Pregame Glance: Lipscomb

Ohio State does battle tomorrow night with the Lipscomb University Bison.  Here’s the nitty gritty:

10 years ago, Lipscomb was an NAIA power in the first year of Coach Sanderson’s tenure.  They advanced into the NAIA Elite Eight the year before advancing into the Division 1 ranks.  Since advancing, while they have struggled in the new division, they are taking steps in the right direction.  Last year saw Lipscomb earn their first invitation to a post-season tournament in division 1, the NIT.  This year they hope to do it again, or better.

Lipscomb hasn’t been on the winning end of things lately.  They have played a grand total of 3 games – Elon, at Vanderbilt, and Tennessee Tech – and have lost them all.  Vanderbilt mopped the floor with the Bison beating them 95-73; Still a respectable score compared to some beatdowns, especially since Lipscomb only trailed 43-36 at the half.  Also worth mentioning is that in the other two games the Bison lost by a grand total of 8 points.  They’re certainly not getting embarrassed this year.

As a note of interest, a “miracle” occured during the first game played by Lipscomb in their home court of Allen Arena.  Bison player Clayton Osborne tossed up a prayer from 65 feet (about three-quarters of the court) with the Bison down 74-72 against North Texas.  The shot torched the net, giving the Bisons the victory.  What a way to open up your home court, eh?

The Buckeyes are coming off a good trip to New York City.  Though one of the games perhaps didn’t go as well as we might have hoped, the Bucks acquitted themselves well against (formerly) number 12 California.  The Buckeyes are now standing at 3-1 and have generally looked sharp – perhaps not 100% of the time, but at least often enough to have been in all of their games.  Hopefully lessons have been learned since the North Carolina game.

Here are your starting lineups for the game:

Lipscomb is currently without the services of their only senior, Starting Guard Johnny Lee (5-9, 165), who was likely injured in their game against Vanderbilt.  It’s hard to say for certain, as no news services seem to have reported on it, however he sat out their game against Louisiana Tech and did not play for long against the Commodores so it stands to reason.  Replacing him on the court is Freshman Guard Zach Brown (6-3, 180).  Brown is, however, producing somewhat better than Lee did – compare the stats above to Lee’s line of 0 points, 3 assists and 3.5 turnovers in an average of 17 minutes.  Lee wasn’t exactly torching the twine.

The key player in Lipscomb’s backcourt is Junior Guard Josh Slater (6-3, 200).  While his shooting percentage isn’t in the stratosphere, he’s still a steady consistant shooter, and comes with a heady 2-1 Assist to turnover ratio and 8 rebounds to go with his 19 points per game.  It will be crucial for the Bucks to get a man on him, especially on the perimeter, as he shoots a respectable 41.7% from three.

The Lipscomb frontcourt isn’t exactly the biggest guys on the block, but they get the job done.  Junior Center Adnan Hodzic (6-9, 255) leads the team in minutes and points (31 and 22.7) per game.  Also down low is Junior Forward Brandon Brown (6-7, 215) who puts up around 16 points per game.  Lipscomb likes to try to feed the ball down low to these scorers and try to get the high percentage basket.  Watch for them to try to do that, even against the bigger Buckeyes.

Last but not least is starting Sophomore Forward Brian Wright (6-6, 200).  He doesn’t score often, but he is used to set up the assist down low, and he isn’t afraid to jack up a 3 now and then, though he’s not exactly dangerous from downtown (1/8 on the season).

Also worthy of mention are backup Junior Forward Michael Teller (6-5, 190) and backup Sophomore Guard Jordan Burgason (6-3, 190).  Both players are lights out from deep, especially Buragson with his better than a coin-flip 55.6% from three.  Teller often plays more minutes than Wright, and will likely come off the bench to provide a spark as the 6 man.  Both of these players are scorers, so their roles will likely be increased against the Buckeyes if the Bison can’t find anything open down low.

If the Buckeyes don’t come out ready to play this one, the Bison can very easily catch them by surprise and pull out a victory.  That would be very unlike a Matta coached team, but we’ve already seen the Buckeyes come out of the gate sluggish in 2 of their games this year, so we’ll have to see who decides to play.

The game will be played in Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday Night (November 24th).  You can see the game on the Big Ten Network at 7:00pm.