Postgame Notes From No. 9 Ohio State vs. Purdue – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2006
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Attendance: 18,500 (sellout) Ohio State secured the No. 1 seedin the 2006 Big Ten Conference Tournament and the outrightregular-season Big Ten title with the win vs. the Boilermakers.Ohio State finished the regular season 23-4 overall and 12-4 in theleague. The seeds for the 2006 Big Ten tournament are as follows:1. Ohio State, 2. Iowa, 3. Illinois, 4. Wisconsin, 5. Indiana, 6.Michigan State, 7. Michigan, 8. Penn State, 9. Northwestern, 10.Minnesota, 11. Purdue Ohio State has won 18 Big Ten titles in itshistory, included 11 outright championships. The last league crowncame in 2002 and the last outright championship was earned in 1992.The Buckeyes will open the Big Ten Tournament at noon Friday (ESPN)vs. either No. 8-seed Penn State or No. 9 Northwestern. The eventbegins Thursday with the title game scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Sunday,March 12. The 12 league wins this season are the most since OhioState won 13 Big Ten games in 2000. Ohio State won for the 16thtime this season at home, setting an all-time and Value City Arenarecord for home wins in a season. The Buckeyes are 107-23 all-timein Value City Arena, which includes a 7-1 record in conferencegames this year. Ohio State won 15 games in both 1999-2000 and2001-02 at VCA. The Buckeyes are 47-17 at VCA vs. the Big Ten witha 6-0 record vs. Purdue. The game vs. Purdue marked the fifthsellout of the season for the Buckeyes. Ohio State is 27-7 insold-out games at Value City Arena, which includes a 23-5 recordvs. Big Ten opponents. The games vs. Michigan State (1/15),Illinois (2/12), Northwestern (2/18), Michigan (2/25) and Purdue(3/5) were sellouts this season. The Buckeyes improved to 75-78 andhave won 11 of the last 12 meetings vs. Purdue. The Buckeyes ownthe advantage in Columbus (50-27). When the Buckeyes are ranked inthe AP Top 25, Ohio State is 21-4 vs. the Boilermakers. Ohio Statehas won its last seven games when ranked vs. Purdue and 10 of thelast 11 overall when ranked vs. the Boilermakers. Six seniormembers of the Ohio State men’s basketball team were honored inpregame ceremonies. Fifth-year seniors Terence Dials (recognizedwith brother Michael), Matt Sylvester (parents Mike and Lisa) andJ.J. Sullinger (parents Satch and Barbara, son Jalen) along withJe’Kel Foster (parents Willie and Yolanda, brother Jayvin) andmanagers Dan Gill (parents Jerry and Suzanne) and Troy Brooks(parents Rick and Bonnie) all participated in their final home gameas Buckeyes. Ohio State is 326-104 (.758) when playing as a rankedteam in the AP poll. Overall, the Buckeyes are 198-52 (.792) whenplaying with a Top 10 AP ranking. The Buckeyes are 35-5 overall,23-4 vs. Big Ten teams and 12-1 vs. non-conference foes at ValueCity Arena when ranked by the AP. Thad Matta has directed theBuckeyes to a 31-3 record in Columbus in two seasons as head coachof the Buckeyes. He is 30-3 overall at Value City Arena, whichincludes a 17-0 record vs. non-conference foes. Matta’s 30-3 markat VCA (13-3 vs. the Big Ten) is the best two-year record in thefacility since Ohio State teams were 29-3 in the first two yearsthe building was open (14-1 in 1998-99, 15-2 in 1999-00). TheBuckeyes were 30-1 at home during the 1990-91 (15-0) and 1991-92(15-1) seasons. Terence Dials is tied for the No. 3 spot in careergames played with 127 career appearances. He is knotted with KenJohnson (1998-01) and Jamaal Brown (1989-92). Brian Brown is No. 2with 129 career appearances from 1999-2002. Dials has 1,492 careerpoints, good for the No. 15 spot all-time in scoring at Ohio State,after his 20-point effort vs. the Boilermakers. Dials passed JerryFrancis (1986-89), who scored 1,486 career points during his OhioState career. Dials heads to postseason play with 834 careerrebounds, good for the No. 6 position all-time. He trails No. 5Clark Kellogg (1980-82, 872). Ohio State ended the regular season18-2 when leading at the half, 21-1 when leading with 5:00 to playin the game, 21-4 when holding the opponent under 50 percentshooting. Senior Je’Kel Foster finished with five steals to givehim (66) for the season, 4th (tied) most in OSU history for asingle season. Sophomore Jamar Butler finished with five assists.Ohio State is 20-3 in games in which Butler hands out 4 or moreassists the last two seasons.
