Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith reacting to a call during the Golden Gophers’ 65-53 loss to Purdue, last Wednesday. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Ohio State (17-11, 8-7) at Minnesota (17-10, 7-8)
Date: Saturday, March 1
Time: 4:00 p.m. ET
Place: Williams Arena - capacity 14,625
TV: ESPN, with Dave O’Brien and Stephen Bardo.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 and WBNS-FM 97.1 in Columbus and 57 stations across Buckeyeland with Paul Keels and Ron Stokes.
Series History: Ohio State has an all-time record of 73-52 vs. Minnesota, but is just 28-34 in games played in Minneapolis.
Last Meeting : Jan. 26, 2008. Ohio State won 76-60 in Columbus as Jamar Butler scored 27 points to lead the Buckeyes.

It’s getting close to crunch time as Ohio State needs a win badly in hopes of advancing to the NCAA Tournament in March, unless Thad Matta’s cagers plan on winning the Big Ten tournament. The Buckeyes have lost three straight, and four out of their last five games, and this contest has significant importance now after OSU lost to Iowa and Michigan on the road. Currently, Ohio State sits in fifth-place in the Big Ten, one full game ahead of Minnesota.

Though both teams have nearly identical records, and in the latest RPI rankings furnished by Ken Pomeroy, Ohio State is 48th, while Minnesota checks in at No. 102. This is largely due to strength of schedule, as Ohio State ranks 30th, while Minnesota’s SOS is 129th. The Buckeyes are 2-9 against teams in the RPI Top 50, the Golden Gophers are 0-8.

Minnesota won two straight games at home, defeating Michigan 69-60, and Penn State 75-68 before venturing out on the road losing to 16th-ranked Purdue 65-53, last Wednesday.

Lawrence McKenzie, a 6-foot-2 senior guard, led Minnesota with 13 points. Forward Dan Coleman, 6-foot-9 senior, had 10 points and 13 rebounds and 6-foot-9 senior center Spencer Tollackson had 10 points in Minnesota’s second-lowest scoring game of the season.

The Golden Gophers’ lowest offensive output of the season was a 63-47 loss to Wisconsin back on Feb. 3 in Minneapolis.

Coleman leads Minnesota in both scoring (12.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.2 rpg), while McKenzie is second on the team averaging 11.4 points per contest. Tollackson is the third Gopher to average in double figures, chipping in 10.5 ppg.

Tags: Buckeye Basketball by Matt Barker
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It’s official.

After losing to 12th-ranked Indiana 72-69, Tuesday night, Ohio State has now lost three-straight games, and four out of their last five. It also means that the Buckeyes’ chances of dancing come March are sinking like a hydrogen-filled zeppelin.

What bothered Ohio State last night has plagued them all season long, and that’s the ability to play a complete, 40-minute game. Either they get off to a great start only to fade, or sputter in the first half like the did against Indiana and unable to climb out of such a deficit.

Against Wisconsin, Ohio State scored 21 second half points, and in last night’s game against Indiana, the Buckeyes could only muster that same offensive output in the first 20 minutes of action.

With 11:38 left in the first half, it looked like the Hoosiers were going to blow the Buckeyes right out of the gym after a two-handed jam by Jordan Crawford put IU ahead 18-7.

The Hoosiers biggest lead of the game was when Armon Bassett drained a trey with 2:35 remaining in the opening period that gave Indiana a 30-17 advantage.

For the next 22 minutes and 35 seconds, Ohio State outscored Indiana 52-42, but as they say, it was too little, too late.

 The only time the Buckeyes held a lead was very early in the game after Kosta Koufos drained a three-pointer 80 seconds into the contest. Indiana took over for good when Bassett scored on a layup at the 17:12 mark of the first half.

Ohio State did make it interesting, to say the least, in the second half.

