Postgame Notes From No. 1/3 Ohio State vs. Valparaiso – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2006
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Postgame Press Conference
Attendance: 17,311 Ohio State opened the second half on a 17-0run after leading 30-22 over the first 20 minutes to take controlof its seventh win of the season at 47-22 with just under 15minutes to play in the second half. The Buckeyes are 202-52 whenranked in the Associated Press Top 10 and 301-92 when playing as aTop 25 team. Ohio State is 45-37 when playing in games in whichboth teams are ranked. Ohio State freshman Greg Oden made his OhioState debut after spending the last several months recovering fromsurgery to his right wrist. Oden entered at the 16:00 mark of thefirst half. He finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds in 23minutes to mark the first double-double of his career. His firstpoint as a Buckeye came on a left-handed foul shot with 12:56.Oden, naturally right-handed, converted 8-of-15 free throwsSaturday. Defensively, he had an Ohio State season-best fiveblocks. Ohio State finished the game Saturday with a season-highnine blocked shots. Five players had at least one block Saturday.The Buckeyes made 23 of 45 field goal attempts (.511), marking thesixth time this season Ohio State has shot .500 or better. Matta’steams are 22-3 when making at least half its shots in a game. OhioState connected on 10 of 22 (.454) 3-pointers vs. Valparaiso. TheBuckeyes have made 10 or more treys in five games this season. OSUis 37-6 all time when making 10 or more treys in a game and 21-4when doing so under Thad Matta the last three years. Freshman MikeConley Jr. handed out a game-high seven assists against Valparaiso.He has dished out seven or more helpers in five games this year andhas an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.9-1. Senior Ron Lewis scored10 points Saturday. He has scored double figures in all eight gamesthis season. Freshman Daequan Cook finished with 20 points to leadthe Buckeyes. He has reached double digits in seven of eight gamesthis season. Ohio State attempted a season-high 37 free throwsSaturday. Ohio State has won its last 23 non-conference home games(at VCA), going 9-0 in both 2004-05 and 2005-06 and a 5-0 startthis season. Ohio State’s last non-conference home loss was toTexas Tech Jan. 4, 2004. Ohio State is on a 25-0 streak vs.non-conference foes in Columbus. During head coach Thad Matta’sstint in Columbus, the Buckeyes own a record of 37-3 in Columbus.He is 22-0 vs. non-conference foes (at Value City Arena) and has a35-3 record at VCA (13-3 vs. the Big Ten). Ohio State defeatedChattanooga in a non-league game at St. John Arena in November of2004 and Youngstown State earlier this year at Nationwide Arena indowntown Columbus. Ohio State is 5-0 vs. members of theMid-Continent Conference, including a 1-0 record vs. Valparaiso.
