’s offensive line never gave Troy Smith a chance, while the Buckeyes’ defensive scheme to play a soft zone coverage, where it was more read and react, failed miserably.

Maybe Ohio State’s defense was overrated given the fact that they allowed a whooping 80 points in their final two games of the season.

But you know what I realized Tuesday morning? That the sun rose, and life goes on.

Last week, wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez announced that he was skipping his senior year to play on Sundays.

This should come as no shock, since the Buckeyes do not return a quarterback with much experience, and Gonzalez probably assumes that his stats might plummet next season.

Like in the stock market: sell high.

There are three signal-callers vying for the job next year.

Redshirt junior Todd Boeckman, redshirt sophomore Rob Schoenhoft, and redshirt freshman Antonio Henton.

The best plan for the Buckeyes in 2007 (and 2008, 2009, and maybe 2010) is to give the starting job to Henton, as long as he earns it. He is a dual-threat quarterback similar to Smith.

In Ken Gordon’s article in the Columbus Dispatch that was published on Sunday, Henton said, “I think if I win the job and I have four years (to start), there’s no doubt that I (will) be the next Heisman winner at Ohio State.”

Today (Monday), is the final day that juniors can announce if they are returning or if they are going to enter the NFL Draft. Ginn is still on the fence, though I think both he and Antonio Pittman are leaving early.

With that, it’s time for Coach Tressel to regroup, restock, and reload.

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At last, I can finally take solace knowing that my beloved Buckeyes finally defeated a team from the Southeastern Conference.

Trailing by a point, senior swingman Ron Lewis drained a three-pointer from the top of the key with 11.2 seconds left to lead fifth-ranked Ohio State to a 68-66 win over the 16th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers in front of 18,817 fans at “The O-Den,” Saturday afternoon.

Lewis finished with just five points on 2-of-5 shooting from the floor, but came through when it mattered most.

“Really I just thought about winning,” Lewis said following the game. “I didn’t know how many we were down. We were down one. I knew we needed a bucket to win.”

The dynamic duo from Circle City, 7-foot center Greg Oden and 6-foot-1 point guard Mike Conley Jr. combined for 40 of Ohio State’s 68 points.

Oden had a career-high 24 points and 15 rebounds, while his high school running mate chipped in a sweet 16.

To take a quote from the movie Bull Durham, it appeared that Ohio State head coach Thad Matta wanted Oden to “announce his presence with authority.”

Tennessee’s tallest post players, 6-foot-7 Duke Crews and 6-foot-9 Wayne Chism, were no match for Oden, who was 9-of-13 shooting from the field, with seven of those made baskets coming on two-handed jams.

“Greg had two really good practices this week - Thursday and Friday. I felt Tennessee was smaller inside. He was spectacular and dominant today. Outside of his 24 points and 15 rebounds he did more than anyone would know. Greg is also a very good passer we just need to get his inside-outside game going.”

Conversely, Oden took just six shots from the field and scored 10 points while the Buckeyes’ shot 26 three-pointers against Wisconsin last Tuesday. Against Tennessee, Ohio State attempted 14 from beyond the arc and made only four.

One thing is for sure, Matta is going to have to find a way to keep Oden active and happy by feeding him the ball in the low post, but at the same time balance that out with some production from the outside shooters.

Another thing Coach Matta is going to have to work on in practice is attacking the full-court pressure. Ohio State committed a whooping 20 turnovers against Tennessee’s press.

And defensively, the Buckeyes need to do a better job with dribble penetration.

Tennessee’s preseason All-America guard Chris Lofton, who finished with a team-high 23 points, scored on two eye-opening drives to give his Volunteers the lead twice in the final minute.

Unfortunately for Tennessee, both Lofton and his backcourt mate, Ramar Smith, could not hit their free throws in the closing moments of the game.

Lofton and Smith both missed front ends of one-and-one opportunities in the final 26.5 seconds while the Volunteers clung to a 66-65 lead.

Lofton scored on a driving layup with 56 seconds left to play, and again 11 ticks off the clock later, each time giving the Vols’ a one point lead.

On OSU’s next possession, Conley tried to drive to the basket, but his layup caromed off the iron and was rebounded by UT’s Wayne Chism with 27 seconds left.

