Game Notes From Ohio State vs. St. John’s – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/13/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2000
Recap| Box Score| Quotes
Attendance: 17,700
Tickets are available for the Ohio State vs. Kansas game Dec.23 (4:15 p.m., CBS) by calling 1-800-GO-BUCKS or 614-292-2624 or inperson at the Ohio State Athletics Ticket Office in the JeromeSchottenstein Center. Ohio State head coach Jim O’Brien notched his299th career win with the win over St. John’s. O’Brien will shootfor No. 300 Saturday night vs. Morehead State. O’Brien is 299-257in 19 seasons as a head coach. Ohio State improves to 34-3 duringits two-plus seasons at Value City Arena. The Buckeyes areundefeated (5-0) this year inside the friendly confines of theirhome arena. Brian Brown has been a thorn in St. John’s side overthe past two seasons. Brown tallied 18 points on 7-of-10 shootingin tonight’s game. Last season, Brown scored 16 points on 6-of-8shooting to lead the Buckeyes to a win at Madison Square Garden.The New York connection was prevalent in a big way tonight for OhioState’s three New York natives, as Brian Brown scored a game-high18 points and added four steals, while Will Dudley scored aseason-high nine points and Zach Williams added four points. OhioState is 51-32 all-time vs. Big East teams, including a 1-1 recordthis season. OSU fell 77-66 to Syracuse in the semifinals of theGreat Alaska Shootout. OSU leads the series with St. John’s 7-2 andhas posted three straight wins – all in the past three seasons. KenJohnson moved into third place on the all-time Big Ten careerblocked shot chart, swatting four vs. St. John’s. Johnson has 351blocks for his career, moving him past Purdue’s Joe Barry Carroll(1977-80, 349) on the list. Next up on the chart is Iowa’s AcieEarl (1989-93) with 365. Johnson started his 100th career gametonight. He is one of eight players in Ohio State history toeclipse 100 starts in his Buckeye career. Will Dudley scored aseason-high nine points, topping his previous season high of seven,set vs. Eastern Kentucky (12/2/00). Boban Savovic scored aseason-high 15 points while tying his career high of four 3-pointgoals made. Savovic’s previous point high this season was 14, setvs. Eastern Kentucky (12/2). The 15 points were one off his careerhigh of 16, set vs. UT-Martin (12/14/98). Savovic also logged acareer-best 37 minutes, topping his previous high of 33, setearlier this season vs. Valparaiso. Sean Connolly has hit at leastone 3-point field goal in his last 13 games, dating back to hisfreshman year at Providence. The last time Connolly failed toconnect from long distance was Feb. 15, 1999, an 0-for-3performance at St. John’s. St. John’s scored a season-low 58 pointsin the contest. The Red Storm’s previous low was 62, set in a winvs. Kentucky (11/9). The Buckeye offense was clicking early, as ithit 7-of-8 shoots in the game’s first 4:58 and 10-of-13 in first9:50. The Buckeyes shot 68 percent in the first half and 57.8percent for the game. Omar Cook’s eight assists are a Value CityArena opponent record. The previous high was seven, set by NotreDame’s Jimmy Dillon (11/16/99) and Michigan State’s Mateen Cleaves(1/20/00). Cook is ranked third nationally in assists with 8.9 pergame. Cook hit 5-of-16 from the field. In the Red Storm’s fourwins, Cook has connected on 45.4 percent (20-of-44) of his fieldgoals, but in their four losses he has hit on 20-of-65 for 30.8percent. Ohio State extended its streak of consecutive games withat least one 3-point goal made when Boban Savovic drilled a shotfrom behind the arc at the 11:07 mark of the first half. Ohio Statehas connected on at least one 3-point goal in 258-consecutivegames. Ohio State went 10-of-14 (71.4 percent) from the free throwline in the second half, while St. John’s did not attempt a charitytoss after the break. The Red Storm shot just four foul shots inthe contest, well off their season average of 23. With 25 points athalftime, St. John’s became the first of the five opponents tobreak the 20-point barrier at halftime at Value City Arena. Yaleand Denver had posted the highest halftime totals with 18 pointsapiece. Ohio State has held a double-digit lead in every game ithas led at halftime. The Buckeyes are 6-0 in those contests. St.John’s 15-point halftime deficit was its largest at the break thisseason. The Red Storm’s largest deficit prior to the contest was an11-point deficit vs. George Washington.
