INDIANAPOLIS - What else can you say about Drew Neitzel?
Michigan State's senior guard came up big at the right time for the Spartans, who put away Ohio State 67-60 in Friday's quarterfinal action of the Big Ten Conference tournament at Conseco Fieldhouse.
Neitzel's 3-pointer with 1:21 remaining pushed MSU's lead to 61-55. It was the last of his game-high 28 points and advanced the Spartans into Saturday's semifinal matchup against top-seeded Wisconsin.
INDIANAPOLIS - Ohio State had just cut the lead to three when Michigan State's Drew Neitzel canned a long 3-pointer with 1:18 to play.
That was the difference as the Spartans came away with a 67-60 victory over the Buckeyes.
Neitzel finished with 28 points, including six from 3-point range.
Ohio State placed four players in double figures but didn't have an answer for Neitzel.
INDIANAPOLIS - Last Sunday, Michigan State had a 10-point lead at Ohio State but lost 63-54.
Can the Spartans hang on this time?
It's the final media timeout and MSU is leading 54-48. I
INDIANAPOLIS - Just when you think Ohio State is ready to take control, Michigan State comes right back.
The Buckeyes pulled within 47-45 but the Spartans answered with five straight points, including a 3-pointer from Durrell Summers.
It's 52-45 with 6:24 to play.
INDIANAPOLIS - Through the first 10 minutes of the second half, a total of 21 points have been scored between Michigan State and Ohio State.
That doesn't there hasn't been action. Three fouls were called on OSU's Kosta Koufos in about a minute. A technical was called on OSU's Othello Hunter. Lots of boos from the fans, on both sides.
MSU is up 43-40.
INDIANAPOLIS - Michigan State and Ohio State are tied at 30 at halftime, thanks to Jamar Butler's 3-pointer with four seconds on the clock.
Butler now has six points but the offensive star for the Buckeyes is 7-foot freshman Kosta Koufos, who has 13 points. Drew Neitzel is leading the Spartans with 14 points, including three 3-pointers.
So far, it's the best game of the Big Ten tournament.
INDIANAPOLIS - What a block by Michigan State's Travis Walton and then Drew Neitzel drains a long jumper on the other end.
The Spartans lead 27-22 with 3:25 left before halftime.
INDIANAPOLIS - Drew Neitzel and the Spartans have gone cold and Ohio State's 7-foot freshman center Kosta Koufos is heating up.
Koufos has seven points and the Buckeyes have pulled within 20-16 at the eight-minute media timeout. Koufos is shooting two free throws when action resumes.
INDIANAPOLIS - Michigan State's Drew Neitzel could have one of those big games.
The senior guard has eight of the Spartans' 16 points through the first nine minutes. MSU is up 16-11.
INDIANAPOLIS - Fast start for both Ohio State and Michigan State in our second quarterfinal matchup at Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Spartans lead 9-7 and Drew Neitzel has five points, including a long 3-pointer just 30 seconds into the game. MSU fans loved that and there are plenty of people dressed in green.
INDIANAPOLIS - These two teams just played Sunday in Columbus, Ohio, with the Buckeyes winning 63-54.
The Spartans had a season-high 21 turnovers, leading to 28 points for Ohio State.
Michigan State has been a strange team this season. Coach Tom Izzo's team either looks really good or really bad. There's usually no middle ground.
The Buckeyes probably need one more win to feel secure about their NCAA chances.
Look for a fun matchup between MSU's Drew Neitzel and OSU's Jamar Butler.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Though the final minutes have yet to tick away, many of the alumni faithful have already begun their mass exit after a tough defeat to the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Buckeyes fell 66-55 despite generating a 32-29 halftime lead, but in the end it was a streak of 17-straight misses from the floor that doomed them in the non-conference loss.
"We just had that 10-minute stretch in the second half where we couldn't score points." Ohio State's John Diebler said. "Against a team like that, you just can't do that."
Continue reading "No. 1 UNC Avoids Upset, Knocks Off Ohio State, 66-55" »
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- You know how I said the Buckeye faithful desperately needed something to cheer about? Well, they found it, and it was in the form of Diebler. Diebler and Lighty connected on back-to-back three-pointers to draw within eight points, then Diebler proceeded to take a breakaway all the way down the court and throw an emaphatic one-handed dunk to send the crowd into a frenzy. After the two traded buckets to draw a timeout, it's the Tar Heels 59, OSU 53 with just under four minutes left.
