Men's Basketball
Coppin Unable to Match Up with Buckeyes
By John PorentasCoppin State was just what the doctor ordered.
An Ohio State (10-2) team that struggled both offensively and defensively against Florida last week was able to get untracked on both sides of the ball against the Eagles of Coppin State (2-10) and registered a lopsided 91-54 win to close out the calendar year and pre-conference schedule.
With baseline players in the 6-6 to 6-7 range the Eagles simply could not match the size and athleticism of the Buckeyes, particularly that of 7-0 freshman center Greg Oden, 6-9 junior forward Othello Hunter and 6-5 freshman guard Daequan Cook.
Oden dominated on the glass with a game-high 16 rebounds and added 18 points for his third double-double in six games. The Buckeyes outrebounded Coppin by an overall margin of 40-24. Eight of Oden's 16 rebounds were offensive boards. His sixteen rebound and eight offensive boards were both career highs. The Buckeyes managed 19 second-chance points against Coppin off 16 offensive boards. Forward Othello Hunter was also effective down low with 16 points. Hunter just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, four of them offensive.
"Starting the game we recognized that we were going to have a big size disadvantage," said Coppin Head Coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell.
"We also recognized that they had some great outside shooters, so it put us in a dilemma. We tried to stop the inside and we didn't do a good job of that," Mitchell said.
When Oden and Hunter weren't dominating down low Cook was lighting it up with both perimeter shooting and the ability to get to the basket against the Eagles for spectacular dunks. Cook scored a game-high 23 points on eight-for-10 shooting from the field that included four-of-six shooting from three point range. Cook also went three-of-four from the foul line.
Ohio State senior guard Jamar Butler, who has been slumping some with his outside shot, broke out of that slump with 15 points that included five-of-nine shooting from three.
"For the past couple of weeks I've been trying to tell him to be aggressive," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta. "I think that he is a great shooter and it does nothing but help our offense when we have another guy out there making shots. That was good to see for him," said Matta.
"They're stronger, more physical, they hurt us inside, and when you have the guards that they have they hurt us outside too," said Mitchell.
"If Daequan Cook is a guard, then he's a tough one. Anytime you can bring somebody off the bench like that's a tremendous value for you. I thought that Butler played well also, shot the ball well."
The Bucks amassed 22 assists in the game against just seven turnovers.
"One of the things we talked about over the last few days was sharing the ball and taking care of the ball," said Matta. "I really thought our guys did a great job of that. Good things are going to happen when you play that way."
"They did a real good job of getting the ball to their scorers," said Mitchell.
Mitchell was impressed with the Buckeyes and commented on the play of Oden.
"I think he's in a learning stage still. He is intimidating, very athletic to be so big. There's no question in my mind he's a great player. If he's playing injured right now I hate so see him when everything is OK with him. He stays on the ball. He does rebound, he goes after it, and that's a positive sign for anybody," Mitchell said.
One Buckeye who continued to struggle offensively was senior guard Ron Lewis. Lewis logged 23 minutes of play but did not score. Lewis was zero-for-eight from the field, seven of those attempts coming from three, and did not get to the free throw line.
"I'm not worried about that," said Matta. "He got good looks at the basket. They just didn't go down."
Game Notes:
* Cook's 23 points were a career-high for the 6-5 freshman from Dayton. Cook's eight-of-10 shooting (80 per cent) was a career best for him.
* Junior guard Jamar Butler fouled out of the game with 2:18 remaining. It was the first time in his Buckeye career that Butler has fouled out of a game.
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