Notes and Quotes from Detroit Game – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/13/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 13, 1999
Game Notes
%^$Ohio State vs. Detroit
%^$ * Ohio State has now won 10 of its last 12 games and advances to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1992 – that was also the last time the Buckeyes appeared in the NCAA Tournament. OSU evened its record at 9-9 in second games in NCAA Tournament play – tonight was the Buckeye’s 50th game in NCAA Tournament action. The loss snapped Detroit’s eight-game winning streak and it third to a Big Ten team this season. The Titans finish the year with 25 wins, matching their school record. Ohio State’s 75 points were the most allowed by Detroit in a game this season.
%^$* Detroit was scoreless in the contest for the first 9:48, missing 13 shots from the field (including six three-point attempts) and turning the ball over 3 times. The Titans shot just 20% from the field in the first half and a season-low 30.8% for the game.
%^$* Like Thursday night, Ohio State also got off to a slow shooting start. The Buckeyes hit just three of their first 15 shots vs. Murray State and were just seven of 27 (26%) from the field in the first half tonight. In fact, OSU went seven minutes between field goals at one point in the first half, but hit nine of 12 from the free throw line to pull to the 25-12 halftime lead. However, they shot 59% from the field after intermission in tonight’s contest, including eight of 12 on three-point attempts (67%). OSU is now 20-3 when leading at halftime this season.
%^$* Scoonie Penn had three treys tonight, raising his season total to 79, which is an OSU single season record. His first trey gave OSU 217 consecutive games with at least one field goal from beyond the arc. Penn had a double-double by halftime (the first of his career) with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He finished the game with 15 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
%^$* OSU junior George Reese grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, including nine in the second half, in just 17 minutes of playing time. His previous career high was eight. That effort helped the Buckeyes to a team season high of 53 rebounds. The 53 boards were the most allowed by Detroit this season – the previous best by a Titan opponent was 40 (by Grambling).
%^$* OSU sophomore Michael Redd scored in double digits for the 32nd time in 33 games and the 61st time in 63 career contests. Redd is 47-89 from the field in the last five games – 53% accuracy.
%^$* OSU junior Ken Johnson blocked five shots for the second game in a row and raised his season total to 89, just one short of second place on OSU’s single season list.
%^$* Buckeye freshman Brian Brown, making just his second career start, hit a career-high three treys without a miss.
%^$* Detroit senior Jermaine Jackson scored in double digits for the eighth straight game and the 16th time in the last 17 games.
%^$* Titan junior Daniel Whye had attempted just 10 three-point field goals this season prior to tonight” game, but hit one of three beyond the arc – all in the first half.
%^$
Postgame Quotes
%^$Ohio State
%^$Head coach Jim O’Brien – “Never did I think that we would put ourselves in the position to win the way we did tonight. I thought that we played outstanding defensively. We continued our fine defensive play in the second half and we combined that with a real efficient offensive performance in the second 20 minutes. That was basically the difference. I thought all of our guys did a great job on defense and then we started making some shots and were very unselfish.”
%^$”This has been a gradual process with the development of our team. They have been getting some good shots throughout the year. Within the last couple of weeks Brian (Brown) and Boban (Savovic) have gotten their second wind. I think that Brian and Boban have become lively again and their legs have come back.”
%^$”I thought we played very well tonight. I think we were terrific defensively. When we looked at tapes of Detroit I thought that Phillips is as good as a lot of the guards that we played this year-and we were able to keep him under double figures.”
%^$”This is a real nice win for us. I am happy to see our kids be as happy as they are. I will not soon forget the scene in the locker room after the game. This is a happy group of kids. All year I have been telling them that they deserve it.”
%^$Michael Redd – “Auburn is a tough team. Oklahoma State gave then a run for their money today. Hopefully we can do the same.”
%^$Scoonie Penn – “If my shot is not on I will not be too concerned about it as long as I can help my team out in other ways. I can be a floor leader or rebound like I did today. Whatever I have to do to win I will do. If I am not scoring points it doesn’t make a difference.”
%^$”I think that 12 rebounds is the most I have ever hard in my life-at any level. We finally came up on a team that is not bigger than us. All season in the Big 10 the team have been bigger than us.”
%^$”I think every guy on this team is unselfish. If we see someone open we will hit them and hope they knock the shot down.”
%^$Brian Brown – “Auburn is a good team and they are real physical. If we played as good as we played tonight we could probably beat them.”
%^$On defending Jermaine Jackson – “I just wanted to come out there and bring a spark into the game and play hard defense on him. I tried to wear him down and keep playing solid defense on him.”
%^$”They (Detroit) were definitely getting frustrated and the credit has to go to our defense.”
%^$
Detroit
%^$Head coach Perry Watson – “This was a tough loss for us. We just didn’t play well. I just wish that we could have played as well as I know we could because we had such a great year. If you’re going to end your season with a loss, you would like to play, not just for ourselves, but for our two seniors in Bacari Alexander and Jermaine Jackson.”
%^$Watson on the game getting away from his team early – “We had looks at the basket. Even though that may sound like an insurmountable lead to you, 12-13 is noting more than four, five-six baskets, depending on the way you shoot it. Even if you look at the stats at halftime, they weren’t burning up the nets. They had seven baskets at half and we had five at half. Unfortunately, they had nine or 10 attempts at the free-throw line and we had two and missed front end of one-and-ones. Even though as bad as we were playing, we were still right there. If we just get our rhythm going and get some shots to fall down.”
%^$Jermaine Jackson on the game – “We got good look and good shots, it’s just shots that we didn’t knock down and they came down and knocked down their shots. It was just hard to come back against a good team like that.”
%^$Bacari Alexander on the game – “It was a great atmosphere for Ohio State. I reflect on the UCLA game, and the only difference between the two games was a matter of making shots. Ohio State did a great job of that today.”
%^$Jermain Jackson on scoring 12 points in the first half – “It was tough to just score 12-13 points. We are a team and we have comeback from deficits like that before. Our whole plan was to play hard defense and that’s what we really wanted to do, but they kept on knocking shots down. As you could see we never quit no matter how many point we were down.”
%^$Bacari Alexander – “I won’t necessarily take credit away from Ohio State, they played a great game. But, coach always reminds us of how we hurt ourselves in games. There just were some situations where we could have had better shot selection or defensive reads. It didn’t quite click together. We have been in situations like that and being down 12 points at halftime is no stranger to us. It would have been nice if we could have got them to miss a few more shots.”
