This game was ugly in far too many ways. The ugliest had to be the loss of Evan Turner for an undisclosed amount of time. Early in the game, Turner took the ball to the hoop to slam it home and came down to the court awkwardly. He landed painfully on his back, and it was clear something bad had happened. It was reported that Turner was transported to OSU Medical Center for precautionary x-ray’s on his back. He did walk under his own power to the locker-room, which is a great sign. We really hope that everything is ok and nothing serious has happened, not only as Buckeye fans but as sports fans. Evan, take your time, heal up. You being completely healthy is far more important than anything OSU basketball does this year.
The other way this game was ugly was from EMU’s perspective as the Buckeyes put up 62 points in the first half on their way to a Value City Arena record of 111 points. The previous record was 110 points set a couple games ago against St. Francis. The school record is 121 points set in 1995 against George Mason, and it almost seems like a matter of time before this team shatters that record.
PJ Hill had a career day today with 18 points on 6-8 shooting (3-4 from three) 3 rebounds and 3 assists. At one point he hadn’t missed a shot with 5-5 shooting and 3-3 from three. He absolutely lit up the court in Evan Turner’s absence and it’s great to see him step up his game.
Diebler performed his usual magic. He has become mister consistency, but today he was beyond consistent with 6-8 shooting from three. He also secured 5 rebounds and dished 5 assists. David Lighty also had a huge game, with a massive tomahawk jam at the 8 minute mark of the 2nd half that stole every last shred of momentum from EMU. He, too, put up 16 points on 6-10 shooting. He has definitely embraced his role on this team and is getting good minutes out of his time on the court.
William Buford improved immensely from his slump, a great sign for him. At the end of the game he rained in back-to-back three’s that caused him to break into a grin. It’s great to see him start to collect himself again and return to the type of shooter we all know he can be. He hit 5-11 from the field with 3-6 from three. He did a great job passing as he created himself a double-double with 10 assists to go with his 16 points.
Eastern Michigan made a wonderful adjustment in this game that I wanted to point out. Their primary point leader, Brandon Bowdry, had a rough first half missing his only shot and committing 3 fouls. In the second half, EMU tried hard to make certain the ball got in his hands in a place where he could produce and it paid off by getting him a quick 15 points in the first 10 minutes (he ended with 24). The change to get him more involved and attack the OSU defense in a different way was fantastic coaching. Of course, the Ohio State defensive set in the first half to completely negate him was also excellent coaching and preparation.
Ohio State’s defense was opportunistic and aggressive. The Buckeyes managed to force 24 turnovers by Eastern Michigan, and while many were clearly miscommunicated passes, it very well was likely caused by the confusion the Buckeye defense instilled in EMU’s offense. EMU struggled shooting the ball with a mediocre 28.6% 3-point shooting day, though they had some success in the second half down low allowing them to pull up their shooting percentage to 43.4% from the field.
It was a different story for the Buckeyes on offense as every single Buckeye that saw the court put points on the board. The three point shooting was out of control as they shot 55% from outside the arc. It almost seemed like they couldn’t miss as the baskets rained from all over the court with a 63.3% shooting percentage overall. You’ll win a lot of basketball games shooting better than a coin-flip, especially when you add the massive defensive effort the Bucks had today.
I really want to make an impassioned plea to the coaching staff to let Kecman see a bit more play. He’s a great rebounder and has a wonderful outside stroke. He’s defense probably needs work but I have seen nothing but great things from him and would love to see him more.
After the game, the commentating crew mentioned that the “talk” was that everything would be fine for Evan Turner. Right now that’s nothing better than rumor, but it’s still good to hear. We will keep you updated as we hear news about Turner in the next several days. We hope that only good news comes down the pipe.
Ohio State will next face off against Butler in Indianapolis next Saturday, December 12th at Noon. You can see that game on ESPN.
UPDATE: Thad Matta announced after the game that the X-Rays were negative. Not certain yet if they’ll need to hold Turner out of any practices, or sit him for the Butler game, but things are looking good so far.
UPDATE2: It has been announced that the original X-Ray’s did not reveal the actual extent of the injury. Evan Turner has “transverse process fractures of the second and third lumbar vertebra” (broken tailbone) and will be out for 8 weeks.
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