Right: Anthony Crater (right) is no longer is a Buckeye.
(Jim Davidson/The O-Zone.net Photo)

Earlier today, backup point guard Anthony Crater requested and was given a release from his scholarship at Ohio State and plans to transfer, according to Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Crater, a freshman from Flint, Michigan, is one of seven players on the Buckeye roster who has played in all 10 games, and was averaging 1.2 points, 0.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.9 turnovers while playing 13.1 minutes per game…

Continue reading: Crater gone, embarrassing Saturday >>

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No. 15/13 Ohio State (9-0) vs. West Virginia (9-2)

Date: Saturday, December 27
Time: 4:00 p.m. ET
Place: Value City Arena - capacity 19,049
TV: CBS with Happy Gilmore co-star Verne Lundquist and former Buckeye baller Clark Kellogg.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 and WBNS-FM 97.1 in Columbus and 58 more stations across Buckeyeland on the Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Network with Paul Keels and Ron Stokes…

Continue reading: Court Report: West Virginia >>

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Right: Freshman center B.J. Mullens glides by a defender en route to a finger roll. (AP Photo)

Coach Matta’s recipe for success: lull your opponent into a false sense of security in the first half, then lay down the hammer in the second.

Against UNC-Asheville, though, the hammer came down with two minutes left in the first stanza as Ohio State easily won 83-59 at Value City Arena, Monday night.

The Bulldogs trailed by five with 3:09 left until intermission after a three-point field goal by J.P. Primm…

Continue reading: B.J., Buckeyes blow by Bulldogs >>

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No. 15/13 Ohio State (8-0) vs. North Carolina-Asheville (4-7)

Date: Monday, December 22
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Place: Value City Arena - capacity 19,049
TV: Big Ten Network with Tom Hamilton and former Buckeye Tony White.
Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 and WBNS-FM 97.1 in Columbus and 58 more stations across Buckeyeland on the Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Network with Paul Keels and Ron Stokes…

Continue reading: Court Report: North Carolina-Asheville >>

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Right: Freshman center B.J. Mullens slams down two of his nine points against Iona. (AP Photo)

Evan Turner scored 21, Jon Diebler added 16, and William Buford came off the bench to chip in 10 points as the 17th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Iona Gaels at Value City Arena, Saturday afternoon.

Byron James Mullens, starting for an injured David Lighty, score nine first half points, but played sparingly in the second stanza and did not register another point.

With the game tied at 31-all with 15:30 left in the game, the Buckeyes used a 14-4 run to outdistance themselves from the Gaels, capped off on an a sweet alleyoop pass from Jeremie Simmons that was slammed home…

Continue reading: Win over Gaels not a breeze >>

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David Lighty, who scored 21 points in last night’s win over Jacksonville, will be out six to 12 weeks after having surgery today to repair a broken bone in his left foot.

Dr. Grant Jones of the OSU Medical Center performed the surgery and said it was a success.

One would assume that 6-foot-5 freshman guard William Buford will step into the starting lineup in place of Lighty for the Iona game, Saturday.

Lighty is third on the team scoring averaging 9.7 points, and second in rebounding pulling down 5.7 caroms per contest. He’s was shooting 47.1 percent from the field.

Buford is averaging 5.9 points in 15.9 minutes of action per game while shooting 39.0 percent from the floor.

With a little more than six minutes remaining in the game, Lighty took a pass from Evan Turner in transition just in front of the three-point line on the left wing, then drove to the basket and lofted an eight-foot floater in the lane in front of Jacksonville’s Evan Jefferson, who was trying to get to set to draw a charge.

Lighty, trying to avoid the offensive foul glided to the left of Jefferson, but came down hard on his left foot and it seem to give way before he regained his balance. He then winced in pain as he ran down the floor on defense, but continued to play.

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Right: David Lighty shoots a deep three from the right baseline against Jacksonville. (AP Photo)

In Ohio State’s first six wins, the Buckeyes dominated the opposition with their stifling 3-2 match-up zone defense with man principles. On Wednesday night, it was an offensive explosion especially from junior David Lighty that sparked the Buckeyes to an 81-68 win over the Dolphins.

Lighty, who entered last night’s game averaging just 7.8 points per game, scored a career-tying 21 while three others notched double-digit point totals for the Buckeyes.

It was a game that at times it looked like Ohio State was going to run away from Jacksonville, only to find those pesky Dolphins making several runs to get back into the game…

Continue reading: It’s a Light-y night in Columbus >>

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Right: Junior point guard Ben Smith (3, center) is the Dolphins leading scorer. (AP Photo)

With final exams last week, Thad Matta’s basketball Buckeyes played just one game, holding off the Butler Bulldogs 54-51 at Value City Arena on Saturday.

Butler, a perennial Horizon League contender and NCAA tournament participant, was another quality win for Ohio State, their third out of the seven victories this season…

Continue reading: Climbing the ranks, hosting ‘Phins >>

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Right: David Lighty drives to the dish against Butler’s Gordon Hayward. (AP Photo)

After posting two wins against ranked teams away from the sterile confines of Value City Arena last week, Thad Matta’s basketball squad return home to face a much tougher opponent.

No, I wasn’t referring to the Butler Bulldogs, though they gave Ohio State all they could handle on Saturday.

The tough opponent was was referring to goes by the name of Final Exams, as the last week of the Fall Quarter can be quite hectic for the student-athlete, cramming in hours of study time as well as practice…

Continue reading: The Butler didn’t do it >>

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Right: Junior gaurd Willie Veasley scored a career-high 13 points at Bradley, Wednesday night. (AP Photo)

The 21st-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will host the Butler Bulldogs at Value City Arena, Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. ET.

The Bulldogs enter Saturday’s contest with an unblemished record of 8-0, and while they are unranked, Butler did receive votes in both major polls this week, and are third in the Rating Percentage Index (RPI) just below Gonzaga and Clemson. For comparison sake, Ohio State is 25th in the RPI.

Of Butler’s nine wins, the most notable ones…

Continue reading: Court Report: Butler >>

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