Turner-less Buckeyes fall short

Right: Ohio State’s Dallas Lauderdale (left) is hacked while going up for a dunk vs. Butler.
(AP Photo)

Going into yesterday’s game against Butler, there were many questions that needed to be answered on how head coach Thad Matta and his Ohio State team would react to the absence of national player of the year candidate Evan Turner. While the Buckeyes wouldn’t get a passing grade from me since they lost to the 22nd-ranked Bulldogs, 74-66, they did show some promise.

Butler led by as many as 11 points in the first half after Gordon Hayward’s three-pointer at the 11:40 mark that put the Bulldogs ahead 21-10, and still held a 10-point advantage at 28-18 following a layup by Matt Howard with 7:41 to go.

But the Buckeyes responded by rattling off 16 unanswered points to take a 34-28 lead and went into the locker room at the break ahead 36-34.

In the second half, the game was tied at 48-all after Dallas Lauderdale scored a bucket in the paint with 13:48 remaining, but then the wheels started to fall off for Ohio State.

For nearly seven minutes, which seemed like an eternity, the Buckeyes were stuck on 50 points after David Lighty drove to the tin with 11:22 to go that made the score 52-50 in favor of the Bulldogs. It would be six minutes and 50 seconds later before Ohio State got another basket with William Buford’s jumper at the 4:20 mark. By then, Butler was ahead 67-52.

The Buckeyes got off the mat one more time, though, and after Jon Diebler’s layup with 52 seconds left, it was a one-possession game at 69-66. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs went 5-of-6 at the free throw line from that point on to put the game away.

Not sure what the deal is with Matta using his bench, but just seven players saw action against Butler and only five of them were productive. P.J. Hill started in place of Turner and played 14 minutes without a point while collecting one rebound and one assist to go along with one turnover.

Guard Jeremie Simmons came off the bench to score 11 points and dished out five assists with just one turnover in 26 minutes. Center Kyle Madsen was the only other bench player to see action and he didn’t score either, collecting just one rebound, but did have a team-high three blocked shots in 13 minutes.

As for the starters, Buford had arguably the best game, scoring 20 points and seven rebounds. Lighty added 16 points and seven more boards. Lauderdale had a productive day offensively scoirng 12 points, but when you are the biggest guy on the floor and you only pull down four caroms there’s something wrong.

With Turner out, Butler focused their defense on Diebler, who was blanketed with a defender all afternoon. He scored just seven points and was just 1-of-4 from three point range in 39-plus minutes.

The Buckeyes got back into the game at the end of the second half because of their full-court pressure. Unfortunately, when you only play only seven guys, it’s hard to keep up that pace for an extended period of time. But it was clear that Ohio State was the more athletic team. I was surprised that Zisis Sarikopoulos or Nikola Kecman didn’t get into the game, particularly since the Bulldogs outrebounded the Buckeyes, 40-27.

Yes, Ohio State is feeling the effects of Turner’s injury, but at the same time, losing Walter Offutt who is transferring out doesn’t help either. I think he would of been a better option than Hill.

Overall, Ohio State shot 49.0 percent (35-of-51) from the field while holding Butler to 42.1 percent (24-of-57). The difference in the ball game was that BU went 8-of-21 from beyond the arc and OSU was just 5-of-17. That and the Bulldogs had 15 offensive rebounds to just five for the Buckeyes.

Up next, Ohio State hosts Presbyterian, Wednesday night. Tip-off at the Schottenstein Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.