Bleacher Report - Articles by Rob Wunsch

Ohio State-Indiana: Buckeye Chemistry in Question Heading into Bloomington

Rob Wunsch — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:51:12 -0500

Ohio State (17-10, 8-6) plays Indiana (23-4, 12-2) at 7:00 PM ET on Tuesday night. The Buckeyes are coming off another tough loss at home, 58-53 to Wisconsin, while Indiana is returning from an exciting 85-82 win at Northwestern.

The two teams seem to be heading in opposite directions. Ohio State needs a signature win just to be considered for the NCAA tournament. Indiana is currently a half-game out of 1st place in the Big Ten and needs a win to keep pace with Wisconsin.

Ohio State’s team chemistry is in question. Jamar Butler, who started 95 consecutive games for the Buckeyes, was on the bench at the start Sunday’s game.

Coach Matta did not disclose the reason. However, there have been rumors that Butler argued with a coach and was sent home from a practice.

Butler was critical of the entire team in a well-documented rant after a loss at Iowa on February 2nd. His post-game comments seem to have turned things in the wrong direction for the Buckeyes.

Butler is shooting 26 percent from three-point range and has had 18 turnovers in the last five games. The team is not doing much better, losing three of their last five.

Another interesting development on Sunday was the playing time of senior forward Othello Hunter. Hunter had nine points and six boards in only 20 minutes of play. At the 12:01 mark of the 2nd half Hunter went to the bench and never came back into the game. He was not in foul trouble and played well in the 1st half.

Hunter has been inconsistent the entire year, and his absence during the most critical stretch of the Buckeyes’ season on Sunday was not a good sign.

Tonight he will be matched up with D.J. White in Bloomington. If Hunter doesn’t perform against D.J. in the 1st half, it will be easy for the coaches to give his minutes to Freshman Dallas Lauderdale.

It seems like the Buckeyes have been on this “must win” merry-go-round for two weeks now. The team is playing tight and, quite frankly, looks stressed out. I can’t remember the last time I saw a player actually smile on the court.

It is time for the coaches and players to take a deep breath and enjoy the game of basketball. More importantly, they need to come together as a group and support each other.

Wisconsin-Ohio State: Badgers Defense Key in Victory

Rob Wunsch — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 02:35:56 -0500

The Wisconsin Badgers (23-4, 13-2) held the Ohio State Buckeyes (17-10, 8-6) to four points in the last 8:33 of the game, edging out the Buckeyes in a tight game, 58-53.

Wisconsin's Brian Butch led the defensive effort with two crucial defensive plays down the stretch, a block on Matt Terwilligher, and a defensive stop on Evan Turner driving the lane.

Butch only played 18 minutes because of early foul trouble; however, he made plays down the stretch to put the Badgers in first place in the Big Ten.

The Buckeyes' Jamar Butler scored 14 points but was only 5-14 from the field and failed to hit the big shots at the end of the game.

Butler missed two three pointers in the last few minutes of the game that would have tied the score at 56. One of the shots went in and out and the other was a desperation shot from the wing that didn’t hit anything.

The game started on an interesting note. Jamar Butler was seated on the bench.

Butler had started 95 straight games prior to Sunday’s game. The decision by Matta to bring Jamar off the bench was not disclosed.

Without Butler on the floor the offense struggled and the Buckeyes trailed 8-4 after the 1^st TV timeout.

Butler came into the game after the timeout and hit his first 3 point attempt. The defensive pressure by the Buckeyes also increased after Butler entered the game.

Wisconsin's Jason Bohannon was 4-6 from 3 point range and led all scorers with 16 points.

Bohannon’s ability to hit shots over the Ohio State zone was another key ingredient to the victory on the road.

Ohio State went on a 15-4 run to take a 19-12 lead with eight minutes left in the half.

An aggressive 2-2-1 press and active zone defense confused the Badgers and forced several turnovers and bad shots.

Both teams played a sloppy first half combining for 21 turnovers. Ohio State had 10 turnovers in the first half and Wisconsin had 11 turnovers.

Coming out of the break both teams cleaned up the turnover problems. Ohio State had five turnovers and Wisconsin only had four turnovers in the second half.

Points were at a premium because of active defense on both ends of the floor.

Ohio State appeared to be in position to break the game open when John Diebler hit a three point shot at the top of the key putting the Buckeyes ahead 49-47 with 8:33 left in the game.

After 2 consecutive defensive stops the Buckeyes had the ball and were looking to increase the lead.

Flowers for Wisconsin made a leaping steal at mid-court on a Butler pass and converted the layup. This sparked a 9-0 run by Wisconsin, to take a commanding 56-49 lead with 5:08 left in the game.

Great defense by Wisconsin and poor shot selection by Ohio State down the stretch allowed the Badgers to escape with a tough win on the road.

After the game a dejected Matta said, “We had some careless turnovers that cost us, but like I told our guys eventually the baskets will go down. We just need to keep fighting.”

The Buckeyes return to action when they visit the Indiana Hoosiers on Tuesday night (7pm ET, ESPN).

Michigan-Ohio State: Buckeyes Dealt Another Blow From Wolverines

Rob Wunsch — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:04:53 -0500

Manny Harris had 27 points and DeShawn Sims added 22 points to lead the Wolverines past the Buckeyes. Harris was 7-19 from the field, 3-5 from three point range, and 10-11 from the charity stripe. Sims was 8-14, 4-8 from three point range, and 2-2 from the free throw line.

At the end of the first half, the score was all tied up at 38 apiece. Both teams played well on the offensive end in the first half. Ohio State (17-9, 8-5) shot 68 percent on 17-25 shooting. Michigan (8-17, 4-9) shot 48.4 percent on 15-31 shooting.

