Ohio State Hosts Northern Kentucky in Exhibition Action – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2004
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Opponent: Northern Kentucky-Exhibition
Site: Value City Arena (19,200)
Game Time: 7 p.m. (EST)
TV: None
TV Talent: None
Radio: OSU Radio Network (59 stations)
Local Radio: WBNS FM-97.1 AM-1460
Radio Talent: Paul Keels (P-by-P), Ron Stokes (Color)
Matta Era Begins
The 13th head coach in Ohio State history, Thad Matta, 37, took over the Ohio State men’s basketball program July 7. The new staff begins with a roster of 13 players for the 2004-05 campaign, nine of which are returning letterwinners from a 14-16 squad in 2003-04. That Buckeyes finished ninth in the Big Ten with a 6-10 league mark and a first round exit in the Big Ten tournament.
Nonetheless, Matta’s staff is optimistic about the opportunity for success with three of the top four double-figure scorers returning. Matta, who coached for the last three seasons at Xavier and spent time during two stints as an assistant at Miami (Ohio), knows Ohio. He attempted to recruit several members of the current Ohio State squad.
Matta Unbeaten in Debuts
Ohio State is the third stop as a head coach for Thad Matta. In his two previous debuts, Matta defeated Eastern Illinois (90-73) in his first game at Butler in 2000. In his first game as Xavier head coach in 2001, Matta’s squad downed Coastal Carolina 72-41. He also guided the Musketeers to season-opening wins in 2003, an 87-48 win over St. Peters in the preseason NIT, and in 2003, a 62-37 victory over Coppin State.
Hoops Coaches 9-3 In First Games at OSU
The 12 previous men’s basketball coaches at Ohio State have a combined record of 9-3 in their first games as Buckeye head coaches. Thad Matta is the 13th head coach in Ohio State history.
Ohio State is 82-23 in Season Openers
Ohio State opens its 106th season of men’s basketball against Towson in the first round of the Guardians Classic in Columbus. The Buckeyes are 82-23 (.781) all time in season openers. In the first road game of the year, Ohio State is 49-55 (.476). The Buckeyes did not play a road game in 1900-01. Ohio State is 86-19 (.819) in home openers.
A look at the 2004-05 Buckeyes
Tony Stockman, a senior guard and the squad’s leading scorer from a year ago, contributed a solid campaign statistically during his first year in Columbus. The transfer from Clemson led the Buckeyes with 13.6 points per game, 74 assists and 61 steals. He knocked down 73 3-pointers and played the most minutes (972). His gambling defensive style and abilities to knock down long-range shots on the break could mesh well with Matta’s plans for an up-tempo style of play.
To compliment the outside game, junior captain Terence Dials returns to shore up the Ohio State front court, depleted by the loss of 7-foot center Velimir Radinovic (10.3 ppg./6.0 rpg.). Dials was steady throughout the season, making 51 percent (111-220) of his shots from the field and nearly 72 percent of his foul shots (91-127). With a scoring average of 10.4 points and a rebounding mark of 6.6 rpg., the coaches will have a solid interior presence with Dials in the paint. He excelled at the end of last season, making 14 of 17 shots from the floor and 16 of 22 foul shots over the final two games of the season vs. Illinois and Indiana.
J.J. Sullinger also contributed double digits offensively with 10.1 points a game in his first year at Ohio State following a transfer from Arkansas after his freshman campaign.
A number of student-athletes will have an opportunity to fill out the starting lineup. Senior Brandon Fuss-Cheatham will be challenged by incoming freshman Jamar Butler, the 2004 Ohio Mr. Basketball honoree, at the point guard spot. Stockman also spent significant time quarterbacking the Buckeyes last year.
Guards Je’Kel Foster, a junior college transfer, and Ricardo Billings, a junior from Detroit, also will get opportunities with Sullinger at the wing position.
Sophomore Ivan Harris, junior Matt Sylvester, and freshman Jermyl Jackson-Wilson will vie for playing time at forward with freshman Matt Terwilliger battling for time inside with Dials and senior Matt Marinchick.
