The Buckeyes are ready to stare down North Carolina and company this week at Madison Square Garden.
Ohio State’s upcoming trip to New York City and the impending nationally televised men’s basketball games at Madison Square Garden bring back memories, good and not-so-pleasant, of the 2007-08 season.
In the fall of 2007, the Buckeyes were coming off an appearance in the national championship game but also dealing with massive turnover. Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook all bolted after their freshman season, following Ron Lewis and Ivan Harris out the door.
It turned out that the first early tests that season came in the Big Apple in the NIT Season Tip-Off as the Buckeyes tangled with ranked Syracuse and Texas A&M teams the week of Thanksgiving. OSU was able to get past the No. 21 Orange in a 79-65 win, but it didn’t lead to bigger and better things as hoped. Two nights later, the Buckeyes were battered on the boards and dumped 70-47 by the No. 15 Aggies in what now has to be considered the ugliest loss in the Thad Matta era. OSU managed to make just one field goal in the first 11-½ minutes of the second half.
“I’m never watching the Texas A&M game again,” Matta said Tuesday.
The next big showcase game came at Value City Arena against No. 1 North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Even though the Buckeyes led 32-29 at halftime and got a surprising team-high 19 points out of then-freshman Jon Diebler, they wilted in the second half again and lost 66-55 to a UNC team that was without point guard Tywon Lawson.
“I remember we had trouble scoring,” said Diebler, now a 6-6 junior and third-year starter. “There was a stretch where we had five or six minutes without scoring a field goal. It was bad. But I think our defense really bothered them. I think one of the main reasons it did is because we got back in transition on defense.”
OSU did hold the Tar Heels to a season-low output but could not slow down Wayne Ellington in the second half or establish center Kosta Koufos, who was 1 for 10 from the field, in the paint.
Not only did the Buckeyes not cut down the nets at MSG and get outclassed at home by the nation’s top team two years ago, they failed in their next four attempts against ranked teams and did not upend another quality team until March, which kept them out of the NCAA Tournament field. As fate would have it, they were placed in the NIT and won three games in Columbus – including a memorable one with California at St. John Arena – setting up a return trip to New York.
The Buckeyes got to clip some twine after all as they took down Mississippi and Massachusetts to win the postseason NIT title, the school’s second.
Now this year’s team is ranked 2-0 after wiping out Alcorn State 100-60 and James Madison 72-44 in the 2K Sports Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer and No. 15 Ohio State next faces No. 6 North Carolina (3-0) at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night (approx. 9:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2). The winner of that game will play the following night against the winner of the first semifinal between No. 13 Cal and Syracuse. The losers of the two semis also will play on Friday.
Three old foes, a familiar arena and lots on the line – again.
First up: the defending national champions, albeit without Tyler Hansbrough, Lawson and Ellington.
“I think it’s a unique opportunity for our team, and I say that from the standpoint of North Carolina is the defending national champion and they’ve won two out of five (years),” Matta said. “It is a great program and I hope our guys are excited to play the game. It’s still early in the season, but for that 40 minutes it’s game on.”
After that it’s game on again – and without a day of rest in between like in the preseason and postseason NIT events of two seasons ago.
“It’s something you worry about as a coach but then you say, ‘They’ve got to do it, too,’ ” Matta said. “I think these guys have seen the difference in practice. In my mind, I knew we were playing 80 minutes of basketball in two days as we started the season and tried to get us in the best shape we possibly could. We’ll taper things off a little bit knowing what lies ahead here.”
Matta doesn’t want to put too much emphasis on facing UNC knowing Cal and Syracuse could be just as formidable. The Golden Bears are the favorite to win the Pac-10 title and Syracuse is loaded with talent and will have the homecourt advantage.
“I’ve seen Cal,” Matta said. “I’ve seen Syracuse a little bit on TV. I know both are great teams.”
Cal owns a 9-8 all-time mark against Ohio State but the Buckeyes are 4-1 lifetime against Syracuse.
First, though, OSU has to tangle with the Tar Heels, who own a 9-2 all-time mark in the series. The year prior to the meeting in Columbus, the teams were paired for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in what organizers and television producers no doubt hoped would make for compelling theater with the two top recruiting classes clashing in the storyline. Oden did not play because of an injured wrist. Still, the game (played Nov. 29, 2006) lived up to hype and then some as No. 7 UNC won a barnburner with No. 3 Ohio State, 98-89. Guard/forward David Lighty, now a redshirt junior, played in that contest in Chapel Hill and started as a freshman. He logged eight points, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
With a veteran team on hand – Lighty will man the power forward spot and be joined in the starting lineup by junior guards Evan Turner and Diebler, sophomore guard William Buford, and either senior Kyle Madsen or junior Dallas Lauderdale at center – the Buckeyes head to New York with a been-there, done-that attitude.
“There’s more of a knowing,” Matta said. “I think all young guys when they go into situations are nervous and maybe also have a false sense of confidence because they just don’t know what’s coming at them. As you continue to play game after game after game and you go into the tough environments these guys have been in, you just have more to draw from, of saying, ‘This game is like that game my freshman year or my sophomore year or my junior year.’ You’ve got more to draw a parallel to to get yourself ready to play.”
Diebler used himself as an example.