Two turnovers and two missed layups by Kosta Koufos at the beginning of the second half turned out to be a bad omen for the Buckeyes. Koufos, OSU’s leading scorer, had 18 points and 11 rebounds in 33 minutes of play.

Even with the poor start, the Buckeyes were still able to take a 44-43 lead on back-to-back layups by Butler and Lighty at the 17:10 mark of the second half.

Michigan responded with a 7-0 run behind a Harris three-pointer and layup to force the Buckeyes to take a timeout, trailing 50-44 at the 14:36 mark. Michigan would not trail the rest of the game.

Butler and Hunter, both seniors for Ohio State, were dominated the entire game by freshman Manny Harris and sophomore DeShawn Simms. Butler was 6-17, 2-9 from long range and turned the ball over six times. Hunter was in foul trouble the entire game and ended up fouling out with only six points and three rebounds.

Michigan was 20-24 from the free throw line. Ohio State was only 2-3 from the line.

Thad Matta is now 7-1 against Michigan. His first lost to the Wolverines may cost the Buckeyes a tournament invitation. Bad losses to Iowa and Michigan will not go unnoticed by the tournament committee.

Ohio State is clearly out of the NCAA tournament at this point. The Buckeyes will have to sit on this loss for the entire week. Their next game is at home against Wisconsin on Sunday, Feb. 24th(4pm ET, CBS).

Michigan has won three straight conference games. They go on the road against Minnesota on Feb. 21st (9pm ET, ESPN).

College Basketball: Big Ten Weekend Preview

Rob Wunsch — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:16:18 -0500

Minnesota (15-8, 5-6) @ Wisconsin (20-4, 10-2), 2 p.m. ET, BTN

Wisconsin is coming off an exhausting victory over Indiana on Wednesday night. The Badgers trailed Indiana 66-65 after two Gordon free throws with 17 seconds left. Brian Butch banked in a three-pointer with five seconds left to avoid losing back to back games in the Big Ten. Wisconsin has won four of five and is in second place in the Big Ten.

Tubby Smith has to be scratching his head after the Gophers got hammered at home by Illinois, 84-60. Minnesota will have to do something spectacular to make the NCAA tournament.

Wisconsin held Minnesota to 47 points in their first meeting, a 63-47 victory. Wisconsin leads the Big Ten in scoring defense (55.3 ppg) and will improve on this statistic on Saturday against Minnesota. Bo Ryan is 104-7 at the Kohl Center in seven seasons and one of those seven losses came last Saturday night against Purdue. Wisconsin is not going to lose two straight at home. Expect a snoozer to start the day.

Purdue (20-5, 11-1) @ Northwestern (7-15, 0-11), 4 p.m. ET, BTN

Purdue avenged its only loss in the Big Ten with a 60-54 victory over Michigan State on Tuesday night. Purdue lost at Michigan State on Jan. 8^th, 78-75. Robbie Hummel, freshman superstar, was sick and did not play in the first meeting. Hummel contributed 24 points in the second meeting of the year and Purdue survived a furious comeback. Purdue led at the half 34-18, however, Michigan State made some runs and actually had the deficit trimmed to one point on three occasions.

Northwestern is still searching for their first conference win after losing at home to Ohio State, 65-47. Northwestern has shown some life in the last couple of games. At Michigan State they only trailed by three with 10 minutes left in the game. Against Ohio State on Wednesday night it was a tie ball game with eight minutes left in the game.

Purdue is one of the hottest teams in the country and there is no reason to believe they are going to cool off at Evanston on Saturday. Purdue will handle Northwestern and finally get some respect in the polls on Sunday night.

Illinois (11-14, 3-9) @ Penn State (11-12, 3-8), 7 p.m. ET, BTN

After Illinois lost three straight to Michigan State, Purdue and Indiana they went on the road and hammered Minnesota, 84-60. Meacham had 19 points on 5-5 shooting behind the arc against Minnesota.

After shocking Michigan State last Saturday night, Penn State has dropped two games on the road at Purdue and Michigan. The Nittany Lions have lost seven of eight games since the injury to Claxton, Penn State’s leading scorer.

The final leg of the Big Ten Network triple-header should be a competitive game throughout. Illinois has to be confident coming in after their impressive road win over the Gophers. Penn State is a much better team at home, nine of their 11 wins have been at home. Penn State will take advantage of their home court and get back on track with a victory over the Illini.

Michigan State (20-4, 8-3) @ Indiana (20-4, 9-2), 9 p.m. ET, ESPN

Indiana seemed to be in position to contend for the Big Ten title. They were 9-1 in the conference after a tough road win at Ohio State. Off the court the Sampson mess surfaced and put the coach’s job in serious jeopardy. On the court, Wisconsin’s Brian Butch threw in a 3-point bank shot with five seconds left to shock Indiana at home, 68-66.

Michigan State also had their problems during the week. On Tuesday night, Drew Neitzel was 1-7 from the field and only had six points. Michigan State trailed at the half 34-18 and could not recover from 19 turnovers. Purdue’s tenacity on defense and another superstar performance from Robbie Hummel, 24 points, was too much for the Spartans.

A dark cloud is hovering over Bloomington at the moment and has really taken some of the excitement this matchup would normally have. College GameDay is going to be in Bloomington and will probably spend a majority of the time talking about the Sampson allegations. Indiana has scheduled a press conference for 3 p.m. ET this afternoon. Is this the end for Sampson?

Michigan State has to win this game to stay in the conference race. They are currently two and a half games behind Purdue. Indiana on the other hand needs something positive to hang its hat on. Another loss at home is only going to make the Sampson mess harder to deal with.

I like the Spartans' chances in this game even though the game is in Bloomington. DJ White will have some foul trouble early in the game. Drew Neitzel will bounce back and out play Eric Gordon.

