Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Defeat Tigers 92-76 To Advance to Final Four
By John Porentas

Just for the record, David was the little guy who killed the big guy. His name was Goliath.

Memphis forward Joey Dorsey said the day before the game between the Tigers and the Buckeyes that it was going to be a David vs. Goliath game when he and Greg Oden collided on the court, and that Dorsey intended to dominate Oden on the boards. He then calmly explained that he would be Goliath.

Dorsey probably meant that he would be the big guy, but it escaped him that the big guy lost in that matchup. What also escaped him is that the Buckeye team is just that, a team, and when you call out one guy on a team, the rest of them take it personally.

"The great thing was that when somebody talks about one guy on our team he's talking about everybody. I think those (other) guys took that to heart as we talked about it last night," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta who actually took the time to read Dorsey's quotes to his team at a team meeting the night before the game.

That turned out to be a very bad thing for the Tigers, because not only did they have to cope with Oden, they now had to cope with a bunch of his teammates who were more jacked up by the comments than Oden was, and that is what showed throughout the game.

The Tigers had their moments, particularly in the first half when their 7-for-10 shooting from three point range kept them close, but in the end, the overall team effort by the Buckeyes swamped them. The Buckeyes as a team played inspired basketball throughout the game with every member of their roster contributing. The comments of Dorsey seemed to have lit a fire under the entire roster, and that, ironically, was exactly what Memphis Head Coach John Calipari feared most.

"Our hope was that we could out work them or out-scrap them, and we couldn't," said Calipari.

"I hate to tell you this, but they out-scrapped us. We were relegated to shooting threes, which we didn't do half bad, but that's a hard way to stay in the game with at team like that," said Calipari.

Calipari and his team got some help in the first half. In addition to their hot shooting from long range, Oden played just nine minutes in the half when he picked up his second personal foul. His absence altered the game, but the Buckeyes had enough help off the bench, a bench that played like it had a fire lit under it, to end the half with a three point lead at 41-38. OSU freshman forward David Lighty was actually OSU's team leader in both assists and rebounds coming off the bench in that half. It was that kind of fire.

Memphis took advantage of Oden's absence when he went to the bench with his third foul at just the 17.22 mark of the second half. With Oden sidelined, the Tigers were able to attack the hoop with the drive and eventually took a five point lead at 56-51 with 12:26 remaining in the game. The five point bulge was short-lived. Daequan Cook canned a three pointer to cut it back to two on OSU's next possession, and oh by the way, Greg Oden came back into the game. With Oden patrolling the paint again, the Tigers were unable to drive and score easily.

"With Memphis' athleticism and with the way they play, the drives, the drives, the drives, we needed to have a guy down there that they would at least have to think about, would challenge their shot. We really, really needed him," said Matta.

Oden responded by not only dominating defensively, but getting his offense going as well. After scoring just five points in the first half, Oden dropped in 12 in the second in his 15 minutes of play.

The last tie of the game came at 64 all. From that point on, the Buckeyes still had the fire burning and ice water in their veins, and the Tigers started to fade.

OSU outscored Memphis 28-12 the rest of the way, and they did it by taking a page out of the Memphis playbook. The Buckeyes kept slashing to the hoop, most of that slashing done by Ron Lewis and Conley, to either score in close or draw fouls. Mostly, they drew fouls on Memphis defenders who were getting gassed and couldn't move their feet.

"I was so tired trying to defend him (Oden) on defense that I wasn't able to help my team on the offensive end," said Dorsey.

The Buckeyes went to the free throw line 28 times in the second half and made 26 of them. Their last 18-consecutive points came on 18-consecutive free throws. It's not the kind of clutch free throw shooting you expect from a young team on a big stage, but OSU got it done.

"It's water in their veins I think," said OSU assistant coach Dan Peters.

"I think they were out there just playing. These kids don't get caught up in a whole lot of stuff. They get caught up on each other, they get caught up on trying to do the things we ask them to do, and they've obviously done a great job," Peters said.

The Buckeyes won going away. And that matchup between Dorsey (Goliath) and David (Oden)? Dorsey ended with three rebounds, no points, and four personal fouls. Oden had 17 points and nine rebounds.

David 2, Goliath 0.

OSU to the final four.

Box Score

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