Quick Facts
-Established in 1870
-44,201 undergraduate students
-Located in Columbus
-Main colors- Scarlet and grey
-2012/2013 results: 29-8 (NCAA Elite 8)
-Jack Nicklaus attended
-Men's basketball introduced in 1892
-11 Final Four appearances
-20 B1G titles
-28-39 against Indiana all time
Results Thus Far (22-7/9-7)
Notable Losses
Penn State 70-71
Iowa 74-84
Michigan 60-70
PPG-70.2 (180)
Avg. Scoring Margin- +11.9 (14)
APG-12.2 (197)
RPG-34.0 (205)
Pts. Against-58.4 (5)
Fouls per game-16.2 (17)
Scoring/Breakdown
Category Leaders
F #10 LaQuinton Ross-14.4
G #32 Lenzelle Smith Jr.-11.6
Rebounds
C #23 Amir Williams-5.8
F #10 LaQuinton Ross-5.7
Assists
G #4 Aaron Craft-4.6
G #3 Shannon Scott-3.5
Vulnerable. That is the main word that comes to mind when I think of the 2013-14 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team. I also think of a purely athletic team. It seems like every time I turn on a highlight of the buckeyes there is dunk, after dunk...after dunk. Aaron Craft is playing in his 50th season of college basketball and is still as pestering a defender as he ever was. I mean, let's be honest, this team has had some real let-downs this season, including a loss at home to Penn State! For whatever reason I'm not so worried about this game...although some part of me feels that I should be. If we have proven one thing this year it's that we can beat really good teams in the hall and it could happen again today. The difficult part today could be the guard play we get from Yogi seeing that this is going to be one of his toughest tests of the year with Aaron Craft's on-ball defending. Keep an eye out for that matchup.
Other worries? The half court offense for the Hoosiers (something else we have failed at this year). Vonleh is going to have some size and athleticism against him as well. However, with all that being said I think Will Sheehey has a big game for the Hoosiers. He is gaining confidence game by game, maybe because someone lit a fire under him during his last season as IU. Emotion can play a big part for a senior and I have a strong feeling this is exactly what's happening above the neck for Will. If, and I believe we will, IU can get out and run in transition and keep turnovers to a minimum we can pull it out. Assembly Hall needs to be rocking again and we could come out on top. A win here, then against Nebraska, and possibly Michigan gets us in the conversation leading up to the B1G Tourney. There is hope...there is hope. The season starts today for me. Get behind these guys and let's make the most out of this crazy year.