This is a can’t miss game if you are a Big Ten college basketball fan.

Roger Clemens Overkill: Enough With the Steroid-HGH Scandal

Rob Wunsch — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:04:19 -0500

I have finally had enough of the Steroid-HGH scandal.

This country has some serious problems. I don’t pay taxes so the U.S. Government can fix the problems of Major League Baseball. Congress rationalizes that the time and money spent on the hearings will protect Americans from higher taxes and health premiums down the road.

Congress points out that these hearings are necessary to prevent the abuse of steroids for everyone, not just professional athletes. Rep. Tom Davis said, “We are here to save lives, not ruin careers.”

It seems to me the hearings are more about saving Roger Clemens' reputation than saving lives.

I agree that all the publicity and negative public reaction can only help prevent a child or young adult from using performance-enhancing drugs. Is it important that we spread this message? Sure it is. However, a public witch hunt by the government is not the most efficient way to get this point across.

There are so many problems in the world: the war, gas prices, hunger; I could go on and on. What in the world is Congress thinking hosting an argument between two liars? This type of entertainment should be on Jerry Springer, not C-SPAN or CNN.

It has been estimated that Major League Baseball invested 20 million dollars for the Mitchell Report. What purpose does the Mitchell Report serve? I already knew players were using performance-enhancing drugs. Why do I care who was using? Why do I care if they can prove it with a report of more "he said, she said" garbage? I can get that information on ESPN every night.

Steroids in baseball have been a problem for years. Bud Selig, in the middle of a PR nightmare, decides its time to clean up baseball. One of baseball’s most coveted records, the HR record, is going to be tainted by Barry Bonds.

No problem—clean up baseball by putting procedures and tests in place so players cannot get away with it. Make the penalties so severe that the risks out-weigh the rewards.

Stop wasting our time with useless hearings and complicated reports.

Someone please let me know when all this garbage is over so I can listen to my radio again, or turn the tv on and actually watch sports highlights on ESPN.

Ohio State-Northwestern: Buckeyes Keep NCAA Dreams Alive with Sloppy Win

Rob Wunsch — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:47:48 -0500

Ohio State (17-8, 8-4) ran away from Northwestern (7-15, 0-11) with an 18-2 run late in the game.

The Buckeyes managed to break away from the Wildcats by hitting some shots behind the arc. However, the work down low by Koufos and Hunter was the key to victory.

Ohio State scored 30 points in the paint. Koufos was 7-10 from the field with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Hunter added 14 points and five rebounds, making 6-8 from the field.

Craig Moore, Northwestern’s leading scorer with 15 points on 6-13 shooting, hit a three pointer at the end of the first half and Northwestern was in position for their first Big Ten Conference win. Long scoring droughts by the Wildcats in the second half allowed the Buckeyes to pull away.

Northwestern was 18-49 from the field for 36.7 percent. The Wildcats were out-rebounded 34-23.

The game was ugly from the start. Both teams struggled to take care of the ball. Ohio State committed 18 turnovers, while Northwestern contributed 17 of their own. At times, this game had the feel of a sixth grade basketball game. Ohio State is fortunate the game was on the Big Ten Network.

Ohio State’s NCAA Tournament chances would be zero if the game was on ESPN and any NCAA committee members happened to stumble on the game.

Jamar Butler had 12 points and six assists, becoming the Ohio State assist leader with 517 assists. Butler passed Kelvin Ransey, who had 516 assists in his career at Ohio State.

Evan Turner was 4-8 from the field and had ten points, eight rebounds, and seven assists for Ohio State. Turner did have some issues taking care of the ball, committing five turnovers.

Thad Matta recorded his 200th career victory. Matta has coached at Butler, Xavier, and Ohio State. Matta is 98-30 at Ohio State.

Northwestern typically causes problems for the Buckeyes. Ohio State did not take the Wildcats for granted. Ohio State was aggressive on defense and forced a lot of difficult shots.

The Buckeye’s decision making was suspect at times; however, they played with effort and energy the entire night. A win on the road is never a bad thing in the Big Ten, especially after a tough loss at home (OSU lost to Indiana at home last Sunday, 59-53).

Ohio State’s next game is at Michigan on Sunday (1pm ET, CBS). The Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 65-55 last week in Columbus.

The Buckeyes are comfortably in fifth place in the Big Ten standings with an 8-4 conference record, only a half game behind fourth place Michigan State.

Big Ten Basketball: Weekend Preview

Rob Wunsch — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 03:06:50 -0500

Iowa (11-13, 4-7) @ Minnesota (14-7, 4-5), 2 p.m. ET, ESPN

Iowa failed to upset Wisconsin on Wednesday night in Iowa City, falling to the Badgers 60-54. Iowa went without a field goal for over eight minutes and Wisconsin was 10-10 from the charity strip in the last three minutes. Justin Johnson was 1-9 from the field and scored only three points for the Hawkeyes. Marcus Landry was the leading scorer for the Badgers with 16 points on 6-12 shooting.

Minnesota cruised by Northwestern 92-72 in Evanston on Wednesday night. The Gophers had a 47-33 lead at halftime, fueled by a late 13-2 run at the end of the first half. Kevin Coble was 9-18 from the field and led the Gophers with 22 points.

Minnesota can get back to .500 in the conference with a win over Iowa on Saturday. Iowa, on the other hand, lost any momentum they may have had after their victory over Ohio State. Both teams have shooters on the wing, however, this game will be decided in the paint. Gorney, the Iowa senior center, has back-to-back 10 point games. Tollackson, the Minnesota senior center, had 19 points in his last game against Northwestern. Iowa has problems getting points in crunch time. I expect Minnesota to feed off the home crowd and coast to victory in the last few minutes of the game.