The Hoosiers led 30-21 at halftime, but the Buckeyes went on a 9-2 run to start the second stanza, and after a tip-in by Othello Hunter, OSU trailed 32-30 with 15:39 left.

With 10:57 remaining, a short jumper by Koufos trimmed Indiana’s lead to 42-41, but Ohio State could not get a stop when needed, or a key bucket the rest of the way, while Indiana made the free throws they had to down the stretch.

Neither team shot the ball particularly well as Ohio State was 28-for-62 (45.2%) from the field, but just 7 of 25 (28.0%) from three-point range. Indiana was 24-for-61 (39.3%) from the floor, and 5 of 25 (20.0%) from downtown Bloomington.

Indiana had a 41-37 rebounding advantage, while Ohio State committed 16 turnovers to 13 for IU.

Koufos finished with 21 points and six rebounds, and Evan Turner chipped in 13. Hunter and Jamar Butler each added a dozen for the Buckeyes.

Bassett led the Hoosiers with 23 points, while Eric Gordon added 17 and D.J. White contributed 16.

Up next, Ohio State travels to Minneapolis to take on Minnesota, Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is schedule for 4:00 p.m. ET at Williams Arena.

Tags: Buckeye Basketball by Matt Barker
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Ohio State (17-10, 8-6) at Indiana (23-4, 12-2)Time: Today, 7:00 p.m. ET
Place: Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
TV: ESPN with Brent Musburger, Steve Lavin, and the voluptuous Erin Andrews.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 and WBNS-FM 97.1 in Columbus, plus 57 stations statewide with Paul Keels and Ron Stokes. Buckeye Warm-Up begins on the network at 6 p.m.
Series History: Indiana all-time record against Ohio State is 100-72, and owns a 28-5 advantage at Assembly Hall.
Last Time: Indiana won 59-52 on Feb. 10 in Columbus. 

Exit Kelvin Sampson and enter Dan Dakich, who took over last Friday after Sampson was forced to resign. This is good news for me, since I will no longer get dozens of calls from Sampson on a daily basis. If I have told him once, I told him a thousand times that my eligibility ran out a long time ago.

Ohioans will be familiar with Dakich, who played and was an assistant for legendary coach Bob Knight at Indiana before he became head coach at Bowling Green for 10 seasons. He was the third-winningest coach in Falcon history with a 156-140 mark.

Indiana is ranked 12th in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls. The Hoosiers are coming off an 85-82 win at Northwestern, last Saturday.

The Hoosiers boast the top two scorers in the Big Ten Conference with freshman Eric Gordon (21.5 ppg) and senior D.J. White (17.1 ppg). White also leads the league in rebounds, averaging 10.4 per game.

One of the leading candidates for Big Ten Player of the Year honors, White has been named the league’s Player of the Week four times, the second most in Big Ten history.

Gordon, the favorite to win the Big Ten freshman of the Year, has set the Indiana record for freshman scoring with 560 points surpassing the old mark of 500 which was set by Mike Woodson in 1976-77.

Sophomore Armon Bassett has stepped up his play with his 24-point effort at Northwestern, while freshman Jordan Crawford had a career-high 21 points against the Wildcats. Bassett is the top three-point shooter in the league (48.6%).

Ohio State is coming off a a disappointing 58-53 loss to Wisconsin on Sunday. The Buckeyes didn’t score in the final 3:15 of the game, and was held to just one field goal in the last eight-plus minutes after Jon Diebler drained a three-pointer with 8:38 left to give OSU a 49-47 lead.

Senior point guard Jamar Butler, who didn’t start against the Badgers due to a “coach’s decision,” still played 36 minutes and scored a team-high 14 points. Freshman center Kosta Koufos scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.

I’m not sure if Ohio State has anything left in the tank, physically and emotionally, after losing four out of their last six contests, and that was clearly evident when Butler launched an air ball on a three-pointer with 22 seconds left against Wisconsin that would of tied the game.

