Ohio State Preview
January 22, 2010 05:35 PM | General
January 22, 2010
WEST VIRGINIA GAME NOTES | OHIO STATE NOTES
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Last Saturday it was fifth-ranked Syracuse. This Saturday, it’s No. 21 Ohio State that is coming to Morgantown to take on 11th-rated West Virginia in a battle of ranked teams to be televised nationally on CBS.
 |
|
| West Virginia coach Bob Huggins yells out instructions during Wednesday's game against Marshall in Charleston.
AP photo |
Ohio State (14-5) has regrouped after the return of 6-7 junior guard Evan Turner to the lineup after missing six games in December with a back injury. Ohio State has gone 4-1 with Turner back in the lineup with Big Ten wins over Indiana, Purdue, Wisconsin and Northwestern.
“Well they’re averaging about 10 more points per game and they are holding people to like seven or eight less and he’s getting 10 rebounds a game. Plus, he’s handled the ball,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “He’s played the point and I think he’s averaging five assists per game, so he’s contributing to a lot of baskets.”
Against Purdue, Turner was fantastic, scoring a career-high 32 points that included 23 in the second half to help the Buckeyes to a 70-66 come-from-behind win over the Boilermakers.
“They played 1-3-1 in the first half and then came out and were very aggressive in their man-to-man in the second half,” said Huggins. "(Purdue guard Robbie) Hummell gets 29 against the 1-3-1 and I believe he got 6 in the second half. They went to some three-quarter court pressure, but I think they really stepped it up on the defensive end. Turner was unbelievable. ”
Turner is at his best against top competition, averaging 24.2 points and 9.6 rebounds in Ohio State’s five games against ranked teams so far this year. He has been named Big Ten player of the week four times this year.
“We’ve got to keep him in front of us and try and make him shoot the ball over top of us,” said Huggins. “We can’t give him angles. He’s really good at finding angles.”
The Buckeyes have scorers throughout their lineup. Guard Jon Diebler (13.5 ppg.), guard William Buford (13.1) and guard David Lighty (13.0) are all averaging more than 13 points per game.
Six-eight junior center Dallas Lauderdale is averaging 7.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and is shooting 74.3% from the floor.
“They’re not playing with a true point guard and they’re not playing two bigs,” said Huggins. “Everybody they put on the floor scores. Lauderdale is shooting 71% from the field. Diebler is the all-time leading scorer in the history of Ohio, William Buford was a McDonalds All-American, Lighty gives them experience and I think Lighty was the player of the year in Ohio, so they’ve got good players. They’ve always had good players.”
Guards Jeremie Simmons (7.0 ppg.) and P.J. Hill (4.4 ppg.) have given the Buckeyes the most offensive production coming off the bench, while senior center Kyle Madsen gives Ohio State extra size.
Last year, West Virginia surprised No. 15 Ohio State 76-48 in Columbus. In that game the Mountaineers shot 47.7%, had a 42-36 advantage on the glass and held the Buckeyes to just 31% shooting. Turner struggled from the field, hitting just 4 of 17 shots against the Mountaineers.
“We did a good job of attacking their matchup,” Huggins said of last year’s game. “We changed some things right before the game. We went to running more motion and less sets because I thought they’d set on our sets so we ran motion, giving our guys a lot of freedom. Alex (Ruoff) did a great job distributing the ball and reading areas. Da' did a great job and everybody kind of played off of those two guys.”
In Ohio State’s most recent game against Northwestern, Turner scored 20 and Diebler add 17 in Ohio State’s 76-56 win in Columbus Tuesday night. The Buckeyes made 7 of 24 from 3-point range and held Northwestern to 38.3% shooting.
West Virginia boosted its record to 14-3 with a hard-fought 68-60 win over Marshall Wednesday night in Charleston. Senior Da’Sean Butler snapped out of his five-game shooting slump with a 6-for-11 shooting performance against the Thundering Herd to finish with 16 points. Butler became just the sixth player in school history to pass 1,700 career points and he needs 77 more to pass Rod Thorn for fifth place with 1,785 points.
Butler is averaging 15.8 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Sophomore Kevin Jones is just a shade below 15 points per game, while pulling down 7.7 rebounds per contest. Sophomore forward Devin Ebanks shows averages of 11.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
Ohio State is making its first trip to Morgantown since Dec. 30, 1994 when West Virginia defeated the Buckeyes 79-69. Overall, Ohio State owns a 9-6 record against the Mountaineers. Saturday’s game will be Ohio State’s seventh trip to Morgantown.
At halftime of Saturday’s game, All-American guard Hot Rod Hundley will officially have his jersey number 33 retired during an on-court ceremony. Hundley recently retired after 42 years broadcasting Utah Jazz games.
Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. The game is a sellout.