Penn State (11-11, 3-7) @ Michigan (5-17, 1-9), 4 p.m. ET, BTN

Penn State only trailed at half 33-30 at Purdue on Tuesday night. Penn State got cold from the field and the Boilermakers enjoyed a 56-43 lead with just over five minutes to go. Freshman forward Robbie Hummel is becoming a star for the surprising Boilermakers. He had 17 points in the win over Penn State.

Michigan had a five-point lead over Ohio State in the second half on Tuesday night. A 20-5 run by Ohio State to end the game gave Michigan their sixth straight loss.

This game is a toss-up. Both teams struggle with long scoring droughts. Penn State is banged up with injuries. Michigan is on a six-game “moral victory” streak. Michigan finally snaps a six-game losing streak.

Northwestern (7-13, 0-9) @ Michigan State (19-3, 7-2), 7 p.m. ET, BTN

If there is a game on the Big Ten schedule that teams can pencil in a win, it is against Northwestern. Winless-Northwestern is dead last in almost every statistical category in the Big Ten.

Michigan State has had the entire week to rebound from the upset to Penn State last Saturday. Drew Neitzel, senior guard, struggled from the field against the Lions, finishing with six points on 2-10 shooting. In his previous six games, he scored in double figures.

Michigan State is angry and will jump out early on the Wildcats. The Wildcats better enjoy pre-game introductions: This game will be over right after the opening tip.

Purdue (18-5, 9-1) @ Wisconsin (19-3, 9-1), 9 p.m. ET, BTN

Purdue is one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten. They recorded their eight straight win over Penn State on Tuesday and are atop the Big Ten standings as of Friday.

Wisconsin is hot as well. The Badgers are on a three-game winning streak and have won 13 of 14 games. Wisconsin’s last loss was at Purdue, 60-56.

This is a dream matchup for the Big Ten Network. The winner of this game will have the inside track on the Big Ten title. Purdue’s young team has quite a challenge in front of them. Purdue must avoid scoring droughts and compete with the Badgers on the boards.

Wisconsin will win this game by a comfortable margin. The crowd and the experienced Badgers will be too much for Painter’s young Boilermakers.

Indiana (19-3, 8-1) @ Ohio State (16-7, 7-3), 1 p.m. ET, CBS

Ohio State used a 20-5 run to get by Michigan on Tuesday night. Othello Hunter had 15 points, and 12 rebounds to lead the Buckeyes over Michigan. Ohio State had five players in double figures and made plays in crunch time to outlast the Wolverines.

Indiana beat Illinois 83-79 in a double over-time thriller at Assembly Hall on Thursday night. Illinois had several chances at the charity stripe to beat Indiana. Shaun Pruitt missed a free throw with four seconds left in regulation. Pruitt also missed a pair of free throws in in the first overtime with only two seconds left. Armon Bassett scored 11 of Indiana’s 14 points in the second overtime. Bassett was 8-8 from the free-throw line.

Indiana starts a brutal four-game stretch against Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State and Purdue. If Indiana wants to keep pace with Wisconsin and Purdue, they need to win on Sunday.

Ohio State can keep its Big Ten title hopes alive with a win on Sunday. Ohio State can also get off the tournament bubble with a win.

This game is huge for both teams. Ohio State will need to contain Eric Gordon and make him settle for jump shots. Ohio State has to control the defensive boards and limit Indiana’s second chance points.

I give the edge to Ohio State in this one just because the game is in Columbus.

Ohio State-Michigan: Buckeyes Claw Past Wolverines

Rob Wunsch — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 12:12:10 -0500

The final score doesn’t always tell the full story.

Michigan (5-17, 1-9) led most of the game and appeared to be in control after a Jevohn Shepherd 3-pointer put the Wolverines ahead 50-45 with 10:41 left in the game.

Ohio State (16-7, 7-3) went on a 20-5 run to end the game. The run was fueled by an Othello Hunter dunk at the 8:11 mark. The dunk closed the deficit to 52-50 and brought the crowd to its feet. John Diebler made a difficult jumper and converted two free throws to put Ohio State in the lead for good 54-52 at the 6:33 mark.

Michigan’s Udoh made a 3-pointer at the 4:29 mark to quiet the crowd. Michigan trailed 56-55 after the 3-pointer and appeared to be in position for the upset. Manny Harris, Michigan’s freshman guard, missed a 3-pointer from the wing and missed a jumper inside the arc that would have given Michigan back the lead.

Harris came into the game averaging over 16 points a game. He scored seven in 35 minutes of play.

Jamar Butler was 4-12 from the field and struggled to find the basket after starting the game with a 3-pointer. His struggles didn’t stop him from taking the big shots at the end of the game. He weaved around a screen and hit a three to push the lead to 59-55 with a little over three minutes left in the game. With 1:24 left in the game, Butler drove the lane for a layup to extend the lead to 61-55.

Butler played the entire game and had 10 points and nine assists.

Ohio State had five players in double figures. The last time Ohio State had five players in double figures was a 92-83 win over UMBC on December 29^th.

Ohio State was a double digit favorite going into the game. An easy win at home turned into a dogfight to the end, but Ohio State fans were not pleased with the close contest. After returning from the game and watching the replay, I came away with a lot of positives from the game.

Jon Diebler played his best game as a Buckeye. Diebler had 14 points on 3-6 shooting and was 2-3 from long range. He also drove to the basket with confidence and converted 6-6 from charity stripe. Diebler finally looked comfortable on the floor and played like the Ohio High School leading scorer Thad Matta recruited.

David Lighty had a quiet 12 points on 5-6 shooting. He was in control the entire game. His biggest contribution was on the wing of the zone in the second half. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time poking the ball away. He finished off the game with a steal and a tomahawk dunk with 24 seconds left.

