Right: Kosta Koufos and Othello Hunter celebrate in the closing seconds of Ohio State’s 63-54 win over Michigan State. AP Photo/Terry Gilliam

Thanks to senior Jamar Butler’s 20 points, Ohio State defeated Michigan State 63-54 to keep their NCAA tournament bid hopes alive as the Buckeyes will once again face the Spartans on Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET, and it will be televised on ESPN.

I tend to feel that Ohio State needs one more victory to get to the 20-win plateau and into the NCAA tournament. Anything else after that is gravy.

It was not looking to good for Ohio State in the first half, trailing by as much as 10 points after a three-pointer by Chris Allen put the Spartans ahead 22-12 with 10:38 left.

The Buckeyes were able to trimmed the lead down to five on two different occasions, once after a triple by Butler, and later when senior Matt Terwilliger, who started in place of Kosta Koufos, threw down a two-handed jam on a fine pass from Othello Hunter that narrowed the gap to 26-21 with 3:02 remaining in the opening period.

Michigan State led 31-23 at the break when Kalin Lucas scored driving to the bucket just before the horn sounded.

The Spartans took their largest lead of the game when Drew Naymick scored on a short jumper with 18:39 left, pushing MSU’s advantage to 35-23.

Michigan State had a 10-point cushion with 12:02 remaining in the game after a layup by Goran Suton made the score 45-35 in favor of the visitors in green.

With 11:10 left to play and trailing by 10, Ohio State head coach Thad Matta called a timeout.

We talked about having more activity and awareness, ” Matta stated after the game about what was said in the huddle. “Guys were moving and talking better and were more aware of where the shooter was. It was a completely different out there during the last 10 minutes. They played harder and smarter.”

It was a turning point in the game, as Ohio State outscored Michigan State 28-9 down the stretch. The Buckeyes also extended their defense full court, which forced eight Spartan turnovers in the final 11:10.

Ohio State’s David Lighty scored on a layup, and on the Buckeyes’ next trip down, he drained a three-pointer from the left wing that narrowed Michigan State’s lead down to 45-42 with 10:06 to go.

With 4:46 remaining in the game, Ohio State took their first lead of the contest when Butler was fouled in the backcourt and went to the line to shoot two, since the Buckeyes were already in the double bonus. Butler converted both charity-stripe tosses and OSU led 53-52.

The Buckeyes never trailed the rest of the way.

With 3:40 left, Butler fired a pass to Hunter for a rim-rattling, two-hand jam that padded OSU’s lead to 55-52.

Trailing by three with 1:13 left, Michigan State turned the ball over on a shot clock violation.

On Ohio State’s next possession, Koufos couldn’t connect on a short jumper in the lane, but Hunter was there for the one-handed rebound and slammed home the miss.

Othello got off to a slow start today. It didn’t seem like he was in the flow of the game early on. Then he took advantage of his athleticism and length in the second half, and that put-back was one of the best plays I’ve seen in this building.”

Now let’s do this again on Friday.

Ohio State shot an even 50 percent from the field (23-for-26), but was just 3 of 13 (23.1%) from beyond the arc.

Michigan State was 22-for-47 (46.8%) from the floor, and 5 of 12 (41.7%) from three-point range.

Ohio State forced 17 turnovers for the game while only committing nine.

Along with Butler’s 20 points, Hunter chipped in 13, Lighty added 12, and Koufos contributed 11 points for the Buckeyes.

Raymar Morgan was the only Spartan to score in double figures with 19 points.

Tags: Big Ten Basketball by Matt Barker
No Comments »

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
No Comments »