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Bad just doesn't explain the Buckeye's shooting woes this second half. Much like in their game against Texas A&M, they can't buy a basket. Ohio State has missed it's last 17 shots from the floor this half. Yes, I said 17. Ouch.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Midway through the second half, it appears to be all UNC. The Tar Heels have come out of the half shooting the ball extremely well, while the Buckeyes have struggled to drain even the simplest of layups. With 11:31 left in the contest, UNC has a 49-40 lead.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Before I could get a chance to update my last post on Jon Diebler, he went and did it again. And then again. Ohio's leading scorer in high school drained two more treys to close out the first half, including a bank shot at the buzzer to hand the Buckeyes a 32-29 halftime lead.
Continue reading "At Halftime, It's Diebler Time: OSU 32, UNC 29" »
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After miss firing on 31 of his first 35 shots from the floor this season, Ohio State freshman John Diebler couldn't have picked a better time to snap out of his slump. After nailing a trey to pull within one at 21-20, Diebler proceeded to fire off yet another basket on the Buckeyes' next possession, this time another deep trey on a fast break started by a Butler rebound. Instead of driving to the hoop for an easy layup, Diebler pulled up from 5-feet beyond the arc to hand Ohio State a 23-21 lead. The crowd at this arena is absolutely deafening, I've never heard it this loud before. Ever.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- What was expected to be an offensive display has been anything but in the early going of this contest. This is largely due to the fact that neither team has shot well from the floor, but especially the Buckeyes. Ohio State is shooting just 20-percent from the floor at the mid-point of the opening half.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In front of the largest crowd all season, the Buckeyes have stormed out of the opening moments of the game with great defense and solid play from sophomore David Lighty, on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Tar Heels' Ty Lawson will not be in the starting lineup tonight, replaced by junior Bobby Frasor. Frasor has averaged 3.8 points this season in UNC's five wins.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It may not have the same hype as last season's No. 3 Ohio State - No. 6 UNC matchup, but make no mistake about it, this year's ACC/Big Ten Challenge clash has the potential to be yet another high scoring affair. Both teams enter with high scoring offenses, and both are led by an abundance of talented youth.
Continue reading "Bucks Look To Avenge Last Year's 98-89 Loss" »
NEW YORK -- Mark Turgeon came to New York City this week and got exactly what he wanted.
The Aggies are going home as winners of the 2007 NIT Season Tip-off after demolishing Ohio State, 70-47, and the Buckeyes never had a shot in this one after failing to score for the first 12 minutes of the second half. That drought was due to some quality defense from Mark Turgeon's squad, along with some poor shooting from the Buckeyes, who shot a lowly 24.6 percent from the game. And in looking at OSU's shooting after halftime, it's even uglier, with Thad Matta's team making just 5 of 28 shots for a pathetic 17.9 percent in the second half. Three-point shooting wasn't much better with OSU, shooting the ball from deep at a 19-percent clip.
Here's the All Tournament Team that was announced following the Aggies' championship win:
Donte Green - Syracuse
Kosta Koufos - Ohio State
Jamar Butler - Ohio State
DeAndre Jordan - Texas A&M
Joseph Jones - Texas A&M*
*named Most Outstanding Player
I'll have some more commentary on both games in Hang Time, so make sure to check there for more tournament coverage, but until then, here are some key points from tonight's championship game:
-For as poorly as Ohio State played and shot the ball from the perimeter, senior point guard Jamar Butler led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting. The Lima, Ohio, native was clearly the one bright spot for the Buckeyes, playing a well-rounded game with three assists, three rebounds and three steals in 32 minutes of action.
-Kosta Koufos was the other Buckeye to score in double figures with 10, but the freshman from Canton, Ohio, never looked comfortable going up against the powerful frontcourt that Texas A&M possesses with both center DeAndre Jordan and forward Joseph Jones.
-The Aggies had four scorers in double figures for the game, with sophomore Derrick Roland topping the state sheet at 15 points. The 6-foot-4 guard really started to light it up in the second half, finishing 6-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-4 from three despite only playing 16-plus minutes tonight.
-Jordan and Jones were two of the other double-digit scorers for Texas A&M, as each scored 10 and 11, respectively, but managed to be even bigger factors on the glasses with 15 rebounds between the two. The Aggies really controlled the boards all night long, outrebounding the Buckeyes, 47-32, for the game.
-Freshman forward Nathan Walkup, a top 150 recruit from the Class of 2007, had a solid game for A&M, contributing 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from three in just 13-plus minutes.
NEW YORK -- Texas A&M has put it on cruise control here at the Garden, as it looks like Thad Matta and Ohio State have conceded this one, bringing in reserves like Dallas Lauderdale, P.J. Hill, Eric Wallace and Matt Terwilliger.
Mark Turgeon's team is up by 30 with three minutes to go in this one, and the Aggies can celebrate all the way back to College Station, Texas, after beating two quality teams in Washington and Ohio State on the big stage of New York City.