Othello Hunter dominated the game in the paint the entire game. He had several dunks that brought the crowd to its feet. He played hard the entire game and made his presence felt on every possession. Hunter had 15 points, 12 boards, and ran the floor the entire night. He never took a play off.

Jamar Butler was emotionally upset after the Iowa loss. Before the game he had a few words with Erin Andrews. Butler said, “I want to win, I don’t have many games left. I need these guys to help me out.”

Ohio State has won 47 consecutive games at home against unranked opponents.

Thad Matta is now 7-0 against Michigan.

Ohio State hosts Indiana on Sunday at 1pm ET (CBS).

Big Ten Basketball: Important Week in Conference Title Race

Rob Wunsch — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:12:45 -0500

The Big Ten Conference race is starting to heat up. Purdue and Wisconsin are tied at the top. Indiana is alone in 2^nd place. Michigan State is currently in 3^rd place a game behind the pace. Ohio State is trailing the pack, 2 games behind.

Tuesday BigTen Games

Penn State (11-10, 3-6) @ Purdue (17-5, 8-1), 7pm ET, BTN

Purdue crushed Penn State in their first meeting 64-42 at Happy Valley. It will be interesting to see how Penn State responds after their exciting victory last Saturday night over Michigan State.

I expect Purdue will not overlook the Lions. E’Twaun Moore, freshman guard for Purdue, is getting better and better every game. Moore is averaging 11 points a game on 43% shooting from the field. In his last 4 games he has scored 11, 16, 12, and 24 points. In his last game against Illinois, Moore was 10-12 from the field, many of his points coming in a late stretch run.

Expect the Boilers to win easily over Penn State.

Michigan (5-16, 1-8) @ Ohio State (15-7, 6-3), 7pm ET, ESPN

Michigan is fighting to stay out of the cellar in the Big Ten. They are currently on a 5 game losing streak.

A 64-61 loss to Wisconsin has taken the life out of this basketball team. Michigan State and Minnesota handled the Wolverines 77-62 and 77-65. Michigan is very young and is clearly in rebuilding mode.

Ohio State is coming off a lack-luster effort in Iowa City. The Buckeyes lost to Iowa on Saturday night 53-48. A combination of poor shooting and a lazy zone defense led to the Buckeye defeat. Look for Ohio State to rebound from their lazy effort and hammer the Wolverines.

Wednesday BigTen Games

Minnesota (13-7, 3-5) @ Northwestern (7-12, 0-8), 7pm ET, BTN

Minnesota has struggled of late, losing 4 of 5 after a promising 12-3 start. At the beginning of the season, I bet Tubby Smith was concerned about playing Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Wisconsin in succession with Michigan sandwiched in between.

Northwestern is just what the Gophers need to get back on track. Northwestern has lost 8-10 games and may not win a league game this year. Colman and McKenzie, both seniors, struggled in the 63-47 loss to Wisconsin on Sunday.

The Gopher seniors will turn it around against Northwestern to inch closer to .500 in conference play.

Wisconsin (18-3, 8-1) @ Iowa (11-12, 4-6), 9pm ET, BTN

Wisconsin was impressive last week at home and on the road. The Badgers beat Indiana at home 62-49. Wisconsin also went on the road and took care of Minnesota, 63-47.

Iowa lost at Purdue, 51-50, on a suspect whistle with 1.4 seconds to play. The Hawkeye’s rebounded at home with a big win over Ohio State, 53-48. Senior guard Justin Johnson had 24 points on 8-13 shooting behind the arc for the Hawkeyes. Wisconsin guard, Trevon Hughes, has scored in double figures the last 4 games.

In their win over Minnesota, Hughes led all scorers with 20 points. Iowa, a three point shooting team, can get hot fast, but Wisconsin will not allow Iowa shooters to spot up behind the arc. Wisconsin will grind out another victory on the road.

Thursday BigTen Games

Indiana (18-3, 7-1) @ Illinois (10-13, 2-8), 9pm ET, ESPN

Indiana has lost 2 of 3 games. Indiana lost at Wisconsin 62-49, and didn’t really threaten the Badgers. Indiana also got dominated on the boards at home and got physically beaten by an under-manned (2 significant players were suspended) UConn team, 68-63. UConn out rebounded Indiana 41-26.

Illinois has lost 4 of 5 and their only 2 conference wins are against Michigan and Northwestern. Eric Gordon, the highly touted freshman point guard, is leading the Hoosiers and the Big Ten in scoring with 21.8 PPG. Gordon injured his wrist in practice before the Wisconsin game and struggled against Wisconsin.

Indiana rebounded against Northwestern (who doesn’t), with Gordon scoring a game high 29 points. If you have been living under a rock for the past year, you might not know that Gordon committed to Illinois before decommitting and choosing archrival Indiana. Expect the Orange Krush to make Eric's day unpleasant.

Hoosiers win a close one and run for the team bus.

Check back for Weekend Preview on Friday

Ohio State-Michigan: Buckeyes Still Searching for Consistency

Rob Wunsch — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:16:46 -0500

Ohio State (15-7, 6-3) hosts Michigan (5-16, 1-8) on Tuesday night (7pm EST, ESPN).

Ohio State returns from Iowa after getting embarrassed 53-48 on Saturday night. Michigan comes to Columbus after losing at home to Minnesota 77-65 last Thursday night.

Michigan is on a five-game losing streak and has lost ten of their last 11 games. The Wolverines are dead last or next to last in almost every statistical category in the conference. At this point, the Wolverines are just finishing out the season. Their only chance of getting to the postseason hinges on an unlikely Big Ten Tournament Championship run.

Michigan has lost their last five games to Ohio State. Michigan’s last victory over the Buckeyes was 75-64 on February 29th, 2004.

