Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Advance in NIT with Win over UNC-Asheville
By John Porentas

It may not have been the NCAA tournament, but it was definitely entertaining.

The Buckeyes (20-13) scored a season-high 36 field goals in an 84-66 win over UNC Asheville (23-10) the first round of the NIT tournament. The free-flowing game was a pleasure to watch after a Big Ten season of grinder games that sometimes provided drama but often also provided a brand of basketball left you wondering if football season had actually ended.

OSU senior guard Jamar Butler found the style of the game much to his liking. Butler recorded a double-double with a game-high 21 points and a game-high 10 assists to fuel the Buckeye offense. Othello Hunter added 16, Kosta Koufos 15 and David Lighty 13 for the Buckeyes. Reid August led UNC Asheville with 20. The Bulldogs shot 52 percent from the field, the Buckeyes just over 56 percent.

"Our guys did a very good job, especially offensively tonight," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

Both teams shot well, but the Buckeyes played enough defense in the first half to force a whopping 16 turnovers. OSU outscored UNC-Asheville 22-4 in points off turnovers in the first half to help them establish a 45-35 lead at the intermission.

"Give Asheville credit, they made shots, did a great job moving the ball. I think we were able to force the turnovers in the first half because they were either scoring or turning the ball over there in the first half," Matta said.

The game had plenty of offensive firepower as both teams shot the ball extremely well. It also had a great sidebar.

OSU center Kosta Koufos defends 7-7 Kenny George.
Photo by Jim Davidson

OSU big men Kosta Koufos, Othello Hunter, Dallas Lauderdale and Matt Terwilliger worked to cope with 7-7 Bulldog center Kenny George and those matchups were almost as entertaining as the game itself. Koufos in particular had a gritty effort, especially on the defensive end of the court. Koufos absolutely refused to give up position to George and was very effective at moving him out of the paint. Koufos' effort against George was both noticed and appreciated by the partisan OSU crowd which cheered Koufos for his defensive effort when Matta substituted for him.

OSU's defensive effort on George was there, but the big man was still able to record a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes of play. He also recorded one block, a snuff of an Othello Hunter layup attempt on which George never left his feet yet was able to block Hunter at the top of his leap.

"Kenny George is a tremendous player," said Koufos. "He's got a bright future ahead of himself," Koufos said.

"I'll be honest, I was very impressed with him (George)," said Matta. "He did a lot of things out there that I didn't think he was going to be able to do."

The Buckeyes controlled play in the second half and led by as many as 19. Matta was able to empty his bench as the game wound down.

The Buckeyes will continue play in the NIT on Monday when they meet the winner of the New Mexico vs. Cal game to be played on Wednesday. OSU's second-round game will be played at St. John Arena due to a scheduling conflict with a concert at the Schottenstein Arena. The time of that game has not yet announced. While no national championship is at stake in the NIT, the Buckeyes are still playing, and that can only be a good thing for Matta's young Buckeye team.

"For us as a staff we're excited we get to work another five or six days with these guys;" said Matta.

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