Buckeyes-Spartans

[peeker643]

Slow start by the Buckeyes but they went on a 15-0 run. Diebler and Buford shooting it all right, Turner yet to really get going, Buckeye defense doing a really nice job (though Lauderdale in a bit of foul trouble).

Halftime score is OSU 39 Mich St 26.

Big road game in the Big10 and for the Buckeyes.

[waborat]

Excellent first half...

Victory here will more than make up for the Boiler loss...

If Turner decides to join in the fun then the 2nd half should be just as rewarding

[peeker643]

Ugghh...

Sparty cuts a 14-point lead to three and suddenly the Buckeyes look extremely disjointed. MSU has turned up the defensive intensity and Turner looks like a forward handling the ball.

[peeker643]

HUGE win for the Buckeyes at MSU. They coughed up all of that lead plus one but had a 7-0 run to regain the lead and salt it away.

Well done.

[jordan kramer]

needed this one if they still wanted a chance at the regular season title

[peeker643]

needed this one if they still wanted a chance at the regular season title

I just want to see them win out and win a couple in the tourney. Get a 2-seed out of it.

Little concerned about the wear and tear factor though. They played just 6 guys today and one of them, Kyle Madsen, fouled out with 10 minutes left in the game.

Next two weeks are gonna be rough with those heavy minutes.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Nice win vs Sparty, would've been a killer week had they not played like hot trash the 1st half of the Purdue game.

Is there any player in College B-ball with more heart than Evan Turner?

[waborat]

Little concerned about the wear and tear factor though. They played just 6 guys today and one of them, Kyle Madsen, fouled out with 10 minutes left in the game.

Next two weeks are gonna be rough with those heavy minutes.

Unfortunately, the last thing this team needs is a long run in the conference tourney...

Although without one, then they're prolly a 3 or 4?

Hell of a win today!!!

[fundamentals]

I just want to see them win out and win a couple in the tourney. Get a 2-seed out of it.

Little concerned about the wear and tear factor though. They played just 6 guys today and one of them, Kyle Madsen, fouled out with 10 minutes left in the game.

Next two weeks are gonna be rough with those heavy minutes.

Yahooooooooooooooooooooo article on this subject:

Sun Feb 21, 2010 4:56 pm EST

Ohio State can't keep playing its starters 40 minutes ... can it?
By Jeff Eisenberg

Even as Ohio State ascends the Big Ten standings in the wake of another huge win at Michigan State on Sunday afternoon, here's a reason to be wary of believing in the Buckeyes.

They have less depth than any other elite team in the country.

In closely contested matchups against fellow Big Ten contenders Michigan State and Purdue this week, four Ohio State starters logged all 40 minutes in both games and only one reserve even played at all. The rotation wasn't much deeper in a 19-point Buckeyes victory over Illinois the previous week, with three starters playing the first 38 minutes without a rest.

Whether Ohio State coach Thad Matta lacks trust in his bench or just has complete faith in a starting lineup as good as any in the Big Ten, the obvious concern is whether those five guys will eventually run out of gas. Especially in the Big Ten tournament, when the Buckeyes could have to play three games in three days, can the starters' legs withstand that pounding and still have anything left for NCAAs the following week?

"I don't think we're wearing down at all," guard David Lighty told the Cleveland Plain Dealer earlier in the week. "I think we're playing real good ball right now. That's not in our minds. We just go out there and play."

Although Matta has a history of relying heavily on his starters, you could argue that he doesn't have a lot of choice right now. Three transfers in three years and several other defections to the NBA draft have forced Matta to scramble to cobble together a bench, resulting in a roster with only 10 scholarship players including three junior college transfers.

The most perplexing decision Matta has made is to cut the playing time of backup guards Jeremie Simmons and P.J. Hill in Big Ten play. Both logged heavy minutes when Evan Turner was hurt earlier this season, but Simmons has averaged less than seven minutes a night in Ohio State's past 12 games and Hill either didn't play or logged a garbage-time minute or two in six of the past eight.

Can Ohio State sustain its success the next few weeks if Matta doesn't lighten the load on the starters? History suggests there should be diminishing returns, but they weren't evident late in Sunday's game.

When Michigan State rallied from 13 down to take a one-point lead with four minutes to go, the Ohio State starters responded with a run of their own to regain control. Sophomore William Buford drew a foul and hit two free throws to give his team a one-point lead and a flu-ridden Turner scored six of the team's final 11 points.

Turner had 16 of his 20 points in the second half and also finished with 10 rebounds and six assists.

[Squints]

Sounds like it was a great game by the Bucks. We here in Erie had Pitt/Villanova. We are a Big 10 market in football season and Big East in hoops.

[Triple-S]

Damn, the Big Ten keeps proving year in and year out that it's probably one of the more tougher Basketball conferences in the NCAA.

Purdue-MSU-TOSU all seem to be a three team race to see who going to get the regular season crown. I've never seen my Boilermakers rated this high in anything (other than women's hoops, I was young during the Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson), and it's making me nervous.