Stockman Puts Name in Record Book
Tony Stockman made 73 3-point field goals as a junior, the third most by an OSU player in a single season. His 61 steals total for 2003-04 tied him for the No. 7 spot with Michael Redd (1998) for single season steals at OSU. Stockman also attempted 202 3-pointers a year ago, good for the No. 3 spot all-time for single season long range attempts.
Close to 100 at VCA
The Buckeyes begin season No. 7 at Value City Arena in 2004-05. The facility opened for the start of the 1998-99 season and since the Buckeyes have built a record of 77-20 in 97 home games. The Buckeyes have not had a home losing season in the VCA’s existence and have 11 or more wins in five of the six years to date, including 15 victories in 1999-2000 and 2001-02 and 14 wins in both 1998-99 and 2000-01.
A Return to St. John
Ohio State will face Chattanooga the Saturday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 27) at St. John Arena, the longtime home of the Buckeyes prior to the opening of the Jerome Schottenstein Center in the fall of 1998. A scheduling conflict at Value City Arena and the desire to play a game in Columbus that weekend provided the opportunity for the game to be played at St. John. Ohio State last played at St. John Arena Feb. 28, 1998, an overtime loss to Penn State (89-85). Ohio State is 426-151 in 577 games played from 1956-1998 at St. John for a winning percentage of .738.
The game at St. John marks the second-consecutive season in which the Buckeyes will play a game in Columbus away from Value City Arena. Ohio State faced Virginia Tech Dec. 6, 2003 at Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus. That game was played as a preview of the 2004 NCAA First and Second round games, which were contested in Columbus last March at Nationwide.
2007 NCAA Tournament Returns to Columbus The NCAA tournament will return to Columbus for the opening rounds of the 2007 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, the organization announced in July. Ohio State played host to the first and second rounds in 2004. Games were played at Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus, which will again be the site of the event in 2007. Ohio State will act as the host institution for the event.
Clemson, LSU last to Face OSU
Entering the 2004-05 season, the Buckeyes had played every team from both the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences except for one member school from each league. With both Clemson (ACC) and Louisiana State (SEC) on the schedule this year, Ohio State will finish the year with at least one meeting against every member of the ACC and SEC.
Productive Decade Shaping Up
Ohio State’s record in the first decade of the 21st century is shaping up to be one of the best in the history of the program. Ohio State is 98-57 (.632) beginning with the 1999-2000 season. The winning percentage is the second highest since 1910-19. The Buckeyes were 188-69 (.732) from 1960-69.
Marinchick represents Buckeyes in Italy
After a one-year absence, the Big Ten Basketball Foreign Tour teams returned to play this summer. Penn State’s Kurt Kanaskie served as the head coach for the men’s team. The squad played games in Italy from Aug. 10-20. The Big Ten squad last played in Europe in the summer of 2002 and went 4-1 during travels through Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Matt Marinchick, a fifth-year senior center for the Buckeyes, averaged 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds as the Big Ten team compiled a 3-2 record on the trip.
5th Ohio Mr. Basketball Joins Buckeyes
Jamar Butler is the 17th overall and fifth Ohio Mr. Basketball Award winner to play for Ohio State. Butler joins Tony Stockman (2000), Damon Stringer (1995), Greg Simpson (1991, 1992) and Jim Jackson (1988, 1989) as former Ohio Mr. Basketball award winners who went on to play for the Buckeyes.
Attendance in Top 20 for 6th-consecutive Year
Attendance at Ohio State men’s basketball games remained in the Top 20 nationally in 2003-04 and has ranked among the national leaders in all six seasons at Value City Arena. Attendance averaged 14,521 in 15 home games a year ago to rank No. 18 nationally. A total of 1,631,437 have crossed the turnstiles at VCA for an average of 16,819 over 97 total home games since the facility opened for the 1998-99 season. The average is 3,543 more than the capacity (13,276) at St. John Arena, the former home of the Buckeyes (1956-1998).
