Ohio State vs. (1) North Carolina

[ctab5]

VS.

When: November 28, 2007
Tip Time:9:00 PM eastern time
Where:Value City Arena a.k.a the Jerome Schottenstein Center
Where you can see it:ESPN

The Buckeyes are in for a tough test as they take on the number one team in the country Wednesday night.The young Buckeyes look to dethrown the almighty Tarheels with solid team play and outstanding performances from point guard Jamar Butler and forward Kosta Koufos. Will Koufos be able to shut down big man Tyler Hansbrough? Will Butler be able to keep putting up big games? Find out Wednesday night on ESPN.

[AutoModGod]

Will Koufos be able to shut down big man Tyler Hansbrough?

Koufos-Hansbrough will be a very interesting matchup.

Diebler has been struggling, it would be nice to see him get hot and build some confidence in his shot.

[NeutronMan]

I see this one getting.........not so good for the Bucks.  Hope they prove me wrong and play well.

[ctab5]

With weapons like Hansbrough and Ty Lawson the buckeyes will have to play "out of their minds" tonight. It will take a valent effort from Butler, Koufos, and Hunter. The key to the game will be shutting down Hansbrough and keeping Lawson from making big momentum turning plays

[Nate]

This is going to be a tough challenge tonight.  This should be a good measure of how our young team will respond against a big time opponent.

GO BUCKS!   :psdalleyoop:

[AutoModGod]

Great to see Diebler breakout in the first half.
Those 1st 2 3s were well, well outside the 3pt line - amazing.

If we can get Koufos going going with Diebler and Butler in the 2nd half, we might have a chance if we don't run out of gas.

[Nate]

Well, we lost 66-55.  We looked good in the first half.  I fell asleep and didn't see the second half.  NC must have shut us down pretty good. 

[Nate]

Video Recap.

[ctab5]

They're coming back. They're coming back!!! That was my personal thoughts and the thoughts of all Ohio State fans during last nights game. Shooting and rebounding were the biggest problems I saw last night. Ohio State shot 27% from the field last night. Not to mention they got out rebounded 54 to 38. It seemed like everytime North Carolina missed a shot they got the ball back and got second chance points. If the young buckeyes want to compete this year they have to shot the ball better.

All and all it was a good night though. I think Ohio State proved they should be in the top 25 and we finally got Diebler into his comfort zone. He was uncomfortable and scared to take a shot before last night now he will be the much needed third scorer. Look for Lighty to pick up the load a little later in the season. Sweet Sixteen isn't far off for this buckeye team. Koufos will be a force all year (except this game & Texas A&M), Butler will lead the team and be a leading scorer, Diebler will be the three point force, Lighty will pick up the scoring, and Hunter will block shots and be an inner presence. Don't be suprised to see this team go deep in the NCAA tournament.
 
 

[AutoModGod]

ctab5,

Despite the loss, I was impressed with the effort too.  We put up some bad shots when we got behind in the second half and that contributed to our shooting woes.  We will get better at that no doubt as the season progresses.  You're right, our rebounding needs to improve too.  We got slaughtered on the boards.

Hunter is really coming along defensively.  He blocked like 5 shots last night.  He will be one of the keys.  We need to get some better contributions from the bench too.

I agree with you, that this team will surprise folks and could get very good by year's end.

The biggest shortcoming that I see is the lack of a quality backup at the point.  You could tell at times in the first half that Butler was gassed.  Matta called timeouts twice in the second half - just before the TV timeouts - that I thought were to get Butler some extra rest.

Not sure what we will be able to do to spell him.  Any ideas?