Let's help Ryan learn how to "deal with it".
 #1 Ohio State 28-2, 15-2 Big Ten Roster | Schedule |
March 6, 2011 4:00 PM ET - CBS —— The Schott Columbus, OH |
 #10 Wisconsin 23-6, 13-4 Big Ten Roster | Schedule |
Ahhhh Bo Ryan, my old friend. Do you know the Klingon proverb that tells us revenge is a dish that is best served cold? It is very cold in the Schottenstein Center. Well, actually it's not. But it might be cold outside today, and that's close enough for me. Ryan's Wisconsin Badgers come into Columbus for a rematch that has been anticipated by many since the closing minutes of OSU's loss in Madison back on February 12th.
Seniors David Lighty, Dallas Lauderdale, and Jon Diebler will be playing their last game in the Schott, and the team will play with the knowledge that they are outright Big Ten regular season champions, as Purdue dropped a close one at Iowa 67-65. Nevertheless, expect the team and the crowd to be ready for the game in a big way. The nature of the loss at Madison, blowing a 15-point lead, is one reason. The incident where Jared Sullinger was spit on by a fan, and the reaction of Bo Ryan when told about it, is another.
Ohio State leads the all-time series with UW 81-65, including a commanding 51-21 record in Columbus. Last season, OSU overcame foul trouble by leading scorer Evan Turner to defeat Wisconsin 60-51 at the Schott, after being humiliated at the Kohl center earlier in the season. Buckeye fans would be more than satisfied to see a repeat of that performance, although this time around the Badgers will have the services of Jon Leuer, who was injured when UW came to Columbus last season.
| # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST | POS | # | Name | PTS | REB | ASST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44 | William Buford | 14.3 | 3.8 | 3.1 | G | 11 | Jordan Taylor | 18.6 | 4.2 | 4.9 |
| 33 | Jon Diebler | 11.8 | 2.3 | 2.4 | G | 21 | Josh Gasser | 5.8 | 3.9 | 2.4 |
| 23 | David Lighty | 12.3 | 4.0 | 3.4 | F | 24 | Tim Jarmusz | 3.9 | 2.2 | 1.1 |
| 0 | Jared Sullinger | 17.1 | 9.8 | 1.3 | F | 52 | Keaton Nankivil | 10.3 | 4.4 | 0.7 |
| 52 | Dallas Lauderdale | 4.5 | 3.6 | 0.2 | C | 30 | Jon Leuer | 19.0 | 7.4 | 1.8 |
Opponent
Leuer has been Wisconsin's most consistent offensive threat this season, and he was one of the few bright spots in their 70-62 loss at Purdue that followed their big win over OSU. However, against the Buckeyes Leuer was held to 12 points on 5/14 shooting. He had nearly identical stats in the near-loss at Michigan on Feb. 23rd. As teammate Jordan Taylor has been shooting more lately, Leuer's role has been reduced somewhat. Taylor is the man who did the most damage against OSU the first time out, and he will command a lot of attention from Buckeye defenders. OSU's big men (especially Sullinger) must do a better job of hedging on the ball screens this time around if the team wants to avoid a repeat of Taylor's 3-point explosion.
Taylor was impressive on Thursday in Wisconsin's 77-67 road victory against Indiana, but the rest of the team was rather unimpressive in terms of supporting Taylor with scoring. In fact, starters Josh Gasser and Tim Jarmusz attempted only 3 shots between them. In his appearance on this week's Eleven Dubcast, UW blogger Adam Hoge admitted that the Badgers tend to play down to inferior teams when playing on the road, but they tend to play up to better teams. Badger fans better hope the second half of that equation holds true today as OSU is clearly the better team on paper. Can a "lesser" team win on the road against the #1 team in the nation while relying on 2 or at the most 3 (counting Nankivil) consistent offensive threats and getting almost no production from anyone else? We will find out soon enough.
Buckeye Breakdown:
Home has been a friendly place for OSU this season, and if they win today they will set a new record for most home wins in a season (20). With all of the talk about how Wisconsin has twice taken a #1 ranking away from Ohio State (football and basketball), let's keep in mind that both of those games were played in Madison. And unlike football, the basketball Bucks do not have to wait almost a year in order to get back at it against the Badgers. This OSU team is hungry for revenge, and the fact that the regular season title is wrapped up will make no difference. Expect to see maximum effort and intensity from both players and coaches in this game, even if it is essentially meaningless in the standings and rankings.
At the beginning of the season, the primary option for Ohio State on offense was Jared Sullinger. Everyone else got their points but Sully was clearly the go-to guy, and this seemed to serve the team well in close wins at Illinois and at home against Penn State. However, lately Will Buford has been the primary option early in the game as teams move to double-team the freshman. Against Penn State on Tuesday, Buford got the team going early before Jon Diebler went off on his 3-point bonanza. His spinning bank-shots in the paint seemed almost Wade-like, and his outside stroke has been effortless of late. With the perimeter players clearly established in the early going, it will open up the middle a bit and create more space for Sully to do his thing. It will also help that Wisconsin defenders will not get the non-calls they are used to in the Kohl Center and they will not be able to simply shove Sullinger to the floor as a way of defending him. Today, I think superior talent prevails and OSU will finish off the Badgers on their way to a #1 seed in the B1G tourney and also in the national tournament.
Etc
- In home games this season, Ohio State is shooting 49 percent from the field, they are outscoring opponents by 24 points per game, and they have a rebounding advantage of 6.2 rebounds per game.
- Jon Diebler scored a career-high 30 points on Tuesday against Penn State on 10/12 shooting, all 3-pointers.
- Gus Johnson will call the game for CBS, with Dan Bonner serving as commentator.