The Buckeyes are going to have to dig deep if they expect to win in Bloomington tonight, or the result could be ugly.

Tags: Buckeye Basketball by Matt Barker
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Well, it’s official. Kelvin Sampson is out as head coach at Indiana. He took a $750,000 buyout and resigned on Friday. He was replaced on an interim basis by assistant Dan Dakich.

Sampson’s exit stemmed from an NCAA report that cited he made improper phone calls to high school players, then providing false and misleading information to investigators from both the university and the NCAA.

One important note, Sampson told the NCAA during a Nov. 13 interview that he was unaware he was participating in three-way calls with former IU assistant coach Rob Senderoff and prospects or their parents. He also said he never spoke to recruits during impermissible periods, and he never spoke with a prospect on a phone call in which Senderoff spoke as well.

Sampson also told the NCAA he had never spoken with William Buford. The NCAA, however, found that Sampson had spoken with Senderoff and Buford during a June 16, 2006 phone call.

Buford, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Toledo, verbally committed to Ohio State on Oct. 31, 2006, and he submitted his National Letter of Intent to Matta during the early signing period back in November.

It seems that the Hoosier faithful are quite enamored in the fact of having current Ohio State head coach Thad Matta in Bloomington, but given the fact that he’s paid quite well and the talent he will have coming back next season, I tend to think he’ll stay put. Besides, after Matta pull Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr. out of the state of Indiana, Hoosier fans called him a cheater. Maybe Matta will keep that in mind when OSU takes on IU, Tuesday night.

This is an article I wrote back on Oct. 31, 2006, as I was previewing the Indiana Hoosiers basketball team and their new coach.

Exit, Mike Davis.

Enter, former Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson.

When it appeared that Davis’ days in Bloomington were numbered last season, many thought the next Hoosiers’ coach might be former IU players Steve Alford or Randy Wittman.

On March 29, Sampson was named head coach at Indiana replacing Davis, who resigned.

With the hiring of the Sampson, the Bob Knight era is officially over, but it also raised some eyebrows.

Sampson and the Oklahoma basketball program were under an NCAA investigation for their recruiting practices at the time of his hire. The accusations against Oklahoma include “lack of institutional control,” one of the NCAA’s most serious findings.

Last May, the NCAA banned the Hoosiers’ new coach from calling recruits and making off-campus visits for a year, ruling Sampson and his staff at Oklahoma deliberately broke NCAA rules by making 577 extra phone calls to basketball prospects.

The decision, announced by the NCAA’s infractions committee, also requires Indiana to adopt self-imposed restrictions put in place by Oklahoma. Those sanctions include a ban on Sampson being paid performance bonuses for next season, but Indiana will suffer no scholarship penalties.

Sampson has some talent at IU to begin his first season, but it seems that he’s already on the “hot seat” before the Hoosiers have even played a game and Sampson can’t afford one slight mistake.

I realize that some of the bigger names pulled out of consideration for the IU job, like Marquette’s Tom Crean and Gonzaga’s Mark Few, but why take a chance on a known cheater. I hope IU’s can brace itself years down the road if Sampson is found guilty of infractions again.

Hmm, I see was quite prophetic.

Tags: Big Ten Basketball by Matt Barker
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I was really trying to make BuckeyeBanter.com a “Terrelle Pryor-free Zone,” at least until he finally makes his decision on where he wants to attend college and play football. But I just found this article on the Internet and I thought you should read this.

In fact, you should not only read it, but comment on it. Or better yet, send this clown an email. Let’s fill his inbox! There’s even a phone number to reach him at the bottom!

The following quotes comes from Frank Bodani, who writes for some hick newspaper, the York Daily Record, which is located in Pennsylvania.

Bodani states that he still feels that Pryor will pick Ohio State, though through his homerism, makes several points as to why he should pick Penn State:

“Reason No. 1: Penn State will protect Pryor.”

Maybe Penn State could protect Pryor, if that means hiring him a lawyer and posting his bail.