The Buckeyes' loss at Iowa on Saturday night was a disappointing one. Iowa out-played Ohio the entire game and came away with a 53-48 victory in Iowa City. It was reported after the game that Jamar Butler, the quiet senior point guard, went off on the young team for not being ready to play.

Ohio State does not have a lot of room for error if they want to be invited to the tournament. They play number 13 Indiana at home on Sunday (1pm EST, CBS). The Buckeyes only have one victory against a ranked team and that was back in November against Syracuse.

Is Ohio State on the bubble?

With seven losses and no quality wins to speak of, the Buckeyes do find themselves on the bubble. Key games at home against Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Michigan State will determine the Buckeyes fate in March.

At this point in the season, the Buckeyes are still searching for consistency.

Kosta Koufos, a freshman center, has been soft and ineffective down low. At the beginning of the season, Koufos was touted as a NBA lottery pick. In many ways Koufos is playing like a freshman. Maybe expectations were a bit unrealistic.

Othello Hunter, a senior power forward, has not been consistent the entire year. At Tennessee he had 17 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks. In two games against Penn State and Iowa he had 17 points, 15 rebounds, and two blocks combined. The Buckeye’s postseason dreams may depend on Hunter showing up every game.

For the guard-forward position, coach Thad Matta has to be scratching his head.

David Lighty, Evan Turner, and John Diebler are all searching for consistency. Diebler's never really gotten on track and is shooting 28 percent from the field. Lighty’s play is good one night and terrible the next. He had 16 points against Illinois and he only managed five points with six turnovers in the very next game against Minnesota.

Evan Turner, a freshman guard-forward, started to provide some consistency. He had three solid games against Tennessee, Illinois, and Minnesota with 21, 14, and 17 points, respectively. Last week, however, he struggled against Penn State and Iowa, only scoring five and four points, respectively.

Jamar Butler is holding this team together with his solid play at the point. He is averaging 15 points and six assists a game. Butler is currently doing everything to keep this team together.

Butler is soft-spoken and shows little emotion on the court. His outburst after the Iowa game may be just what this young Ohio State team needs.

Big Ten Men's Basketball: Tough to Watch

Rob Wunsch — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 10:13:11 -0500

The Big Ten Conference has always been known for its physical play and defensive, low scoring games.

This past week in the Big Ten has been no exception—physical play and scoring droughts put many viewers to sleep.

Ohio State traveled to Penn State on Tuesday night and played a non-typical first half. The score was tied at 34 and the tempo of the game was fast paced. In the second half Penn State went over 10 minutes without scoring a point.

Ohio State went on to win the game 68-56. The Lions only shot 35 percent from the field for the game.

Wednesday night, Iowa slugged it out with Purdue. Purdue won the game 51-50 on a free throw with 1.4 seconds left in the game.

Iowa had 19 turnovers in the game and Purdue added in 12 turnovers of their own. Needless to say, both teams didn't seem to want the game so the zebra's gave it to Purdue with the last second foul call.

Michigan State and Illinois also played on Wednesday night. Michigan State beat Illinois 51-41.

In the first nine minutes of this game the score was 10-3, advantage MSU. That's right: Illinois only had three points in the first 11 minutes.

Illinois actually got hot at the end of the half and took the lead 24-20. Illinois had 16 turnovers and Michigan State added 18 of their own.

Needless to say, this game was uglier then the Iowa/Purdue game.

Minnesota and Michigan squared off on Thursday night in Ann Arbor. This game actually had some offense; however, Michigan really never got closer then six points late in first half.

Minnesota got hot and cruised to a 77-65 victory.

The showcase game of the week was Indiana (17-3, 6-1) at Wisconsin (17-3, 7-1). The game was shown on the ESPN prime-time slot on Thursday night.

I just hope the rest of the country wasn’t watching.

Indiana scored 12 points in the first 16 minutes of the first half and trailed 25-12. At the half Wisconsin had the lead, 30-20.

Indiana did manage to make it somewhat competitive in the second half. Indiana trailed 48-43 with seven minutes left in the game. Indiana would only score six points the rest of the game, losing badly 62-49.

The two top teams in the Big Ten conference shot 33 and 34 percent from the field.

Don’t expect the weekend games to wake up the viewers. The top teams in the Big Ten all have matchups against the bottom tier of the conference.

Ohio State-Iowa: Buckeyes Look for Fourth Straight Win

Rob Wunsch — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 04:00:12 -0500

Ohio State (15-6, 6-2) heads to Iowa City for a Big 10 league game on Saturday night against the Iowa Hawkeyes (10-12, 3-6).

The first meeting on January 9th was a lopsided victory by the Buckeyes, 79–48 in Columbus. Ohio State led for a while, 45–17 at the half. But a 32–3 run by the Buckeyes between the 1st and 2nd half blew the game wide open.

Othello Hunter and David Lighty each had 14 points to lead the Buckeyes in scoring. Jamar Butler added eight points and nine assists in 21 minutes of action. Plus, the entire Ohio State roster saw playing time that night.

Tony Freeman, a Junior PG, led the Hawkeyes in scoring with 21 points. Iowa shot 33.9% from the field in the game, 18.2% from three-point range.

Currently, Ohio State is on a three-game winning streak with conference victories over Illinois, Minnesota, and Penn State.

Iowa returns home from Purdue, having lost on Wednesday night 51–50. Freeman fouled Purdue’s Keaton Grant with 1.4 seconds, allowing Grant to make the 1st free throw putting his team ahead 51–50—he missed the 2nd free throw intentionally and Iowa did not have enough time to attempt a last minute shot.

Todd Lickliter is in his first season at Iowa and is confident his team will rebound from the tough loss. “We’ve responded well this season after a loss,” Lickliter encouraged. “These guys have a lot of pride and they want to get back on track. It will take a great effort against Ohio State.”

