You’ve gotta wonder what Matta is saying to the Buckeyes at halftimes this year. Once again the Buckeyes, especially Evan Turner, came out of the gate flat and allowed Lipscomb to hang around for most of the game before slowly stretching the lead late in the second to win the game 84-64. The victory was keyed by great games from David Lighty and Evan Turner, especially with Evan Turner’s second Triple-Double of the season.
The Buckeyes went into the half with a 9 point lead at 36-27, but had allowed the game to narrow to as close as 1 point late in the first before going on a solid run to close out the half. During the course, the Buckeyes continually failed to take advantage of Lipscomb mistakes in order to secure any leads that they had built. Often a turnover (mostly by Turner) or a miscommunication or a silly foul would allow Lipscomb to claw back into it.
The Buckeyes opened the second half much the same way they closed the second, with a powerful 2 minute stretch of defense that allowed them to build a 14 point lead. Lipscomb attempted to chip away at that difference during the course of the second, even getting as close to 5 points back with 14 minutes left. The Buckeyes gained a lead again, but couldn’t secure more than a 10 point seperation for most of the rest of the game.
On several occasions during the second half, it appeared as if Ohio State was going to start to run away with the game. One moment had Lipscomb’s Lee commit an intentional foul after a turnover, for which the Buckeyes made one of the two free throws, but turned the ball over on the ensuing possession. Lipscomb took the ball down the court and put it in the bucket to completely negate any advantage the Buckeyes could have gained. The whole game passed with almost no changes of momentum because for the most part, no-one *had* any momentum at all. It almost felt like Lipscomb didn’t have the talent to win the game, and the Buckeyes simply didn’t *want* to.
Finally, as the game wore on Lipscomb began to wear out and the Buckeyes were able to smother the life out of them. Once the game had reached a 14 point spread late in the second, the Bisons – yes, that’s what they call themselves, as grammatically incorrect as it is – just couldn’t hang on any more. With a couple minutes left, the Buckeyes had built the lead up to 20-plus points and coasted to the victory.
David Lighty had the best game of the night of all the Buckeyes while battling a cold (and the medicine). He scored his 600th point and set a new career record for points in a big offensive explosion for him. He scored 22 points, secured 4 offensive boards (with 7 total) and grabbed 3 steals. He was also efficient with his shooting, hitting 64.3% from the field on 9-14 shooting.
Evan Turner also had a solid game, but did not perform particularly well early. He turned the ball over 5 times in the first half and scored a mere 2 points before the break. He came out a lot better in the second half, even working hard enough to earn himself the second triple double of his career with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. As a streaky player, Turner has the fastest oscillations I’ve ever seen. Normally streaks last for games, several good games followed by several bad. Turner literally has streaks that last for single halves of games. That’s ridiculous.
Dallas Lauderdale dominated down low…
In a continuation of their usual consistent selves, Jeremie Simmons, Jon Diebler and PJ Hill fulfilled their roles quite well. While William Buford did not really stand out during the game, he did score a few points and had some nice hustle plays going for rebounds or steals on and off during the night. Unfortunately all of their play was outshined by Turner’s and Lighty’s performances.
This is the third time in five outings this season that the Buckeyes have started a game flat and had to work hard later in the game to try to secure the victory. Matta cannot be pleased by this trend, but thankfully it has shown up early and with plenty of time to solve it before Big Ten season starts. Unfortunately, with the way the team is playing right now, there’s not a whole lot to talk about with this team. They clearly have the talent and depth to do great things, but they still struggle with some decision making on the court. The worst offender so far has been Evan Turner, though with him having to play the new role of distributor it’s understandable that he would have some issues. Given his talent, though, many fans (myself included) expected a bit better showing at the point guard position.
That said, though, Turner’s second Triple-Double emphasizes the talent that we all knew he had when he first started playing as a freshman. What’s even better is that the Big Ten Network reported that no player they could find in the record books had two triple doubles in a *career in the Big Ten. Turner is already breaking Big Ten records, and it’s likely that the streak will continue, perhaps even on Saturday night.
Saturday night brings the St. Francis (PA) Red Flash (1-3) to Columbus to battle the Buckeyes at 5:30pm. That game will be on the Big Ten Network.
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