NCAA Attendance in VCA Era Division I Home Attendance Leaders Year Gms. Total Avg. NCAA Rk 1999 15 258,348 17,223 7 2000 17 317,936 18,702 5 2001 17 298,172 17,540 4 2002 17 282,250 16,603 5 2003 16 256,914 16,057 10 2004 15 217,817 14,521 18 Totals 97 1,631,437 16,819
Northern Kentucky Ohio Connection
A half dozen student-athletes on the Northern Kentucky roster are Ohio natives. Senior guard Mike Kelsey (Cincinnati/Elder), freshman guard Mark Hawkins (Cincinnati/Finney Town), senior guard Sean Rowland (Cincinnati/Elder), sophomore guard Kevin Schappell (Loveland/Loveland) and senior centers Tory Reed (Cleveland/Maine Central Institute) and Pat Cary (Cincinnati/Turpin) all hale from the Buckeye State.
The Schedule
Ohio State opens the season Nov. 15-16 at home in the first two rounds of the Guardians Classic. The winner of the two-day, four-team event advances to Kansas City to play Nov. 23-24. Other non-conference highlights include the game at St. John Arena against Chattanooga, a road game at Clemson Dec. 1 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, and additional road games at Texas Tech in Dallas Dec. 16 and at Louisiana State Jan. 15. The Texas Tech game concludes a home-and-home with the Red Raiders. The contests vs. St. Joseph’s and LSU begin home-and-home series with each school. St. Joseph’s, which spent time ranked No. 1 a year ago, will visit Value City Arena Dec. 31. Thad Matta, Ohio State’s first-year head coach, is familiar with the Hawks, having knocked off No. 1 St. Joseph’s 87-67 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament last March in Dayton.
Lewis to play for hometown Buckeyes
Ron Lewis, who played his first two seasons of college basketball at Bowling Green State University, transferred to his native Columbus to join Thad Matta at Ohio State. Lewis, a 2002 Brookhaven High School graduate, averaged 14.6 points and scored 877 points in his two seasons with the Falcons. He averaged 17.0 points and earned second team All-Mid American Conference honors as a sophomore before his transfer to Ohio State. Lewis started 55 of 60 career games at BGSU and was an 81 percent foul shooter (340-420) for his career. He will have two years of eligibility at Ohio State beginning with the 2005-06 campaign and becomes the first player to join the Buckeyes under Matta’s direction.
Majority of Buckeye Roster from Ohio
Nine of the 14 student athletes on the 2004-05 Buckeyes roster hail from their home state of Ohio. Seniors Matt Marinchick (Hudson) and Tony Stockman (Medina), juniors J.J. Sullinger (Columbus), Ron Lewis (Columbus), Terence Dials (Youngstown) and Matt Sylvester (Cincinnati), sophomore Ivan Harris (Springfield) and freshmen Jamar Butler (Lima) and Matt Terwilliger (Troy) all found their way home to play for Ohio State.
Kentucky Handles NKU in Exh. Opener
Kelenna Azubuike scored 26 points to lead Kentucky to a 91-73 victory over Northern Kentucky Nov. 3 in an exhibition game in Lexington, Ky.
The Wildcats held a 41-38 halftime lead, but Hayes scored eight of Kentucky’s first 10 points of the second half as the Wildcats slowly pulled away from the Norse.
Northern Kentucky narrowed the deficit to 51-49, but could get no closer as Kentucky went on a 14-2 run that pushed the lead to double digits at 65-51 with 8:50 remaining.
Northern Kentucky guard Mike Kelsey scored 18 of his game-high 27 points in the first half.
Northern Kentucky held a 20-12 advantage with 12 minutes left in the half, but the Wildcats made eight consecutive free throws to tie the score at 20-all.
Kentucky then scored 15 unanswered points to give the Wildcats a 27-20 lead with 7:20 left in the half.
The Norse made 7-of-12 shots from long range in the first half and shot 46 percent from the field.
Northern Kentucky is scheduled to face Cincinnati Monday before a game with Ohio State Tuesday.
