This game shouldnt have been this close. Give credit to the Gophers for fighting back, the Buckeyes went through some lull's on offense and Minnesota took advantage.

A win is a win though, I'll take it

gorocks99;631125 wrote:Nice heart from the Gophers. I hate the Big Ten for giving Minnesota this schedule to open things up.

Ohio State went through the same last year. Their first 5 games in the Big Ten were

@ Wisconsin
@ Michigan
Indiana
@ Minnesota
@ Purdue.

mallymal614;631143 wrote:Ohio State went through the same last year. Their first 5 games in the Big Ten were

@ Wisconsin
@ Michigan
Indiana
@ Minnesota
@ Purdue.

Was just going to post this.

Writerbuckeye;631135 wrote:Ridiculously bad refereeing in this one, which didn't help OSU at all. They got visitored on their home court.

Glad it worked out.

Agree with this. These three bozos were bad. So inconsistant. Lighty could get a break. One time he attacked the basket and was litterally thrown to the floor...no call. Then on other end, he gets a touch foul.
Give Minny credit, they played the last 7/8 min perfect in terms of getting back into the game. They attacked and kept getting calls going their way. And they didn't miss their FT.
I thought OSU played a very good game except for the last 8 min or so. The first half was a defensive clinic.
Good atmosphere at the Schott today btw. Except for a few rows in upper bowl on the ends, the place was full.

Tubby was just a little testy after the game today: http://blog.dispatch.com/hoopsscoops/2011/01/postgame_minnesota_1.shtml#more

He has nothing to cry about. The refs were the only reason the game ever got close in the end.

This was a great showing by the Buckeyes. I was interested in seeing how Sullinger would fare against a bigger center and he did a great job. Still hit the boards at will and was a force inside. I thought he was getting hacked quite a bit, but wasn't getting the benefit.

Great defensive first half, and outside of the last 8 or so minutes, OSU played a a great game of basketball.

A great showing??

I don't think so. A team putting on a great show doesn't almost blow a 17 point lead at home. A team putting on a great show doesn't miss critical free throws down the stretch.

I hope OSU learned a valuable lesson. Good teams, like Minnesota, don't quit when they are behind by double digits.

OSU was great defensively in the first half. Diebler did a great job on Hoffarber.

Free throws almost bit us in the ass. Also, Minnesota was 24-27 from the foul line. Take away Hoffarbours 2 for 2 and the rest of the team was 22-25. The same guys that were shooting about 65% from the line for the year.

Prescott;631803 wrote:A great showing??

I don't think so. A team putting on a great show doesn't almost blow a 17 point lead at home. A team putting on a great show doesn't miss critical free throws down the stretch.

I hope OSU learned a valuable lesson. Good teams, like Minnesota, don't quit when they are behind by double digits.

OSU was great defensively in the first half. Diebler did a great job on Hoffarber.

Yes, it was a great showing.

The fact that the Bucks controlled the game from tip and even built a lead as big as 18, despite allowing Minny a late comeback, is still a great showing.

The team is still fairly young and let's face it, they haven't really been tested. They're used to building big leads and keeping them, but Minny never quit and made the Bucks work to finish it off.

I love seeing the team challenged. I'm not up in arms about regular season showings, because the more adversity, the better.

hoops23;631830 wrote:Yes, it was a great showing.

The fact that the Bucks controlled the game from tip and even built a lead as big as 18, despite allowing Minny a late comeback, is still a great showing.

The team is still fairly young and let's face it, they haven't really been tested. They're used to building big leads and keeping them, but Minny never quit and made the Bucks work to finish it off.

I love seeing the team challenged. I'm not up in arms about regular season showings, because the more adversity, the better.

Perhaps but the Buckeyes can't run the Big 10 gauntlet like this and come out unscathed. They'll lose one or two before March Madness arrives.

The fact that the Bucks controlled the game from tip and even built a lead as big as 18, despite allowing Minny a late comeback, is still a great showing.

You think it is great to almost blow an 18 point lead at home?

The team is still fairly young and let's face it,

Lighty-5 years in the program
Diebler-4 years in the program
Buford-3 years in the program
Lauderdale-4 years in the program

This is one of more experienced teams in the country.

but Minny never quit and made the Bucks work to finish it off.

This was the problem. Their inability to hit critical free throws allowed Minny to stay around. They didn't finish Minny off, Minny ran out of time.

From the Dispatch:"they had all seven of their second-half turnovers in the final 8:03 and missed half of the 14 free throws they attempted in the last 6:32."

because the more adversity, the better.

This is why I didn't like OSU's OOC schedule. As I posted, I hope the Buckeyes learned that good teams don't shrivel and go away when faced with a double digit deficit.

believer;631840 wrote:Perhaps but the Buckeyes can't run the Big 10 gauntlet like this and come out unscathed. They'll lose one or two before March Madness arrives.

I don't think anyone realistically expects them to not lose 1-2 (or more) in the Big 10.

Interesting game to go to. People are aware that noise is allowed to be made right? It picked up a little bit in the 2nd half when the game got close, but the start of the game was like we were all watching a movie and trying to be polite to one another.

Overall though, this game was exactly the reason why a weak OOC schedule hurts you. Nobody wanted to admit that it mattered but good teams don't just die when they are down like the pathetic OOC teams did. Little too close for comfort I'm sure for OSU fans.

CinciX12;631973 wrote:Interesting game to go to. People are aware that noise is allowed to be made right? It picked up a little bit in the 2nd half when the game got close, but the start of the game was like we were all watching a movie and trying to be polite to one another.