Jamar Butler then fouled Ramar Smith to put him at the line, though luckily for Tennessee, his failed attempt was knocked out of bounds by the Buckeyes.

Tennessee got the ball inbounds and into the hands of their best free throw shooter at nearly 82 percent entering the game, but Lofton’s miss was rebounded by Oden that setup the game-winning shot from Lewis.

Lewis took a pass from Conley just to the right of the top of the key, and elevated above the outstretched hand UT’s Josh Tabb in a play that looked like it was designed for Lewis to shoot the triple or drive down the lane.

Ohio State held the lead for most of the first half until Tennessee went on a 12-2 run that was capped off on a three-pointer by JaJuan Smith with 4:51 left that gave the Volunteers their biggest lead of the game at 28-22.

Conley made a pair of triples to give Ohio State the lead at intermission. His three-pointer with 1:02 remaining tied the game at 33-all, and the other came with eight seconds left until halftime to put the Buckeyes up 36-33 heading into the locker room.

“I think eventually, if I keep hitting threes, teams will have to account for that,” Conley said after the game. “If we have a lot of guys hitting we’ll be tough to beat.”

Conley was 2-of-3 from three-point range, and improved to 23.1 percent on the season from downtown.

The Buckeyes’ led by as much as 10 points an two different occasions in the second half before the Volunteers chipped away at that margin and took the lead back on a layup by Lofton with 56 seconds left to play.

Up next, Ohio State host Northwestern at “The O-Den,” Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00pm ET.

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Unlike a certain other scarlet and gray clad team who played on Monday night, Thad Matta’s basketball Buckeyes’ went down swinging against the third-ranked Wisconsin Badgers in Madison.

Kammron Taylor, Chris Rock’s stunt double, scored a game-high 25 points as Wisconsin barely held on for a 72-69 win over Ohio State.

The preseason Big Ten player of the year, Alando Tucker, scored 17 for the Badgers.

Trailing by as much as 16 points just past the midway point of the second half, Ohio State rallied and nearly sent the game into overtime when Jamar Butler’s three-pointer as the horn sounded bounced off the back of the rim.

While I don’t subscribe to the theory of moral victories, seeing a young team like the Buckeyes go into one of the more hostile environments in the Big Ten, the Kohl Center, and battle as they did down the stretch is encouraging.

The good news is that the Badgers make a return trip to “The O-Den” on February 25, which by then Mr. Oden’s wrist should be 100 percent and the team will have gained valuable experience.

Another thing is for sure by the end of February, Coach Matta should have his rotation down pat by then, because how can you have your two of your better players, Daequan Cook and Othello Hunter, play a combined 27 minutes?

The Buckeyes only held the lead briefly during the opening minutes of the game after Butler and Ivan Harris drained triples.

Tucker scored a on short jumper with 16:38 left in the first half, and the Badgers never trailed the rest of the way.

But Ohio State hung around, and despite shooting just 28.1 percent (9-of-32) from the field in the first half, Wisconsin only led by three, 31-28, at intermission.

The game was tied on three different occasions early in the second half, and the Badgers held a 43-41 advantage with 13:42 left in the game after Butler dropped down another three for the Buckeyes.

From that point, Wisconsin went on a 14-0 scoring run to take a 57-41 lead with 9:27 remaining after a layup by Michael Flowers.

The Badgers led 69-59 with 54 seconds left to play, but could only convert 3-of-7 free throws in the closing moments.

Ohio State’s Ron Lewis nailed a three-pointer with 45 ticks left to make it 69-62, a dunk by Oden made it 69-64 with 37 seconds remaining, and another trey by Lewis cut the lead down to 70-67 at the :26 mark.

Oden added one more dunk, this time with eight seconds left to make the score 71-69.

Taylor made one of his two free throw attempts with seven seconds remaining before Butler just miss his three as time expired.

Harris led the Buckeyes with 17 points, while Lewis dropped in 14, Butler added a dozen, and Oden contributed 10 points, seven rebounds and six blocks despite playing only 30 minutes due to early foul trouble.

Up next, Ohio State hosts 16th-ranked Tennessee at “The O-Den,” Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00pm ET.

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