NEW YORK -- Despite being up by 16 with 11 minutes left to go, no one in particular has really stood out for No. 16 Texas A&M in tonight's championship game against unranked Ohio State.
Freshman forward Nathan, though, has started to found his groove from the three-point line along with Derrick Roland as the Aggies have run up on the Buckeyes now, leading 54-30 with 9:29 remaining.
Kosta Koufos hasn't been able to get any of his shots from the perimeter to go down, and the Canton, Ohio, native hasn't challenged DeAndre Jordan or Joseph Jones much in the post.
NEW YORK -- The second half of our championship game has gotten started at Madison Square Garden, and No. 16 Texas A&M has run out to a nine-point lead, 36-25, within the first couple minutes of the game.
Josh Carter has just hit a three-pointer from the left sideline to extend the Aggies' leadto 38-26, and Thad Matta has been forced to take a timeout with his team down by its biggest deficit of 12.
Kosta Koufos has really been absent in our first 23 minutes of action after having a stellar 24-point performance against No. 21 Syracuse on Wednesday night in the semifinals.
Jamar Butler has continued to be the one guy that the Buckeyes can count on right now, and if I'm Matta, I'm calling a play for my point guard out of this timeout to get OSU back on the right track.
NEW YORK -- No. 16 Texas A&M is seeing just how tough of an opponent Ohio State really is, as the Aggies have gone up by three, 23-20, with four minutes left in the first half.
Both teams have taken a break in the action, and while I'm looking at the crowd, I'm noticing that this finals matchup between two pretty good ball clubs sure didn't attract any more fans than the first game. It's certainly a disappointing way to end the tournament with a quarter-full arena, but with a 7 p.m. ET start time and today being the biggest day of the year for Christmas shopping, it's understandable that not more have made their way to Madison Square Garden to witness this tintillating contest.
NEW YORK -- Press conferences from the consolation game between No. 21 Syracuse and Washington ran a little long as usual, but we're courtside again to see No. 16 Texas A&M and Ohio State battle in the finals of the NIT Season Tip-off.
The first half between the Aggies and Buckeyes has been closely contested, as both teams have gone back and forth with the lead. But Jamar Butler is the one player who has seemed to find his rhythm early from the perimeter, knocking down two threes to put his team up by two, 17-15, with just less than seven minutes remaining.
The Texas A&M dance team has taken the floor once again after a few appearances during Wednesday night's semifinal game against Washington, and they're dancing at center court to "We've Got The Funk" with their pom-poms. Interesting choice with the song by the Texas A&M pep band conductor.
NEW YORK -- Ohio State has pulled off what some might consider an upset in handing No. 21 Syracuse a 79-65 loss here at the Garden, but from the way the Buckeyes played tonight, I would put money on Thad Matta's team being ranked in the Top 25 starting next week.
But first we'll have to see how they play Friday in the finals against No. 16 Texas A&M in a game that will feature plenty of frontcourt power between the Aggies' DeAndre Jordan and Joseph Jones and OSU's Kosta Koufos and Othello Hunter.
I'll have plenty more commentary in Hang Time, but before that, I'll leave you with a few quick nuggets from this exciting second semifinal:
-As Jim Boeheim repeated several times in his post-game press conference, Syracuse really struggled shooting the ball from the perimeter all night. Jonny Flynn finished the game with a big goose egg on 0-for-6 shooting from the field, and the Orangemen shot just 36.2 percent from the field and a measley 20 percent from three-point range.
-A couple questions posed to Boeheim during the post-game press conference got the Syracuse coach a little ticked off. When one reporter asked, "You guys missed 20 threes today. Do you think that NBA three-point line had anything to do with that, forcing some shots?" Boeheim responded with this:
"Yeah, it must have been too big. It must have been getting in our way. When lines on the court have something to with what you're doing, you've got real problems."
Following another question, one reporter asked Boeheim, "Do you think being in Madison Square Garden had any effect on the young players playing, particularly Jonny Flynn?" to which the Syracuse coach offered:
"I didin't take psychology courses in college, so I don't know. I cannot answer that. I'm not qualified to answer that question. It didn't seem to bother Koufos at all."
In hearing those answers, it was pretty clear that the Boeheim was ready to leave, but the questions kept coming, and the 32-year coach did everything he could to answer them as quickly and thoroughly as possible before stepping down from the podium.
-Despite shooting 45 percent from the field and an impressive 48.3 percent from beyond the arc, Ohio State was outrebounded, 45-36, by Syracuse, which saw both Donte Greene and Paul Harris tally double-figure rebounds for the Orange. Greene, in particular, had a quality game at both ends of the floor, dropping in a team-high 21 points and grabbing 10 boards.