Ohio State should be confident going into this game—last year in Columbus they beat Iowa 82–63.

The last time Iowa beat Ohio State was March 11, 2006 in the Big 10 Championship game.

But Ohio State cannot look past Iowa if they want to stay in the Big 10 race. They are currently in 5th place in Big 10 standings and have two league losses.

The game will air on the Big 10 Network at 6:00 PM EST.

Ohio State-Penn State: Jamar Butler Leads Buckeyes to Happy Ending

Rob Wunsch — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:41:30 -0500

A 10:17 scoring drought in the second half turned a competitive game into the Buckeyes tenth straight win over the Lions 68 - 56. Jamelle Cornley hit a jumper to push the Lions lead to 44 – 40 at the 14:21 mark. The Lions would not score another point until a Pringle 3-pointer with 4:04 left in the game.

Penn State came into the game averaging 52 points a game since the injury to their star player, Geary Claxton. The Lions got off to a great start. A 9 – 0 run put the Lions up 19 – 12 and forced Thad Matta to take a timeout at the 11:56 mark of the first half.

Poor shot selection by the Buckeyes and the inability to get back on defense led to 12 Penn State fast break points.

Back to back 3’s by Danny Morrissey gave the Lions a 34-32 lead late in the first half.

A turnover at the end of the half led to a Butler to Terwilliger layup that tied the game at 34 going into the break. Jamar Butler led the Buckeyes with 10 points at the half.

Talor Battle, a freshman point guard from New Albany, New York matched Butler with 10 points for the Lions.

Matt Terwilliger and Jamar Butler pointed out how important it was to play with intensity on the road in their weekly press conference with the media. The Buckeyes did not match the intensity of the Lions in the first half.

A three by Battle and another three by Morrissey got the Lions off to a great start in the second half. They led 42 – 38 at the first TV timeout, and appeared to be in position for the upset.

A Koufos put back off a Diebler miss gave Ohio State their first lead in the second half, 45 – 44 with 12:35 left in the game.

A 12 – 0 run capped by a Butler three forced the Lions to call a timeout at the 8:56 mark. At the time they trailed 52 – 44.

Jamar Butler was the player of the game with 20 points, six assists, and three rebounds. Kosta Koufos added 10 points, and Matt Terwilliger add 10 points off the bench.

Talor Battle had 15 points in the Lions sixth consecutive loss.

Ohio State shot 49% from the field, however, it was the Buckeye’s active zone defense in the second half that cooled off the Lions. The Lions only shot 35% from the field for the game.

Ohio State (15-6, 6-2) travels to Iowa City on Saturday night. In their first meeting the Buckeyes hammered the Hawkeyes 78 – 49 in Columbus.

Penn State (10-10, 2-6) hosts #7 Michigan State on Saturday night.

Ohio State-Penn State: Buckeyes Head to Happy Valley

Rob Wunsch — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 05:28:29 -0500

Ohio State heads to Happy Valley for a conference game against Penn State on Tuesday night.

Penn State has now lost five straight games. The team has yet to recover from the devastating loss of senior Geary Claxton who sustained a season-ending injury to his ACL in an 80–55 loss to Wisconsin on January 15. Claxton was the Lions’ leading scorer with 17.5 points a game.

Penn State has not been competitive since Claxton’s injury, and has lost the last four games by an average margin of 19.5 points.

On the other hand, Ohio State is on a two-game winning streak. OSU beat Illinois 64-58 and Minnesota 76 -60 at home. The Buckeye’s are currently 14–6 and are in fifth place in the Big 10, with a 5–2 conference record.

But in the past, Ohio State has had problems in Happy Valley. Last year’s team had a 24-point lead in the second half and nearly let it slip away in the 64–62 victory. Still, Coach Matta has never lost to Penn State, with a record of 8–0.

The Buckeyes should not have any problems with the Lions. Ohio State is improving on offense and their zone defense has been a huge success. The Buckeyes are holding opponents to 60 points a game while the offense is averaging 69 points a game.

Game time is 7:00 PM this Tuesday; catch it on ESPN.

Ohio State Solid in 76-60 Win Over Minnesota

Rob Wunsch — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 17:24:25 -0500

Tubby Smith was all smiles during warm-ups in his first visit to Value City Arena.

Evan Turner didn’t wait long to turn those smiles into the Tubby scowl we are all accustomed to seeing.

Turner scored eight of the Buckeyes first 11 points to get the Buckeyes off to a 11–0 start.

Turner was also getting it done on the defensive end, with four rebounds in the first six minutes.

A Jamar Butler three-pointer, a steal by Butler, and a no-look assist on a David Lighty three-pointer made the score 17–2, and Tubby was forced to call a timeout at the 12:43 mark of the first half.

Minnesota settled down after the poor start, and closed the half trailing 35–25. After the Gophers started the half shooting one for 15 from the field, they managed to stay within striking distance by taking advantage of 10 Buckeye turnovers and 11 offensive rebounds.

The Gophers finished the half shooting nine for 18 from the field after their horrible start. The Buckeyes shot 13 for 27 from the field and were five for 12 from long distance for a 48-percent clip.

Minnesota came out swinging in the second half and cut the lead to 44–41 in the first seven minutes. A key play in the game came at the 10:20 mark of the second half. Matt Terwilliger and Butler ran a perfect pick and roll, and Terwilliger brought the crowd to its feet with a sports center slam off the Butler lob.

On OSU's next possession, John Diebler missed a three-point attempt, and Travis Busch secured the rebound for Minnesota. Matt Terwilliger ran into Busch going for the offensive rebound and Busch slid across the baseline and was called for traveling. Tubby got a technical foul and had to be restrained by his coaching staff.