“My freshman year, I remember going into Madison Square Garden and I was thinking like, ‘Man, (Michael) Jordan has played on this court, LeBron (James), Kobe (Bryant),’ ” he said. “I was just shocked just to be there. But now we’ve all been in the big game, we’ve had big wins against good teams and we know what to expect going into the game and I can honestly say from my experience in the past, especially my freshman year, we weren’t prepared for that because we had just never been through something like that. Now we’ve all been through it, so I think it helps a lot.”
“That’s the only way you get better through situations, is experience,” Lighty said. “Playing there, knowing how it is, how the crowd is going to react. Playing Syracuse there everyone is against you because everyone is from New York. You’ve got to be focused and come prepared.”
Most of the Buckeyes have faced North Carolina and played in New York. The ones that haven’t should be able to handle it.
“P.J. (Hill) was the starting point guard on the team last year that knocked off No. 5 Michigan State in the conference tournament,” Matta said. “Jeremie (Simmons) was a starter on a team that knocked off Miami (Fla.) and Notre Dame last year. Even Walter (Offutt) got some key minutes down the stretch (last season). So hopefully those guys have a pretty good understanding of the magnitude of what we’re up against.”
The team’s youngest player, reserve 7-0 center Zisis Sarikopoulos, is the most traveled as he has lots of international experience playing for the Greek national team.
For those reasons, Lighty will ooze a cool confidence this week as the team leader.
“Most of them understand what’s at stake in the little two-game tournament that we have and what can happen coming out with two good wins for our team and our conference,” he said. “I’ll talk to the team, but probably nothing too crazy.”
Diebler said the players also know what a couple early wins over name programs can do for the Buckeyes. Last year, they took down Miami and Notre Dame in back-to-back games, remained in the bracketology all season and were placed in the NCAA Tournament field.
“I think it just gave us a lot of confidence, especially early on in the season, getting a couple big wins like that,” Diebler said. “Especially in this game (vs. UNC) it’s an early opportunity for us to make some noise, not only for the Big Ten but around the country. We know we have an excellent opportunity at hand but we also know this is one game and we have another game right that. So we’re focused on North Carolina right now and it is an opportunity for us to make some noise.”
The Buckeyes also feel semi-prepared for the trip after playing three exhibition games in Windsor, Ontario, in late August and bonding in less-than-swanky accommodations, although Matta warned against drawing too much comparison between those trips.
“First I would say that where we stayed in Canada and where we are going to stay in New York are two completely, completely different scenarios,” he said, drawing laughs from reporters. “You hope guys have a pretty good feel for what we do on the road and how we do it. I know this: I probably strive daily to try to figure out the right things to do or say to get your team ready to play outside of the Schottenstein Center. I haven’t completely figured it out yet. Sometimes I think I’ve got it. But the good thing is you’re going to play two neutral-site games.
“I think that (Canada trip) was good for our guys. I think, honestly, they had the time of their lives. But New York City is a completely different world from anywhere else.”
Matta said he’s not sure if he’ll start the 6-8 Lauderdale inside but he plans to play him without limitations. Lauderdale missed the opener with a broken ring finger and played 13 minutes in his season debut against James Madison, recording two points and four rebounds.
“He’s coming along well and I think he’s getting more and more comfortable,” Matta said. “His first day back the other day I think he went after a couple balls with his left hand and I went over and said, ‘Vince (O’Brien, the team trainer), is he not able to use his right hand?’ and he says, ‘No, he’s fine. We’ve just got to get him accustomed to it,’ and quite honestly I haven’t seen in practice lately him use the one hand. I think he feels good with it now.”
Matta said he also isn’t afraid to call on Madsen and Sarikopoulos in the middle.
“First, I like the fact that both guys do what they’re told to do and supposed to do,” he said. “Position-wise defensively, they’re in the right position. Both guys are playing extremely hard. Kyle’s ability to step out and shoot the basketball is something that definitely helps our team. I think Z just with his size inside, he’s hard to move. When he catches it he’s got pretty good vision for finding guys. He’s had some good post moves – a couple have gone, a couple haven’t gone but have been right there on the rim. Both guys know their role and know what they’re job is on the team.”
The Buckeyes likely will need all three big men as they face a UNC front line that features senior Marcus Ginyard, bruisers Ed Davis and Deon Thompson and 7-0 center Tyler Zeller. The Heels also feature returning guards Larry Drew and Will Graves as well as a talented freshman class that includes guards Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland.
“They just keep coming,” Lighty said. “They just keep coming in waves. They’ve got a lot of good players, they’re real athletic, real big, they’ve got size and they just have players that play their role and fit in good with their system.
“They’re an uptempo type of team. They want to push it as much as possible, so transition defense is going to be a must, getting the ball stopped and not letting them do the things they want to do.”
The Buckeyes know they are facing a mighty challenge but this time they feel prepared for it.
“This is on a national stage at the greatest venue and we feel that we can take advantage,” Diebler said. “We feel that this is something that we can’t let pass because we know we’re playing the defending national champions. They’re the national champions until somebody takes it away from them. We feel we’ll be ready for the game and we’ll be excited to play.
“And I know they’re going to be excited to play. I’m sure a lot of people are questioning them with their youth and a lot of new guys and they want to prove themselves, too, so I think it’s going to be a great game.”
(Stay tuned to Bucknuts.com this week for our What To Watch previews of both games in New York as well as full game coverage and analysis.)