-Thad Matta was really pleased with the way his team played tonight, praising his entire team while most of the reporters filling the press conference room continued to spew out questions on Kosta Koufos, who looked like the best player out on the floor in just his third collegiate game, finishing with a game-high 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and nine rebounds.
NEW YORK -- Syracuse fans are already heading for the exits with 3:50 remaining, and it looks like unranked Ohio State is going to upset the No. 21 team in the country to advance to the NIT Season Tip-off finals against No. 16 Texas A&M on Friday night.
Kosta Koufos has really been the difference at both ends of the floor, shooting the ball well from the perimeter and finding openings in Jim Boeheim's patented 3-2 zone to get easy dunks and putbacks under the hoop.
Syracuse has gone to a full court trap in order to force Ohio State into some careless turnovers, but it doesn't seem to be working right now as the Buckeyes lead, 76-65, at the three-minute mark.
NEW YORK -- The Syracuse faithful that has filled the Garden tonight is starting to get a little uneasy with the No. 21-ranked Orangmen falling behind big, 67-52, to unranked Ohio State with eight minutes remaining in our second semifinal.
And while Ohio State became the second team earlier this month to lose to a Division II team in an exhibition game at home (a 70-68 defeat to Findlay), the Buckeyes sure don't look like the same team that they did back on Nov. 6. Jamar Butler, in particular, has been impressive all game, knocking down shots from three after scoring five points in the first half.
Jim Boeheim's team, meanwhile, has been as cold as ice from the perimeter despite getting some good looks from the corner and wing spots. Syracuse is going to need to make a run very soon if it wants to have any chance of winning this game.
NEW YORK -- We're five minutes into the second half between No. 21 Syracuse and Ohio State, and the Buckeyes are holding on to a 50-44 lead at the moment.
Kosta Koufos is continuing to dominate the paint for OSU, while Syracuse has been settling for perimeter jumpers for most of the night while it's frontcourt seems to have disappeared.
And after shooting just 43.3 percent in the first half, getting easy baskets down low and in transition is going to tell the tale for the Orangemen in this second half if they hope to make a comeback and advance to the finals against No. 16 Texas A&M.
NEW YORK -- The pace is picking up between No. 21 Syracuse and Ohio State, as both teams are forcing each other into mistakes and fast breaks in this high-scoring affair.
Thad Matta's Buckeyes are staying right with a young yet talented opponent, leading 42-34 at halftime, but one of the biggest factors for Syracuse has been the inabliity of freshman point guard Jonny Flynn to get on track in this first half.
Ohio State freshmen Kosta Koufos and Jon Diebler, meanwhile, are two of the biggest reasons why the Buckeyes are staying in front right now, and senior point guard Jamar Butler has done a solid job of taking care of the ball and the game for Matta.
Koufos, for one, has been dominating at the outset, leading both teams with 15 points and three rebounds, but Donte Greene has been almost as good for Syracuse, tallying 12 points and grabbing three boards in 15-plus minutes of action.
NEW YORK -- Seven-foot freshman center Kosta Koufos is slowly starting to take over this game, knocking down a three-pointer in the right corner and then coming back with a three-point play on a lob from fellow teammate Jon Diebler.
Diebler, also a freshman, has looked active for Thad Matta and company, sparking the offense with dribble penetration and crashing the boards along with freshman guard-forward combo Evan Turner.
With just less than four minutes remaining before halftime, it's the Buckeyes who are controlling this one, 33-28.
NEW YORK -- We're midway through the first half of our second game tonight, and it's No. 21 Syracuse who is holding a 18-13 lead over last year's NCAA runner-up Ohio State.
And while I'm pearing over my computer to watch this game, it's interesting to note the drastic differences in coaching styles between OSU's Thad Matta and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim.
At one end of the court, you have Matta, who's as animated and fiery as ever and has already received a coaches box warning -- one of the principles set out in the NCAA's new bench decorum rules this year.
And at the other end, there's Boeheim, the 32-year head coach, with his hands behind his back, cool, calm and collected, never getting himself too much in a tizzy over any one particular play or call from the officials.
And with eight minutes remaining here before halftime, it's now Ohio State that's taken over the lead with a 25-22 advantage as we take a timeout.
NEW YORK -- With press conferences from the first game taking a little longer than expected, we're underway here in Game #2 at Madison Square Garden, and it's No. 21 Syracuse leading Ohio State early, 10-7, with 16 minutes to go in the first half.
Kosta Koufos has knocked down a jumper from the top of the key and has the Buckeyes staying with the Orangemen, but two misses from the free throw from David Lighty has OSU trailing in the early going of this thrilling semifinal matchup.
The Syracuse faithful has shown up in big numbers tonight to support their Orangemen, while Ohio State has brought its cheerleading squad and pep band into the The World's Most Famous Arena.