Overall though, this game was exactly the reason why a weak OOC schedule hurts you. Nobody wanted to admit that it mattered but good teams don't just die when they are down like the pathetic OOC teams did. Little too close for comfort I'm sure for OSU fans.

That's one way to spin it, and I won't say that you are wrong.

However, I don't think the OOC schedule can be used as an excuse. OSU played well for a majority of the game and just took things for granted. A game like that happens at some point regardless of who they have played. I figured Minnesota would come into Columbus and put up a fight, and that's what they did. OSU got the win, and there is no reason to not be happy.

CinciX12;631973 wrote: Overall though, this game was exactly the reason why a weak OOC schedule hurts you. Nobody wanted to admit that it mattered but good teams don't just die when they are down like the pathetic OOC teams did. Little too close for comfort I'm sure for OSU fans.

Bullshit. This game had nothing to do with the OOC schedule. OSU was up 18pts with around 9 min to go. They held Minny to 22 pts in the first half and put on a clinic defensively. They just got passive the last 9 min and foul trouble also hurt them. Lighty was on the bench and Minny didn't miss FT.
You did see all the upsets of ranked teams on Sat? Duke "only" beat Maryland by 7pts. Kansas had to go into overtime to beat a NOT so good Michigan team.
Its that time of year pal. Teams now know eachother through scouting and conference coaches know eachother very well. Its rarely going to be easy no matter who you play.
And Minny is a pretty decent and well coached team on top of it. Tubby managed the last 5/6 min as well as any coach could have.

They just got passive the last 9 min and foul trouble also hurt them. Lighty was on the bench and Minny didn't miss FT.

Couldn't it be argued that they got passive because they thought Minny would lay down like the inferior teams they had beaten did?

Prescott;632019 wrote:Couldn't it be argued that they got passive because they thought Minny would lay down like the inferior teams they had beaten did?

If you want to believe that, so be it. The inconsistancy in the officiating didn't help. Foul trouble hurt. Could be a number of things to point to. Or as I said, give Minn credit. They played the 6/7 min perfecting to get back into. Sometimes that happens as well.

And if you want to believe that, how would you explain all the upsets and others games that were close? Did they not play a tough enough schedule as well? Did you expect OSU to BLOW out a quality Minny team? If so, then maybe you are being unrealistic about conference play.

And if you want to believe that, how would you explain all the upsets and others games that were close? Did they not play a tough enough schedule as well? Did you expect OSU to BLOW out a quality Minny team? If so, then maybe you are being unrealistic about conference play.

Which games are you referring to?

I was not expecting OSU to blow out Minny. I did expect OSU to finish the game and they didn't.

I was disappointed that Ohio State didn't put their foot on Minnesota's throat and finish the game when they were up big, especially at home. With that said, all three of the top three teams in the country struggled to win yesterday. Duke won a close game against unranked 10-5 Maryland and Kansas needed overtime to top 11-5 unranked Michigan. Those things happen. Better to win in a less-than-impressive fashion than lose.

Prescott;632150 wrote:Which games are you referring to?

I was not expecting OSU to blow out Minny. I did expect OSU to finish the game and they didn't.

Actually, they did (finish). They won.

Despite all the bad things that happened (the refs calling half the total fouls OSU had in the game during that last 7 minutes), the turnovers, the poor foul shooting, they STILL found a way to win at the end.

Not the type of game I would have liked, but I'll take it. During a long, grueling conference schedule you ARE going to have games like this, home and away. Better to get through it and win, than lose.

Duke won a close game against unranked 10-5 Maryland and Kansas needed overtime to top 11-5 unranked Michigan

I did not see any of the Duke game. The score indicates a close contest and not a game in which Duke blew a huge lead. Kansas won on the road.

Actually, they did (finish). They won.

We can agree to disagree. They didn't finish off the opponent. They survived.

Prescott;632150 wrote:Which games are you referring to?

I was not expecting OSU to blow out Minny. I did expect OSU to finish the game and they didn't.

Which games referring to? Were you awake on Sat when like 7/8 ranked teams went down?
Was I a bit disappointed in how OSU finished the game? Absolutely. As was Matta I am sure. But its sports, and it happens. Minny was playing with a sense of urgency and they were in attack mode. OSU got a bit complacent and again, the officiating didn't help out. May sound like I am whining....but they were poor. Minny got a majority of calls. OSU was being aggressive defensively and fouls that are not typically fouls in big ten play, were being called. Minny went to the line, and rarely missed. And on the other end, OSU couldn't get a break. Lighty was litterally thrown to the floor on a drive, no call. On the other end, he strips the ball cleanly, its a foul. That right there, was a 4pt turnaround. The officials were poor, and Matta, in a very "nice" way, said as much on his radio interview after the game.
Again, its a win, and a good win vs a quality team. It wasn't pretty the last 8 min...no question.

Prescott;632252 wrote:I did not see any of the Duke game. The score indicates a close contest and not a game in which Duke blew a huge lead. Kansas won on the road.



We can agree to disagree. They didn't finish off the opponent. They survived.

Kansas was up 25-10 late in first half. Mich shot like 15% in first half. Road game? LOL Sorry, lame ....Michigan is NOT very good, and played even worse the first half.

OSU survive? Absolutely they did. And sometimes in conference play, thats what you do.

Prescott;631889 wrote:

Lighty-5 years in the program
Diebler-4 years in the program
Buford-3 years in the program
Lauderdale-4 years in the program

This is one of more experienced teams in the country..

Sullinger- first year in program- 36 minutes
Craft- first year in program- 34 minutes