Men's Basketball
St. John Rocks, Buckeyes Sock Cal
By John Porentas

Bruce Springsteen was in Columbus for a concert at the Schottenstein Center, so Ohio State returned to St. John Arena for their NIT matchup with California. The sojourn to the old Ohio State venue seemed to agree with everybody involved, except maybe the California Golden Bears.

"Thad told me that his guys played really well, that's the best that they've played recently," said California Head Coach Ben Braun following OSU's 73-56 win over his team

Jamar Butler
Photo by Jim Davidson

"I don't know if he was trying to make me feel better, but I thought his guys did play really well."

The Buckeyes did put on one of their best performances of the season. So did the OSU crowd. St. John was rocking just like the old days and was loud, very loud. The sell-out crowd of 13,276 at times made it nearly impossible to hear.

"When you can't hear coach talking to you on the sideline I think it's pretty loud," said OSU forward David Lighty.

"It was real energetic, real loud. I think that helped us out. It fed us and I think kind of got to the other team too," Lighty said.

The Golden Bears came into the game with a high-octane offense that averaged 77 points per game. That offense was headlined by forward Anderson Ryan who led the PAC-10 in scoring at over 22 points per game. Against OSU however Cal was held to 21 points under their average and Anderson managed just 11 points in 32 minutes of play.

"That's something that coach focused on all week in practice," said Lighty.

"He (Matta) said they had a top-10 offense in the country.

"People never really played them a zone like ours. I think it was something new to them."

OSU's zone made life tough for Cal, but so did OSU's press, particularly in the closing minutes of the first half .What had been a pretty even game suddenly became one-sided when OSU's pressure began to produce turnovers that the Buckeyes then were able to turn into points. The Buckeyes led by just three at 22-19 with 4:30 remaining in the half, but were able to go on a 13-4 run to end the half and take a 12-point lead to the locker room at the intermission. The run was fueled by three Cal turnovers and two three point field goals by senior guard Jamar Butler.

"It was the last few minutes of the first that created some separation," said Braun.

"It was that one run where they cut it open. I thought that was the key. It wasn't just in the full court when they pressured, but in the half court when they pressured out on the wings a little bit," Braun said.

"It wasn't really a tough press," said Cal guard Jerome Randle who led Cal with 18 points.

"We just didn't keep our composure and settle down. We let them speed us up instead of controlling the tempo,"

Othello Hunter dunks against Cal
Photo by Jim Davidson

The Golden Bears were having a tough time getting open shots and scoring points. They also had a tough time getting rebounds. OSU senior forward Othello Hunter simply owned the glass. Hunter had a career-high 16 rebounds to go with 11 points.

"It felt like Othello played like a man tonight and did a tremendous job on the glass," said Matta.

"Othello was a monster down there," agreed Lighty.

"He was relentless. I think he showed how much he can affect a game when he comes to play."

Butler led all scorers with 20 points and freshman center Kosta Koufos contributed 17 more. It was a very strong performance by the Buckeyes in a venue that seemed to grow louder and more excited as the game progressed.

"It was electric in there," said Matta.

"It was a great atmosphere out there," agreed Butler.

"It was loud, the crowd got us going out there."

OSU will now meet Dayton in the quarterfinals of the NIT. The game will take place in Columbus on Wednesday, but will be played in the Jerome Schottenstein Center.

"We're going to need them back at the St. Schott on Wednesday night," quipped Matta who went on to defend OSU's current home arena.

"I think when the Schott is rockin' it's as good as any place in the country. We've had a lot of games like that," Matta said.

Tickets for the Dayton game will go on sale the the Value City Arena box office at 10:00 AM or can be purchased at hangonsloopy.com.

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