“Penn State is the school that provides enough isolation because of its location and because it restricts players’ public access — especially true freshmen.”

Hmm, it seems that Penn State is turning into the State Pen, and PSU players are very much in the public eye as defensive tackle Phil Taylor and receiver Chris Bell, who were mentioned in a criminal complaint last October related to a fight in which one man was beat up and treated at the scene, were kicked off the team.

Starting defensive tackle Chris Baker and backup linebacker Navorro Bowman are awaiting trial on felony assault and other charges in connection with the fight. They were kicked off the team last month.

Knowledge Timmons, a backup cornerback and special teams standout, also was removed from the team for his alleged behavior in the moments after the fight.

Starting safety Anthony Scirrotto pled guilty last week to a charge of misdemeanor defiant trespass, which had been reduced from a felony charge in relation to an apartment fight in State College, last spring.

And then there’s tailback Austin Scott, who was suspended five games into the 2007 season and still faces charges of rape, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and simple assault. He was charged in October after a female student accused him of forcing intercourse on her, according to court documents.

Later, Bodani fires off this gem:

“Reason No. 2: He needs someone he can trust….As for Ohio State, Jim Tressel wins like nobody else, but at least some in the Pryor camp have quietly raised questions about the integrity of his recruiting.”

According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, “journalistic truth” is a process that begins with the professional discipline of assembling and verifying facts. Bodani lacks any evidence, nor does he cite any sources to this statement.

That’s something you learn in Journalism 101, folks!

Here’s the link to the article so you can read it in its’ entirety: PSU makes sense for Pryor. Really.

By the way, Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record/Sunday News. You can reach him at fbodani@ydr.com or (717) 771-2104.

Tags: Big Ten Football by Matt Barker
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There are “good wins”, and then there are “bad losses”. Clearly, Ohio State’s effort yesterday in Ann Arbor was as bad a loss as you can have.Michigan came into the contest with a record of 7-17 overall, 3-9 in Big Ten Conference play. But the Wolverines were also able to do something earlier in the season the Buckeyes couldn’t do, win at Iowa, which was the other “bad loss” on OSU’s ledger.

But give credit where credit is due as Michigan head coach John Beilein and his staff scouted Ohio State quite well, and had a very good game plan for attacking the Buckeyes’ 3-2 zone.

First of all, it seemed after every pass in Michigan’s half-court sets, they had a guy flashing to the middle of the zone near the foul line. When a pass entered in the area around the foul line and the top of the key, the zone collapsed, leaving others open either in the low post, along the baseline, or UM would kick the ball back out along the perimeter. Ohio State also had problems with dribble penetration into the zone.

To Michigan’s credit, they got a lot of open looks, and they knocked down those shots when they needed them the most. For the season, Ohio State has held their opponents to a field goal percentage of 37.6, but the Wolverines were able to hit 25 of their 57 shots (43.9%), including 10-for-24 from beyond the arc.

Offensively, the stats looks pretty good for the Buckeyes. Ohio State was 31-for-67 (46.3%) from the field, as OSU missed just eight shots in 25 attempts (68.0%) in the first half.

It was a different story in the second half, though, as Ohio State shot just 33.3 percent from the field, going 14-for-42 from the floor. The Buckeyes knocked down 3 of their 7 three-point field goal attempts in the first half, but made just 3 of 14 of those from behind the arc in the second twenty minutes of action.

Ohio State did outrebounded the smaller Michigan team, 39-30, including 13 offensive boards, but the Buckeyes committed 14 turnovers to the Wolverines’ nine. OSU’s senior point guard, Jamar Butler, finished with six assists and a team-high six turnovers.

In the first half, Ohio State center Kosta Koufos scored 12 points, while Butler had nine to pace the Buckeyes, who shot 17-for-25 from the field.

