Buckeye Basketball

Bucks hang on for win over MSU

The Ohio State men's baskeball team held on for a 66-64 win at the Schott on Saturday. Ohio State blew a 20 point halftime lead, and barely snuck away with a win. Along with blowing the big lead, Ohio State's defense was shredded by Michigan State point guard Drew Nietzel, who had 29 points.
Nietzel was junk in the first half, but exploded in the second half for 24 of his game high 29 points. I was extremely impressed with the way Nietzel played as he was always hustling and played very hard all game long.
Ohio State's scoring attack was led by Greg Oden's 19 points, which included 8 for 10 from the free throw line in the second half. The Buckeye offense managed to only put up 23 points in the second half, and Jamar Butler's 12 and Daequan Cook's 11 points rounded out the scoring.

Thoughts?
I thought the Bucks played a complete first half. The defensive intensity was present and OSU seemed to be unconscious from outside the arc.
Conversely, the second half was a terrible 20 minutes of college basketball for the Buckeyes. Greg Oden did have 3 nice blocks in the second half, but that seemed to be the lone bright spot for the Bucks defensively. The Spartans were able to garner 10 offensive rebounds in the game, and I believe that OSU gave up at least 12 second-chance points tonight.
After utilizing the DVR and rewinding different MSU offensive rebounds, I noticed that the Buckeye defenders are in terrible position to get defensive rebounds. Our guards don't box out well at all, and the only defensive rebounding presence seems to be Oden.
It's good to see another Buckeye conference win, as Wisconsin is now 6-0 in the Big Ten and the Bucks are a game behind at 5-1. Indiana resides in 3rd place and is the lone 5-2 team.

Up next for the Buckeye hoopsters is a tough road game at Purdue on Tuesday night (7 p.m.). Purdue is a team that plays very well at home and this could be a trap game for the Bucks. Purdue is 14-7 this year and is 3-4 in conference play. On Saturday they destroyed Illinois for a 17 point win in West Lafayette. Purdue boasts a couple of guys that can fill it up in Carl Landry and David Teague. Landry, a forward, is averaging 19 points and 7 boards per contest. David Teague averages 13 points and 4 rebounds, respectively.
Purdue is a little shaky down low, and it wouldn't really surprise me to see an assertive Greg Oden put up 23 and 14 on Tuesday. I see Conley having a nice game, finishing with 9 points and 8 assists.
I'll call it a Buckeye win 68-61. Go Bucks.