A classic matchup awaited the Buckeyes in the Sweet 16. The Kentucky Wildcats, who to date were a stunning 0-5 against the Bucks in the NCAA tournament, arrived as the 4 seed to challenge top-seeded Ohio State. Kentucky got everything a team has needed this season to beat this Buckeye team, securing the tough fought win by a score of 62-60. The player of the game for the Buckeyes has to be Aaron Craft, who’s hustle and drive was enough to keep the Buckeyes in it most of the way, despite not putting up particularly impressive stats.
Both teams started out with a tough defensive mindset. It was apparent from the early shooting that the looks simply weren’t there for either team. It’s quite a credit to both teams’ man-to-man defense that they were able to force shots late in the shot clock, and make certain they were not the best looks possible.
Sullinger’s tough play early on was quickly rewarded. Terrence Jones, one of Kentucky’s phenomenal freshman, collected a charge, followed closely by hacking Sullinger on a shot. He was forced to sit with more than 16 minutes still on the clock in the first half. His loss was not fatal to the Wildcats, however, who were demonstrating a fantastic talent at blocking shots in the paint.
After the first TV timeout, the offenses started to open it up a bit. Threebler sank a three, which was quickly answered by Darius Miller. The sudden success of the offenses, though, seemed to light a fire for OSU on defense, as they promptly netted a pair of turnovers due to the hard work of Aaron Craft. Both of those turnovers led to points, and resulted in Calipari putting Terrence Jones back into the game – a surprisingly dangerous decision.
While the Buckeyes managed to go on a run and open up a bit of a lead, Calipari had an answer. Kentucky quickly closed the 7 point gap and even managed to grab their first lead of the game. During the run, Sullinger picked up his first foul and was quickly removed from the game. Given the way the Buckeyes had substituted during the tournament, this was exactly in line with Matta’s strategy.
Calipari’s defensive strategy was one we had seen work against the Buckeyes. Kentucky possessed the big men capable of playing one-on-one with Sullinger and they made use of it. By not double-teaming, the Wildcats were able to avoid leaving Ohio State’s shooters open. As a result, the Buckeyes were only able to find a couple of open looks through the first half, though Diebler did hit his first two straight.
Once Kentucky had evened up the score, both teams began passing the lead back and forth. The bad news for the Wildcats was the number of players in the half who had picked up 2 fouls – essentially their entire starting lineup. Terrence Jones tried to take a last shot for the Wildcats, a risk given his foul situation, but good defense from Lighty prevented a decent look at the basket.
Despite an atrocious shooting night for the Buckeyes (30.8% from the floor and 33.3% from three) they found themselves tied at the half at 30. This despite the fact that Kentucky had been shooting at a 60% click for a while, eventually ending the half at 44.4% from the floor, though only 22.2% from three.
The man of the half had to be Josh Harrellson of Kentucky. His 12 points and 7 rebounds did not completely outstrip Jared Sullinger’s 10 points and 7 rebounds. That said, however, Sullinger did not look like his usually dominent self during the game, often looking like he was being outplayed by Harrellson in the paint.
The Buckeyes came out of the half shooting lights out from beyond the arc. Buford and Lighty both rained in huge three pointers, prompting Calipari to call a quick timeout and readjust his defense. The timeout worked well for the Wildcats, allowing them to regain the lead on a nice 6 point run.
The game started to get very chippy, particularly with Liggins and Buford exchanging words and wrist slaps. It seemed like Kentucky was taking the Buckeyes out of their game and the Bucks were getting very frustrated about it. Not only was it clear in their demeanor, but also in their shooting. The OSU shooting percentage continued to drop as the second half wore on.
One of the few things keeping the Bucks in this game was the play of Aaron Craft. We’ve often talked about Craft’s hustle and desire. It seems like the kid plays 110% on every single play, exactly the kind of thing you want from your point guard. Despite our foreknowledge of his ability, Craft played even more out of his mind than usual in this one, finding tough rebounds and steals when the rest of the team seemed unmotivated.
The last television timeout appeared with just over three minutes left in the game and the Buckeyes down three. It seemed like Kentucky simply had OSU’s number in this one, doing everything they needed to secure the win.
The Buckeyes weren’t quite done yet. Lighty and Craft put in the effort to give the Bucks the lead, done with the help of some good rebounding by Sullinger in the offensive paint. Unfortunately, Sullinger’s decision making with the ball left much to be desired. Often during the course of this game, including with one minute remaining, Sullinger forced a shot up out of position. His hope to draw a foul against a player that was standing straight up in good defensive position simply would not come true.
Down 3 with 20 seconds left, Jon Diebler sank a massive shot from beyond the arc to tie the game. Kentucky made a fantastic play, sinking a shot with a hand in the player’s face leaving the Buckeyes 5 seconds to try to find a last shot. Buford found a decent look from the left wing..
And it bounced off the right side of the rim, off by just inches.
The Buckeyes end their season 34-3, one of the best seasons in Ohio State Basketball history. While it’s tough to lose in the Sweet 16 again, to yet another SEC school (Tennessee last year) in a similar way (missed last second three pointer), that should not mar the quality of the season that the Buckeyes had.
Check back with us here at the Buckeye Battle Cry for more post-season coverage of this great Buckeye team.
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