The Nebraska Cornhuskers visited Value City Arena tonight for their first meeting with the Buckeyes as members of the Big Ten. Nebraska was not able to challenge the Buckeyes very well at all, falling 71-40 in a very lopsided battle. Jared Sullinger picked up yet another double double in this game with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Deshaun Thomas and William Buford also broke double figures with 15 and 13 points respectively.
Ohio State’s defense gave Nebraska fits early. The very first possession of the game resulted in a shot clock violation for the clearly out-matched Cornhuskers. As is typical with this team, when the defense is clicking the offense follows. The Bucks found plenty of good shots on the offensive end in the early going, with even Lenzelle Smith getting into the action with a nice early three-pointer.
The OSU offense operated in its traditional fashion. They fed the ball into the paint, preferably to Sullinger, and looked for the available shot. In the beginning of the game, Sullinger was regularly sending the ball back outside in the face of a Husker double team. The Indiana game was a severe deviation from this mode of attack, as the Bucks spent a lot more time shooting from outside rather than attacking the paint. That change had to do with the foul situation OSU’s big-men found themselves in against the Hoosiers, and it was good to see the Buckeyes go back to their bread and butter.
The Cornhuskers continued to struggle with the Ohio State defense through the first ten minutes of the opening half. Nebraska found themselves in the grip of a 6 minute scoring drought as the Buckeyes ballooned the lead with a better shooting effort than last Saturday. By time the Huskers finally managed to sink a shot, a three from the left wing, the Buckeyes held a 10 point advantage and all the momentum.
Matta continued to go deep on the bench despite having no pressing reason to do so. Jordan Sibert, Evan Ravenel, Shannon Scott, Amir Williams, and Sam Thompson all managed to see minutes in the first half for the Buckeyes. For those keeping score at home, that means Thad Matta is going 10 deep on his bench. It seems more and more like Matta is starting to trust the younger guys to play solid defense and get the job done in place of the starters. We’ll have to see if it continues against tougher competition that doesn’t involve a million fouls.
The second half was very much a continuation of the first. The Buckeyes came out hot shooting the basketball and took advantage of their defensive opportunities to increase the lead. The Bucks were able to do this despite consistently turning the ball over with very porr decisions – often poor vision when passing the basketball.
Surprisingly, William Buford continued to struggle in most aspects of his game. On several occasions Buford tossed the ball straight to a Nebraska defender while trying to get the rock into the lane. Given Nebraska’s use of the 2-3 zone defense, it’s not hard to imagine that he was simply not reading it correctly. Zone defenses are predicated on the idea of keeping the ball out of the paint and often create easy turnovers off of entry passes. But an experienced player like Buford should know better how to attack such a zone.
The Bucks ultimately switched to their “fun lineup” much earlier tonight than usual. LaQuinton Ross, Sam Thompson, Amir Williams, JD Weatherspoon, and Shannon Scott tried to put on a show for the crowd in the Schott in the last 6 minutes of the game. The lineup plays the game with high energy and lots of passion; quite different than the starter’s usual measured and methodical play. With Ross and company on the floor, the players just have fun, and its clear that the crowd appreciates the effort.
The Buckeyes shot 53.6% (30-56) from the floor and 11.8% (2-17) from three for the game. Nebraska responded with 16-52 (30.8%) and 2-18 (11.1%) respectively. The Bucks also dominated the rebounding 44-21, won the assists 11-7, and picked up 5 blocks to none for the Huskers.
Ohio State will next face Iowa on Saturday, January 7th at 3:00 PM EST in Value City Arena. You’ll be able to see that game on the Big Ten Network.
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