Men’s Hoops prepares for Hurricanes Dec. 27 – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/26/1998 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
December 26, 1998
Ohio State Wins Puerto Rico Classic With Win Over Ole Miss
Scoonie Penn scored 20 points and Michael Redd added 19 as Ohio State beat Mississippi 67-62 Wednesday in the championship game of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.
The Buckeyes (11-2) used big runs at the end of each half to win an eight-team tournament for the first time since 1961 when Ohio State boasted one of the best teams ever with Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek and a reserve named Bobby Knight. Mississippi (9-3) took a 34-33 lead on a 3-pointer by Michael White with 1:44 left in the first half. The Buckeyes scored eight points over the final 22 seconds of the half to take a 41-34 lead. Redd, the tournament MVP, started the run with two free throws. With five seconds remaining he made a short jumper and was fouled by Keith Carter. Redd’s free throw put the Buckeyes up 38-34. The ensuing inbounds pass was deflected into the hands of Penn who launched a 3-pointer from the corner which dropped in at the buzzer. The Rebels opened the second half with an 8-2 run, closing to 43-42 with 15:30 left. Jason Smith, who led the Rebels with 15 points, and Rahim Lockhart each had four points to the run. Lockhart, a reserve, added 14 points and nine rebounds.
The score was tied 60-60 with 2:06 and the Buckeyes closed the game with a 7-2 run. Jason Singleton’s three-point play off a steal gave Ohio State a 64-60 lead with 29 seconds left. After the Rebels closed to within 64-62, Penn made two free throws with 16 seconds left and Redd made two more with just four seconds left. Ohio State reached the final with victories over Alabama-Birmingham and North Carolina State.
Noting the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic
The Buckeyes won the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic Championshipagainst Mississippi marking the first time Ohio State won in thefinals of a three-day, eight-team tournament since the 1961-62season when the Buckeyes won the LA Holiday Classic held in LosAngles, Calif. Ohio State beat Washington (59-49), UCLA (105-84)and USC (76-66). OSU, ranked No. 1 the entire season, finished 26-2that year, losing in the NCAA Championship game to No. 2 Cincinnati(71-59). Ohio State will be faced its third SEC team of the seasonafter downing Alabama 78-70 in Columbus Nov. 15 and falling on theroad at Vanderbilt 92-86 in overtime Nov. 28. Ohio State is now 1-0vs. Mississippi. The Buckeyes are 26-22 all-time against the SEC. nOhio State shot 54 percent from the field in the tournament(78-145), including a season high 66 percent against N.C. State(29-44). Prior to last week, last time Ohio State won a gameoutside the continental United States was Dec. 23, 1993 againstBoston College in the Maui Classic. OSU won that contest 69-67against No. 18 Boston College. The last Buckeye win during anin-season tournament was a 92-88 victory over Eastern Kentucky inthe Casper Shootout held in Casper, Wyo., Dec. 28, 1995. Ohio Statewas playing for the first time in Puerto Rico. Ohio State is now88-69 (.558) in neutral site contests. Michael Redd, who washonored by the Big Ten Conference as the leagues’ co-player of theweek last Monday after a pair of 20+ scoring outings last weekscored 20 or more points in each of his last four consecutiveoutings before being held to 19 points by Ole Miss. JasonSingleton, who was selected to the all-tournament team in PuertoRico. He connected on 14-19 shots from the field for 74 percentaccuracy. He also averaged 6.7 rebounds. Ohio State is now 11-0 ingames the Buckeyes have led at the half. With 28 points and 12rebounds vs. UAB (12/21) Michael Redd notched his first and theteam’s first double-double of the season. Redd now has six careerdouble doubles. His last prior to his effort against UAB was a20-point, 11 rebound effort against Michigan (1/17/98). JasonSingleton added the second OSU double-double of the season with 17points and 10 rebounds against N.C. State. He made all seven shotshe took from the field as well against the Wolfpack. Redd iscurrently No. 5 all time in career scoring with a 21.2 average. TheBuckeyes placed three players in double figures against Mississippi(Penn 20, Redd 19 and Singleton 11). It was the 10th time in 13games OSU has had three or more players in double digits.
Three Buckeyes Make Puerto Rico All-Tournament Team
Sophomore Michael Redd was selected as the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic MVP while teammates Jason Singleton and Scoonie Penn joined him on the all-tournament team. Redd averaged 23.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, scoring 70 points in the three-day event. He connected on 53 percent of his shots from the field as well. Singleton, a senior forward, scored on 74 percent of his shots from the field (14-19) while averaging 12.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. Penn, who led all scorers with 20 points in the championship game, averaged 16.7 points, while adding 15 assists and six steals. Penn also knocked down 80 percent of his free throws (16-20).
Buckeye Starters Scoring High From The Field
The five players who have started each game for Ohio State this season are knocking down 54 percent of their shots this season (278-511). Senior Jason Singleton leads the way with a 72.1 scoring average (49-68). That would be good enough for a Top 5 spot nationally but he has not averaged the NCAA minimum of five field goals per game to qualify for national rankings. Jon Sanderson (.561), Ken Johnson (.578) and Scoonie Penn (.500) are the other starters averaging .500 or more. Michael Redd (.495) rounds out the starting five.
Ohio State Makes Quickest Turnaround In School History
Ohio State equalled its win total from last season with the win over Florida Atlantic (99-70). The win over the Owls, marked the quickest an OSU team equalled the previous season’s win total in school history (minimum eight victories). OSU finished the 1997-98 campaign with an 8-22 mark and reached that total Dec. 17. The previous record for quickest turnaround from one season to the next was during the 1915-16 to 1916-17 seasons. OSU was 9-13 in 1915-16. The Buckeyes won their ninth game the following year Jan. 13, 1917 against Oberlin (38-14). OSU finished 15-11 that season.
Radojevic Leads JC Team to No. 3 Ranking at Season Midpoint
After the conclusion of the early 1998-99 recruiting season, the Ohio State class of Brent Darby, a 6-0, 185-pound guard, Slobodan Ocokoljic (o-SOAK-o-litch) a 6-8, 210-pound forward and Aleksandar Radojevic (Ra-DOY-yo-vitch), a 7-3, 245-pound center, is ranked with the Top 15 classes nationally. Hoopscoop has OSU tied at No. 15 with Kansas. Basketball Times rates the class No. 14 and Van Coleman of Future Stars rates the class No. 11. Radajevic, the only returning sophomore at Barton Country (Kan.) Community College, has helped his team to a 14-0 record and a No. 3 national ranking in the NJCAA. He has averaged 12.9 points and 7.6 rebounds to go along with 49 blocks this season.
Miami handles Memphis in tune-up for Buckeyes
Tim James scored 23 points and Johnny Hemsley added 22 as Miami defeated Memphis 80-64 Tuesday, despite the loss of two starters. Miami (6-2) extended its winning streak to four games and won its 100th game at the Miami Arena, where the Hurricanes have played since 1988. Omar Sneed paced the Tigers (6-4) with 18 points, and Georgetown transfer Shamel Jones added 11 points and 9 rebounds. Miami lost starting forward Kevin Houston for 4-6 weeks because of a stress fracture of the right foot and starting point guard Michael Simmons, who went down with a sprained ankle in the first half. Hemsley paced the Hurricanes with 10 points in the first half, including two of his four 3-pointers, to help Miami take a 32-20 lead at the half. James, who added 10 rebounds, six blocked shots and five steals, scored 10 of Miami’s first 12 points in the second half to give the Hurricanes a 44-39 lead.
Hurricanes 6-2 and Winners of Last Four Contests
Miami opened the season 2-2 before rattling off four consecutive wins to enter the game with the Buckeyes 6-2. The Hurricanes opened the season on the road with a win over Florida Atlantic (11/13, 97-73) and a loss to UNC-Charlotte (11/23, 66-58). The Canes then hosed Northern Iowa (W 78-69) before traveling to Kentucky (L 74-65) Dec. 5. Three of the last four games have been on the home court. Wins have come over Boston College (77-64), Central Florida (66-56) and most recently over Memphis (80-64, 12/22). The road win in that stretch was at Georgia State (76-55) Dec. 18.
OSU and the Miami Series
Ohio State head coach Jim O’Brien is familiar with the Big East Conference having coached at Boston College for the major portion of his 17-year career. The game today will be the first against his former league as mentor of the Buckeyes. Ohio State is 1-0 over the Hurricanes all-time. The only meeting took place at Miami Dec. 21, 1953. The Buckeyes won that contest 106-81.
OSU vs. the Big East
Over the years the Buckeyes have met teams representing the Big East Conference 75 times. OSU owns a 48-27 record in those contests. Only Rutgers (1-0) owns a winning record over the Buckeyes. OSU vs. the Big East
Boston College 1-1 Connecticut 3-1 Georgetown 2-1 Miami 1-0 Notre Dame 6-4 Pittsburgh 15-9 Providence 1-0 Rutgers 0-1 Seton Hall 2-1 St. John’s 4-2 Syracuse 3-1 Villanova 1-1 West Virginia 9-5 Totals 48-27 Coach at Miami
Leonard Hamilton is in his ninth season at Miami. He has posted a record of 104-130 over his tenure with the Hurricanes. Overall, he is 160-194 in 13 years of coaching, which included four years at Oklahoma State (1986-1990). He took the Cowboys to the NIT second round in his last two seasons before joining the Miami staff. He has guided the Hurricanes to postseason play in three of the last four seasons, including the school’s first NCAA Tournament appearance last year since 1960).
OSU Three-Point Field Goal Streak Extended to 197
Ohio State has connected on at least one three-point field goal attempt over the last 197 games. Junior Scoonie Penn extended the streak with a trey early in the first half against Mississippi. The last time an OSU team missed all attempts from three-point range was Feb. 2, 1992 when the Bucks went 0 for 5 in a 68-58 OSU win over Michigan. Buckeye opponents have a streak of 189-consecutive games with at least one three-pointer made. Michigan went 0-10 from long range March 3, 1992 in an OSU 75-66 victory, marking the last time an opponent was held without a three-pointer.
Buckeye bits…
OSU is 11-0 when leading at the half…40 times members of the Buckeyes have scored in double figures this season, Michael Redd has been in double digits in each game, Scoonie Penn 10 times…Ten different Buckeyes have scored in double figures this season…Redd has scored in double figures in 42 of 43 career games, including the last 30…He has six career double-doubles after his 28-point, 12 rebound effort against UAB (12/21) in the first round of the Puerto Rico Holiday Classic.
Opponents Shooting 39.4 Percent
Ohio State has held 8 of 13 opponents under 40 percent shooting this season. Opponents are shooting just 39.4 percent overall from the field (288-731). Ohio State has been held under 40 percent just once. Penn State allowed the Buckeyes to connect on 26 of 66 attempts for 39.4 percent. OSU is shooting 49.9 percent on the season (379-759).
Aggressive Defense Helps OSU
Not only is the Ohio State defense holding opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field, it has been blocking shots and helping itself with steals as well. Ohio State has blocked about three times as many shots as its opponents (57-21) and has nearly doubled its foes in steals (115-66). Ken Johnson is the leading shot blocker with 34 while four Buckeyes have 10 or more steals. Jason Singleton leads with 26 thefts followed by Scoonie Penn (21), Michael Redd (17) and Brian Brown (16).
A Pair of Buckeyes Could Reach 1,000 Points This Season
Two Buckeyes could reach 1,000 career points this season. Senior Jason Singleton (823) is just 177 short. Sophomore Michael Redd went over the 900 mark (911) with 19 vs. Mississippi. He is 89 shy after his record-setting freshman campaign (658 pts.). Another Buckeye, junior Scoonie Penn, could reach 1,000 points as well for his career. He tallied 737 during two seasons at Boston College. He has scored 204 at Ohio State leaving him 59 shy of 1,000 for his career.
Noting the Buckeyes…
Neshaun Coleman…Has played double-digit minutes in seven games this season in a backup role…High of 11 points and three three-pointers against Oakland (11/13/98)…has seven assists and six steals and just one turnover in 14.0 minutes a game this season…Has connected on his last 17 free throws, though has not been to the line this season…needs one assists to reach 200 for his career. Scoonie Penn…Has 10 double-digit scoring outings, including a season-high 24 at Toledo…is shooting 50 percent from the field (69-138), 41 percent from three-point range (26-64) and 76 percent from the foul line (40-53)…shot just 32 percent from three-point range at Boston College…has two or more threes in eight games…leads team in minutes played with 421 (32.4)…Big Ten Player of the Week (11/16)…has started all 69 games in which he has appeared…has at least one assist in all but one game in his career (Miami, 1/2/97)…voted to the all-tournament team in Puerto Rico. Brian Brown…Third on team with 29 assists…has scored in every game…has connected from long range in 7 of 13 games…has an assist in every game as a Buckeye (13 gms)…has played 14 or more minutes in every game, averages 20 minutes a contest…adds depth to the guard spots. Boban Savovic…Had career high 16 points against UT Martin…hit 6 of 8 shots vs. the Skyhawks, including 3 of 5 three-pointers…also added three assists vs. UTM…connected on 5 of 6 FTs vs. Army…scored 10 points in that game with three assists in 22 minutes…scored in double figures in back-to-back games. Michael Redd…Leads team with 19.5 ppg…Puerto Rico Holiday Classic MVP…also has 21 assists and 17 steals…leads in rebounding with 6.2 rpg…second on team in minutes played with 30.0 mpg…has started all 43 OSU games in career…leads team with 91 FGs this season…had career high six three-pointers made vs. Oakland (11/13) and Florida Atlantic (12/17)…33 of 80 rebounds this season are on offensive end…has at least two rebounds in every game as a Buckeye (43)…Needs 89 points to reach 1,000 for career. Jason Singleton…Having a productive senior year…shooting .721 percent from the field (49-68)…connected on 73.7 percent of his shots in Puerto Rico (14-19) to earn a spot on the all-tournament team…hit 7 of 8 FTs to seal win over Alabama (11/15/98)…has played in 96 games at OSU…leads team with 2,357 career minutes…has connected on at least 60 percent of his shots from the field in 10 of 13 games this season. Devon Smith…Has appeared in four games…played 10 minutes in win over Army (11/22/98). Kwadjo Steele…Had career high four points against Florida-Atlantic…knocked down first career three-pointer against UT Martin…has seen action in six games…scored two points in opener against Oakland…grabbed three boards in win over Army. Ken Johnson…Tied career high with 15 points at Vanderbilt (11/28/98)…set career high with seven blocks against both Robert Morris and Vanderbilt…hit 7 of 8 shots from the field vs. Vanderbilt…leads team with 34 blocks…seventh on all-time list with 92…has at least one block in 32 games as a Buckeye and 11 of 13 this year…Needs 13 rebounds for 200 in career. Jon Sanderson…Connected on 7 of 7 shots against Florida Atlantic (12/17)…had season high 18 points vs. Army…connected on 6 of 13 (.462) from three-point range…one of four Buckeyes in double figures against UT Martin (10 pts.)…has started 41 of 43 career games…as a Buckeye. George Reese…Top player off the bench…in the game when it counts…made all six FT attempts against Vanderbilt…capable of giving team a boost both on the offensive and defensive end of the floor…has two double figure scoring games and six games with nine points. Will Dudley…Has appeared in 11 of 13 games this season…shooting 67 percent from the field (12-18)…connected on all five shots against Army for career best 11 points. Shamar Herron…Had season high five points in win over Army…has played in six games this season with high of 13 minutes against Army…had seven rebounds vs. the Cadets…24 of his 55 career rebounds have been on the offensive end of the floor.
Buckeyes Celebrating 100 Years
Ohio State celebrates 100 years of men’s basketball during the 1998-99 season. The Buckeyes first fielded a team in 1898, posting a record of 12-4. Since then, OSU has compiled a record of 1,264-902 (.584). Since joining the Big Ten, Ohio State has won or tied for 15 conference titles, winning 10 outright. OSU has an overall record in Big Ten games of 610-599 in 87 years of membership. Along the way, the Buckeyes have produced 14 All-Americans, three Associated Press players of the year, 13 NBA first round draft picks, eight members of the National Basketball Hall of Fame, two U.S. Olympians and countless others national, international, conference and local award winners and team members.
Michael Redd Scores First Buckeye Basket in Value City Arena
The clock showed 18 minutes, 20 seconds remaining in the first half when Buckeye sophomore Michael Redd squared and launched a left-handed three-pointer from the right wing. The attempt found the target, giving Ohio State a 3-0 lead, marking the first official basket made at Value City Arena. For Redd, it was just the start of a 29-point effort in leading the Buckeyes to an 89-61 victory. Redd made the first shot in each of the exhibition openers as well.
Redd Considered for Wooden Award
Ohio State sophomore Michael Redd is on the preseason watch list as a candidate for the prestigious John R. Wooden Award, given annually to the nation’s top collegiate player. Redd is among 50 players under consideration this season.
Redd Preseason All-Big Ten Selection
Both the Big Ten coaches and media selected the same five players to their preseason all-Big Ten Teams at the annual media day festivities in Chicago (Oct. 25). Ohio State sophomore Michael Redd earned a selection along with Louis Bullock (Michigan), Mateen Cleaves (Michigan State), Evan Eschmeyer (Northwestern) and A.J. Guyton (Indiana). Cleaves was tabbed as the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.
