Men's Basketball
The Buckeye Watch
By Tony Gerdeman

Another year, another championship appearance.

It’s just too bad the SEC couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain. I know everybody was hoping for an Ohio State – Florida rematch, but only two things happen when you rely on an SEC school to do what is right: 1) You get disappointed; and 2) You get desensitized to evil.

So we shall have to move on and face a non-SEC opponent in a championship game for once.

Sweet!

7:23 The Big Ten Network is showing last year's Wisconsin-Ohio State game. The Badgers just took the lead 39-36. We need to get the ball in Conley's hands!

7:29 Billy Packer says people need to stop comparing Greg Oden to the great centers of the 60's and 70's because they averaged 29 points and 17 rebounds in their Championship appearances. Well, Greg scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds against two lottery picks in his championship appearance. Can we give him some kudos for that?

7:32 I see Indiana has hired Tom Crean. Good get for them. They should've hired him the first time. He's the guy that I wanted when Indiana fans were saying they were taking Thad from us.

7:38 I heart Mike Conley.

9:36 Florida has lost. Too bad, I would've loved to have hammered two SEC teams in one week.

9:38 Andy Kennedy wasn't good enough for Cincinnati--talk about an insult! Not being good enough for Cincinnati is like being told you're too fat to be a pig.

9:39 Well, we started out 0-2 from three, but we got two good looks, so that's a promising start.

9:45 Wow, Ole Miss can't dribble. Look at your hands. Now imagine them without fingers. Now imagine trying to dribble the basketball. This is what Ole Miss basketball reminds me of at the moment.

9:51 Jamar Butler hits a three at the top of the key. He was wide open. This is just too easy. Do they play defense in the SEC, or do they just rely on terrible offense?

9:55 Seriously, how is Ole Miss in the Final Four, they're terrible. They're diminishing the good name of the NIT with every fist-dribble.

9:56 Evan Turner lays one in. We're now on a 14-0 run. Somebody go tell the NCAA that the NIT is under new ownership.

9:57 Wow, a Treg Lee mention by Fran Frischilla. Will Eli Brewster be far behind?

9:58 Television timeout. The Buckeyes lead 25-10 with 10:28 to play in the first half. Not bad, but early starts against the SEC aren't exactly foreign territory.

9:59 I'm watching that dude on the Travel Channel that eats all of the "exotic" foods. Right now he's eating some type of animal face. I can't eat face.

10:00 Suddenly this Donato's I snagged from work isn't agreeing with me.

10:01 Wow, Evan Turner took the ball into the lane and hit a pull-up fader. That's a new one. I like it.

10:05 Hey Travel Channel Guy, not every animal testicle has to be eaten. I wouldn't even eat animal testicles if Betty Crocker put out a "Testicle Helper".

10:07 Another Ole Miss turnover. And another as I write this. Slow down Ole Miss, I can't keep up with all of your suck.

10:08 Wow! Othello Hunter just went into the rafters for that alley oop. And the Rebel defenders made sure to give him plenty of space. They are just so polite on defense. What a great group of kids Andy Kennedy has.

10:11 Ole Miss dribbles off of their foot on one end of the floor, and can't pick up a charge on David Lighty down at the other end of the floor. Nothing is going right for the Rebels at this moment. This is sad. Buckeyes lead 37-18 with 5:31 left in the first half.

10:12 P.J. Hill reminds me of electric football. He's always moving, but not necessarily going anywhere.

10:14 This game is like the last two minutes of a blowout, but there's still 3:35 left to play in the FIRST HALF!

10:17 Ole Miss gets called for traveling. Is this their JV team?

10:19 Jon Diebler missed two off-the-dribble jumpers on that possession, but I like the fact that he's taking those shots. He's more than just a catch-and-shoot guy. Or at least he will be.

10:20 Jamar Butler hits a wide open three to give the Buckeyes a 44-20 lead. He was open like Neitzel on that one.

10:20:22 Jon Diebler just hustled down the floor to grab a loose ball and slipped, falling out of bounds. If you could ever sum up one player's season with a "hustle, then slip, then fall, then turn the ball over" type of play, it would be Diebler this year.

10:21 We're up 24 points and we should be playing better.

10:22 Dallas Lauderdale has to have three or four offensive rebounds this half, and most of them have been on long rebounds from three-pointers. Which has me wondering why he isn't under the basket where he belongs!

10:23 Well, that's the end of the half. The Buckeyes lead 44-20. Thad may have to borrow John Calipari's halftime speech from the Michigan State game. The crazy thing is that we could be up by 35 points or so, because we should be playing better.

10:24 Not so proud of your conference now, are you SEC fans?

10:30 I'm trying to think of what type of halftime adjustments Thad should make, and I'm not sure there are any. I would continue to encourage Ole Miss to dribble, because nothing good happens when they do that.

10:48 Kosta just hit an unstoppable hook. He can get that shot whenever he wants it. I just wish he’d want it more.

10:49 Ole Miss has scored five straight. The Buckeyes have gotten lazy on defense.

10:50 Make that eight straight points.

10:52 LOL. Fran Frischilla was talking about the Tennessee women’s game and mentioned that “Candace Bergen is on fire”. Yeah, that Murphy Brown is tearing it up for the Lady Vols!

10:53 As has been the case all game long, Ole Miss is giving us any shot we want. Unfortunately, right now, we’re reciprocating. Huertas has hit two three-pointers to get the score down to 53-38 with 13:52 to play.

10:54 Ole Miss is on a 14-2 run. Looks like the varsity team finally showed up.

10:55 Jamar Butler hits a silencer three from the baseline.

10:55:30 Chris Warren answers the silencer with a loudener.

10:56 Ole Miss is shooting 73% this half. When they can actually get a shot up, they aren’t too bad. It’s just the other 90% of the game that they have trouble with.

11:06 Wow! Kosta Koufos with a scoop in the lane! No, that wasn’t slow motion.

11:10 Ole Miss has now gone six minutes without dribbling the ball off of their foot or their hands. Dribbling is fundamental!

11:17 Koufos hits another baseline jumper. That’s been open all night long and it’s an automatic basket. Moneyfication. Buckeyes lead 68-54 with 6:21 to play.

11:19 Evan Turner goes coast to coast and gets fouled. Who is this guy? This isn’t the same Evan Turner we’ve seen over the last month of the season. And he makes both of his free throws! Seriously, who is he?

11:20 Turner is essentially running the point right now and with how much P.J. Hill has played tonight, I’m wondering if Jamar Butler is feeling okay.

11:21 Speaking of which, Butler just hit the dagger! That was a deep three, and it’s not even acknowledged by the ESPN guys as they’re busy clucking like hens about Memphis. Buckeyes lead 73-58 with 5:02 to play.

11:29 Jamar Butler just twisted his ankle. Walk it off, son. It’s an eleven-point game.

11:31 Ole Miss hits a three to make it 73-65 with 2:15 to play.

11:32 Evan Turner gets fouled on the shot. And he makes both free throws again. Who are you!?!? I would venture to say that Evan Turner hasn’t made four free throws in a row all season long, so I don’t know who this new #21 is.

11:32:41 Ole Miss hits another three and there should’ve been a foul on P.J. Hill as well. Speaking of P.J. Hill, he nearly turned it over, but Thad bailed him out with a timeout. Time for Jamar Butler and his dinged ankle to come back in. The Buckeyes lead 75-68 with 1:32 to play.

11:34 Ha ha ha! Jamar Butler was sandbagging—he just went through Ole Miss’ defense and laid it in. Oh, and now he does the “insult to injury” limp. I laugh at you, Mississippi.

11:35 Koufos just threw one down on the press breaker. That’s gonna do it. Almost.

11:36 David Lighty just threw it down as the shot clock was running out. That’s definitely going to do it. Props to Ole Miss for not fouling and choosing instead to go home. Buckeyes win it 81-69.

11:38 It wasn’t always pretty, but it was definitely fun (and funny) at times. I’m sure one of the team’s goals this season was to win their final game of the season, and they’ll have that shot on Thursday against UMass.

11:40 Do you think UMass can dribble?

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