Butler made his 37th and 38th consecutive free throws, and the Buckeye lead was back to eight points. A Terwilliger steal and a behind-the-back pass by Turner to a streaking Diebler led to another Buckeye dunk. Another turnover by Minnesota led to a Turner dunk, and the Buckeyes led 54–42 with nine minutes to play.

Ohio State did a good job finishing the game off and cruised to a 76–60 win. OSU shot 50 percent from the field. OSU also went eight for 24 from long range for a respectable 33 percent. OSU was 16–22 from the free throw line for 72%.

Minnesota never recovered from their poor shooting at the beginning of the game and shot 36.5 percent from the field. The Gophers also struggled from long range, making only six threes on 27-percent shooting. The Gophers were not impressive from the free throw line either, going eight for 14.

Dan Coleman led the Gophers in scoring with 14 points. Coleman also had six rebounds, but his four turnovers hurt the Gophers.

Minnesota is 12–6 and drops to 2–4 in conference play. This is the Gophers third straight loss and Tubby Smith is still stuck on 399 wins. The Gophers next game is at Michigan on Thursday night. Minnesota is home against Wisconsin on Sunday, Feb. 3.

Jamar Butler was the star of the game with 27 points, nine assists, and three steals. His ability to penetrate the Minnesota pressure defense really caused fits for the Gophers all night long.

Kosta Koufos had 15 points, eight rebounds, and was 90 percent from the charity stripe. Evan Turner continued his consistent play with 17 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Othello Hunter had six points and eight rebounds.

Ohio State is 14-6 and improves to 5–2 in the conference. Ohio State travels to Penn State on Tuesday night. They also play at Iowa next Saturday.

Buckeye's Rebound From Three Game Skid

Rob Wunsch — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 04:36:30 -0500

The Buckeyes recently returned home from a grueling three game road swing.

The road trip started with a tough game against Purdue that got away from Ohio State in the second half. OSU enjoyed a seven point lead at the half and was in position to win a league game on the road to the surprising Boilermakers.

But Purdue started the second half on fire half and went on an 8-0 run to take the lead. Jon Diebler and David Lighty went a combined 2-19 and struggled on the offensive end the entire game. A spirited effort at the end came up short and the Boilermakers came away with a 75-68 win.

Three days later the Buckeyes arrived in East Lansing to an angry MSU squad that only scored 39 points in a 43-39 loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City. MSU jumped out early on the Buckeyes and enjoyed a 20 point lead most of the first half. With only three minutes to go in the half the Buckeyes trailed by 21 points. To their credit, OSU did not give up, however moral victories do not show up in the Win/loss column.

Most Buckeye fans, including myself, did not give the team much of a chance on the third leg of their road trip. Tennessee was out to avenge the two losses last season, especially the loss in San Antonio. Tennessee jumped out to an early lead mainly because of the Buckeyes 30 percent shooting in the first half.

In the second half the Buckeyes jumped out to a 46–39 lead and seemed to be gaining control of the game and the crowd. But Tennessee stormed back to take a 13 point lead. Again, OSU fought back and had two opportunities to tie the game, but both three point attempts by Jon Diebler were off the mark. It was another moral victory for the Buckeyes in the 74–69 loss to Tennessee.

The Buckeyes finally got a much needed win against the Illini in Columbus Tuesday night. At the start of the game I noticed Shaun Pruitt was not in the starting lineup. I couldn’t find him on the bench either. Illini coach Bruce Weber commented after the game that it was a team matter and really didn’t go into any details.

Illinois has struggled all season to find themselves and Tuesday night was no different. Ohio State led at the half 33–23 behind the play of Evan Turner and David Lighty. Turner continues to get more minutes and his confidence is growing every game. Lighty has struggled of late, but played under control on the offensive and defensive end. The two were a combined 11–18 from the field and shot 4-7 from three point land.

The Buckeyes led late in the second half by 15 points. P.J. Hill came in for Butler and the wheels almost came off. The Buckeyes survived a late rally by Illinois when Lighty came down with an offensive rebound on a Kosta Koufos miss at the free throw line. Lighty made both free throws to put an end to the Illini comeback.

Ohio State came away with a much needed 64–58 win. The Buckeyes next game is against Minnesota on Saturday night in Columbus.

A couple of things concern me about the young Buckeyes at this point in the season.

They gave up 17 offensive rebounds against Illinois. Illinois out-hustled the Buckeyes most of the night and if they shot a little better than their 35 percent clip, they would have upset the Buckeyes at home.

OSU's leading rebounder was Jamar Butler with seven boards, while the two trees down low only had eight boards combined. After Othello Hunter’s career game against Tennessee I expected a little more from him. Hunter needs to dominate the paint like he did against Tennessee every game. He is a senior and needs to be more consistent. If this team is going to make the tournament Othello needs to step up and help Jamar lead this team.

The second thing that concerns me, and really has been a problem for the Buckeyes the entire year, is their depth at point guard. I like P.J. Hill’s energy, but at this point in the season he still is not ready for D-1 basketball.

I think Thad Matta is over on the sidelines just trying to steal minutes when P.J. is inserted in the lineup. It may be time to try and rotate Jon Diebler in at point just for four or five minutes a game to give Jamar a break. He is getting hounded every game and it is a lot to ask for him to finish off games at the end when he plays 38–40 minutes a game with defenders all over his back. Maybe giving Jon a role on the team that doesn’t involve hitting three-point shots can get his confidence back.

I always like to finish on a positive note...How about the play of Evan Turner?

During the Illinois game you could see the confidence in his play. He was driving to the hoop with a purpose and there was no hesitation in his jump shot. I still would like to see him help out rebounding on the defensive end a little more. I am sure the coaches will comment that he only had two rebounds in 34 minutes of play.

With that said I am thrilled by his play and the energy he brings to this Buckeye team.