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Film Session: Sunday’s mixed bag

by Ryan Corazza in Film Session | January 16th, 2012

In their win over the Hoosiers on Sunday, the Buckeyes scored nearly half their points (39 of 80) off of Indiana’s turnovers and some strong offensive rebounding. The Buckeyes scored 20 points off Indiana’s 17 turnovers, while also pouring in 19 second-chance points off an OR% of 37.9.

A look at a play from each of these four factors, as well as an Indiana score tossed in for good measure in the latest edition of Film Session.

1) A SECOND CHANCE

Aaron Craft shoots a three from the corner:

It misses. Christian Watford has inside position on DeShaun Thomas, but the ball hits the backboard after it caromed off the rim and then hits the rim again– making Watford mistime his jump. Thomas snags the rebound behind him as all five Hoosier defenders are below the free throw line:

Thomas initially tosses it back out to Craft, who swings it to just-heating-up Lenzelle Smith Jr. at the top of the key:

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Tags: Cody Zeller, Ohio State Buckeyes

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The Minute After: Ohio State

by Ryan Corazza in The Minute After | January 15th, 2012

Thoughts on a 80-63 loss against the Buckeyes:

Few, save for Jared Fogle, predicted a victory against the Buckeyes this late afternoon in Columbus.

They were out for revenge against an Indiana squad that defeated them on New Year’s Eve; they’d lost a tough one in Champaign earlier this week with Brandon Paul hitting everything in sight. As Dana O’Neil tweeted: “Never play the Buckeyes when they’re angry.”

But a first-half performance this putrid inside Value City Arena? Oy. Indiana had problems all over the place to start this one. The Hoosiers couldn’t buy a bucket, only having 14 points at the break, mustering just an eFG% of 29.5. They allowed 11 second-chance points to the Buckeyes, who sported an OR% of 37.5. Indiana also turned the ball over too much (12 turnovers, 37.5 TO%). And then there was Lenzelle Smith Jr. He came into this one averaging 5.2 points per game. At half, he had 18. When the final buzzer sounded, Smith had a career-high 28 on 10-of-12 shooting, including four 3-pointers.

But the second half? Indiana held its own. The shooting recovered (it finished with a 49.1 eFG% ) and the 3-point shot — which had been dormant against Minnesota and in the fist half of this one — came to life a bit as Indiana hit 7-of-21 (33.3%) on the evening. Not as good as they’ve been hitting. But not as bad as the first half was projecting. Indiana went 2-3 zones for stretches, which helped slow the Buckeyes some. And the turnovers cooled down (17 total, 26.0 TO% for the game). The Hoosiers also outscored the Buckeyes in the second half, 49-45.

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Tags: Ohio State Buckeyes

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Live Discussion: Indiana at Ohio State

by Staff in Game Threads | January 15th, 2012

Tags: Ohio State Buckeyes

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Pick to Click: Ohio State

by Staff in Pick to Click | January 14th, 2012

Rules are here, for those unfamiliar.

Pool for Ohio State: All players are eligible to be picked.

Picks are due by 4:15 PM ET on Sunday.

A few reminders:

+ State the name of the player (not a nickname) that you’re picking. If you use a nickname for a player, your pick will not be counted. Also, please state who you are picking as the first thing in your comment. We’re tracking hundreds of picks per game. It’s more difficult to keep track of everyone’s pick if it’s not the first thing in your comment.

+ Please make sure you are using a valid e-mail address if you are not registered.

+ Please make sure you are using the same name each time to pick if you are not registered. We are tracking wins by the name you use to submit your pick. If your name changes on a game-to-game basis, credit for your pick will be given to the name used to submit the pick.

Tags: Ohio State Buckeyes

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What to Expect: Ohio State

by Alex Bozich in Opponents | January 14th, 2012

The No. 7 Hoosiers, coming off a disappointing 77-74 home loss to Minnesota on Thursday, hit the road for Value City Arena in Columbus and a showdown with No. 5 Ohio State. Indiana won the first meeting, 74-70, on Dec. 31.

The game will be shown on CBS (Verne Lundquist and Clark Kellogg) and broadcast on the IU radio network:

Indiana’s schedule to begin conference play has been, in a word, challenging. Three of five games against the league’s top tier. And it doesn’t get any easier on Sunday afternoon as the Hoosiers face an Ohio State team that can not afford to fall behind any further in the conference standings. Both teams already own a pair of Big Ten losses and a third will put IU or OSU three behind Michigan State (assuming they emerge victorious today in Evanston) in the loss column.

The payback factor is also in-play as the Buckeyes are looking to avenge a New Year’s Eve loss in Bloomington. Whether it was the atmosphere in Assembly Hall or just a bad game, that loss produced several subpar individual performances from Thad Matta’s club. Aaron Craft had six turnovers. William Buford never established a presence on offense due to foul trouble. Likewise for Deshaun Thomas.

Both teams are coming off surprising losses. For the Hoosiers, a lackluster defensive effort was their ultimate undoing against Minnesota. For Ohio State, a once-in-a-lifetime performance from Brandon Paul (43 points on 11-of-15 shooting) led Illinois to a 79-74 upset on Tuesday. And I don’t use that terminology to describe Paul’s play lightly. He was incredible, but also unlikely to play that well ever again. The Buckeyes ran into a buzzsaw.

DEFENSE SEPARATES THESE TEAMS

Through five league games, Ohio State owns the league’s best defense. They’re allowing just 0.86 points per possession. They’re also ranked No. 1 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency by Ken Pomeroy. Indiana, on the other hand, is allowing 1.12 points per possession in league play. That’s last in the Big Ten.

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Film Session: Craft’s turnovers

by Ryan Corazza in Film Session | January 3rd, 2012

In Saturday’s win over the Buckeyes, Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft turned the ball over six times. Such a mark was a season-high, and tied his career-high. (He had six just once before in a loss to Purdue in West Lafayette last season.)

A few of Craft’s turnovers came on key possessions, allowing the Hoosiers to capitalize and escape with the W.

An inspection of his six miscues in the lastest edition of Film Session:

Craft’s first turnover came in the midst of Indiana’s 23-13 run to close out the fist half. Here, Cody Zeller continues to slide and move with Craft as he looks to get a body into Zeller and pass around him, creating a travel:

Verdell Jones hit two free throw on the ensuing Indiana possession.

Craft’s second and third miscues also came during Indiana’s first half run and allowed the Hoosiers to go up by a point at half, 33-32. Victor Oladipo played some ahem, crafty on-ball defense, picking Craft’s pocket on back-to-back Ohio State possessions: