Buckeyes Back On Track – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/29/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 29, 1999
Box Score
%^$Notes and Quotes
%^$Post Game Interview%^$
By RUSTY MILLER
%^$AP Sports Writer
%^$
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Vermont found itself trailing No. 15 Ohio State by%^$just four with 15 minutes remaining Monday night.%^$
Then Michael Redd finally started making some shots.%^$
With Redd scoring nine of his 19 points in a 17-2 second-half run, the%^$Buckeyes rolled to a 74-51 victory.%^$
“In the second half when we got close, Redd really took over the game,”%^$Vermont coach Tom Brennan said. “At that point, they remembered they were Ohio%^$State. And we remembered we were Vermont.”%^$
Redd had hit just six of his first 24 shots from the field in Ohio State’s%^$opening loss to Notre Dame and the first half against the Catamounts.%^$
“We needed a win,” Redd said. “It didn’t matter who it was. It could have%^$been a high school or elementary school team.”%^$
Vermont (0-4) hit seven of its first nine shots of the second half to pull%^$within four, with Tony Orciari scoring 10 of the points in the 18-9 surge.%^$
However, Redd scored the next seven points for the Buckeyes, starting the%^$streak with a 3-pointer from the left wing.%^$
“Except for a couple of breakdowns and lapses, we played pretty good%^$defense,” Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien said. “I was happy to see Michael%^$break out and be a little more assertive offensively.”%^$
The pressure defense by Ohio State (1-1), playing its first game in 13 days,%^$forced the Catamounts to miss 12 consecutive shots from the field as the%^$Buckeyes built a 61-42 lead.%^$
Vermont scored only 11 points in the final 13 minutes.%^$
Redd topped the Buckeyes with 19 points, while Scoonie Penn had 18 and Ken%^$Johnson finished with 12 points. Johnson added five blocked shots and six%^$rebounds.%^$
“I think Johnson is the best-kept secret in the country,” Brennan said.%^$”His presence really bothered us. We wanted to go inside and he just totally%^$negated that.”%^$
The Buckeyes hit 26-of-53 shots from the field, with Penn and Redd combining%^$to go 12-of 27. Redd hit his last three attempts.%^$
That was marked improvement for Ohio State. In a stunning 59-57 loss to the%^$Fighting Irish at home in the Preseason NIT two weeks ago, the Buckeyes shot%^$just 33 percent with Penn and Redd combining to go 10-of-33.%^$
“We are still searching for our game identity,” O’Brien said. “Contrary%^$to what a lot of people believe, we have a lot of players we’re trying to break%^$in and incorporate with the guys who have been around here a couple of years.%^$It’s a work in progress and an ongoing situation with us.”%^$
Orciari scored 16 points and Tobe Carberry had 10 for the Catamounts, who%^$have already lost to a pair of the teams in last year’s Final Four. They opened%^$their season with an 89-52 loss at national champion Connecticut.%^$
Vermont, playing before its largest crowd ever, made just four of its last%^$24 shots from the field. The crowd of 19,100 at Value City Arena was big enough%^$to make it the second-largest city in Vermont.%^$
Prior to the game, a banner commemorating Ohio State’s trip to the Final%^$Four last spring was raised to the rafters at the arena by 1998 co-captains%^$Neshaun Coleman and Jason Singleton.