Michigan shot 48.4 percent (15-for-31) from the floor, and 5 of 12 (41.7%) from beyond the arc. Michigan’s Manny Harris led all scorers with 13 points, as he drained a deep three from the left wing with 2:09 left to tie the game at 33-all.

Bad passing by OSU led to a dunk by UM’s DeShawn Sims with 44 seconds left to put the Wolverines up 38-36. Ohio State tied the game on a lob pass to Koufos for the power layup with 16 ticks left as the game was deadlocked 38-all at intermission.

In the second half, UM took their largest lead of the game at 58-48 with 10:41 left on back-to-back threes by Kelvin Grady and Sims, but OSU answered with a 10-2 run with two triples by Jon Diebler, and buckets from Evan Turner and Othello Hunter to make the score 60-58 in favor of the Wolverines with 8:06 left.

Unfortunately, Ohio State could not get any closer.

Michigan took a 69-63 lead with 2:14 remaining after a three-pointer by Sims, and Butler knocked down one of his own 20 seconds later to make it a one-possession game.

Coming out of a timeout, Butler fouled Grady and his two converted free throws put UM up 71-66 with a 1:50 left.

With 1:31 remaining, Koufos scored a short jump hook to make it a one-possession game again at 71-68, but Hunter fouled Harris in the backcourt sending him to the line.

Down by five, Butler made a bad pass to the left wing that was intercepted by Grady, which sealed up the win.

Koufos finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Turner chipped in 16 points and 11 boards. Butler also added 14 and Diebler came off the bench to score 10.

Harris led the Wolverines with 27 points and Sims contributed 22.

Up next, Ohio state takes on Wisconsin, Sunday afternoon. Tip-off at Value City Arena is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. ET., and it will be televised on CBS.

Tags: Buckeye Basketball by Matt Barker
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Time: Today, 1:00 p.m. ET.
Place: Crisler Arena, capacity 13,751.
TV: CBS Sports with Verne Lundquist and former Buckeye Clark Kellogg.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 and WBNS-FM 97.1, plus 57 stations throughout Ohio (see front page of this web site for a list of stations in the network). Paul Keels and Ron Stokes are on the call.
Series: Ohio State is 89-70 all-time against Michigan, though the Buckeyes are just 35-42 in Ann Arbor. Ohio State won on Feb. 5 in Columbus, defeating Michigan 65-55 as Othello Hunter led Ohio State with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Four other Buckeyes scored in double figures as Jon Diebler came off the bench to add 14, Kosta Koufos and David Lighty each contributed an even dozen, and Jamar Butler chipped in 10 while dishing out nine assists.

According to the Detroit Free Press, Michigan’s newly hired football coach, Rich Rodriguez, will speak at halftime of today’s basketball game, just like Jim Tressel did shortly after he was hired in 2001.

Here’s what Dick Rod might say:
• You’re going to be proud of us in Columbus this fall (since we won’t lose by more than five touchdowns).
• Terrelle Pryor just committed (to Ohio State).
• I never took HGH.
• Hey, at least I’m not as bad as Kelvin Sampson.
• Anyone have some spare change? About $4 million?
• I promise I’ll do better than Beilein.
• Jim Tressel went 7-5 his first season.
• Introducing Michigan’s new head coach: Les Miles!

I will add a few of my own…
• Does anybody here know how to play quarterback?
• Hey, I could really use some Chap-Stick. Anybody got some?
• I wish I would of taken the Alabama job last year.
• I can assure you that you will not be proud of your team, especially in 278 days in Columbus, Ohio, when we’re going to have our asses handed to us big time.

15:14 First Half:

Ohio State 10, Michigan 9…Koufos with six points. Defense needs to step up. UM is penetrating the zone and getting open looks on kick-outs.

10:22 First Half:

Ohio State 20, Michigan 19…After Michigan’s David Merritt drains a three, Ohio State’s Jon Diebler with a trey of his own to give the Buckeyes the lead once again. Merritt then misses a bunny…OSU ball.

7:04 First Half:

Michigan 28, Ohio State 26…Michigan takes the lead as the Buckeyes turn the ball over on two straight possessions that result in a bucket by Zack Gibson and a three-point play by Manny Harris. Merritt scored on two layups after that. Ohio State had a 24-19 lead after a jumper by Koufos.

3:13 First Half:

Ohio State 36, Michigan 33…the Wolverines had a 33-28 lead before the Buckeyes went on an 8-0 run thanks to a triple and a two-point FG by Butler then a layup from Matt Terwilliger.

Halftime:

Ohio State 38, Michigan 38…Koufos with 12 points, Butler with nine for OSU. The Buckeyes are 17for-27 from the field (63.0%) and 3 of 7 (42.9%) from downtown. Michigan is shooting 48.4 percent (15-for-31) from the field, and 5 of 12 (41.7%) from beyond the arc. Michigan’s Manny Harris, who leads all scorers with 13 points, drained a deep three from the left wing with 2:09 left to tie the game at 33-all. Bad passing by OSU led to a dunk by UM’s DeShawn Sims with 44 seconds left to put the Wolverines up 38-36. Ohio State tied the game at 38-all on a lob pass to Koufos for the power layup with 16 ticks left. OSU needs to take better care of the ball (no more weak passes into the post!) and tighten up the “Dee.”

15:53 Second Half:

Michigan 46, Ohio State 44…Um, somebody needs to guard Manny Harris! Letting him get open looks from three-point land will doom the Buckeyes. Koufos, play with your head up! Butler looks like he pressing a bit.

14:36 Second Half:

Michigan 50, Ohio State 44…This one just might be slipping away if the Buckeyes can’t stem the tide. Poor shot selection, turnovers, and keeping the Wolverines off the offensive glass have put OSU down a six-point hole.

11:37 Second Half:

Michigan 52, Ohio State 48…Koufos and Turner both score inside, with Turner’s a tip-in on an offensive rebound, Michigan scores after Terwilliger’s deep three hit the front of the rim and the Wolverines get numbers the other way as Sims dunks home two. Is Terwilliger shooting threes the best offensive option. I don’t think so!

8:15 Second Half:

Michigan 60, Ohio State 56….UM took their largest lead of the game at 58-48 on back-to-back threes by Kelvin Grady and Sims, but OSU answered with an 8-2 run with two triples by Diebler.

3:58 Second Half:

Michigan 64, Ohio State 60…There’s no secret to what Michigan is doing in their half-court offense. They are always flashing a guy into the center of Ohio State’s zone defense, in between the foul line and the top of the key every time a pass is made.

1:53 Second Half:

Michigan 69, Ohio State 66…Sims hit a three from the right wing and Butler answers with a three from in front of the OSU bench. Now the Buckeyes need a stop…NOW!

1:26 Second Half:

Michigan 73, Ohio State 68…Hunter fouls Harris, sending him to the line as the Big “O” fouls out…Harris makes both foul shots.

51.6 Second Half:

Michigan 76, Ohio State 68…Butler makes a bad pass and Grady gets the steal. Butler then shoots a 30-foot three and misses. OSU then fouls. Sims makes one of his two free throws and UM gets the offensive rebound. This one is about over.

Final:

Michigan 80, Ohio State 70…what can you say? Defensive lapses all game long and OSU couldn’t get a stop when it mattered most. Koufos scored 18, Turner 16, Butler 14, and Diebler added 10. The Buckeyes shot 44.9 percent from the field, but still lost. Michigan shot 43.9 percent from the field, as Harris had 27 points and Sims added 22.

This definitely cripples Ohio State’s hopes of playing in the NCAA Tournament come March. Big games still await with Wisconsin visiting Columbus, next Sunday. So long from dreary Ann Arbor.

Tags: Buckeye Basketball by Matt Barker
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