Postgame Notes From No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 16 Tennessee – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2007
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery
Attendance: 18,817 (sellout) The game against TennesseeSaturday marked Ohio State’s final non-conference game of the2006-07 regular season. The Buckeyes are now 27-0 in non-conferencegames at Value City Arena under head coach Thad Matta. Ohio State43-3 overall in Columbus under Matta. The game Saturday marked OhioState’s fifth sellout of the season in Value City Arena. When VCAis sold out, the Buckeyes are now 32-7. Ohio State is now 11-3against ranked teams in Value City Arena, including a 1-2 recordagainst non-conference teams. The last ranked non-conference teamto visit Value City Arena was No. 13 Georgia Tech Dec. 3, 2003, a73-53 Yellow Jacket win in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Ohio State isnow 26-23 against teams from the Southeastern Conference, including3-0 against Tennessee. The Buckeyes topped the Volunteers in 1978and 1979. OSU freshmen scored the Buckeyes’ first 14 pointsSaturday (Greg Oden 10, Mike Conley two, Daequan Cook two).Freshman Greg Oden collected his fourth double-double of the seasonSaturday with a career-high 24 points and 15 rebounds againstTennessee. Oden had his double-double by halftime with 16 pointsand 10 rebounds at intermission. Oden also played a career-high 36minutes against the Volunteers. Oden’s previous high was 35 minutesagainst Iowa State Dec. 19, 2006. Freshman Mike Conley Jr. had twosteals Saturday to give him 44 for the season and second place onthe OSU freshman steals list. Conley moved past Derek Anderson, whohad 43 steals in 1993. No 1 on the list, Damon Stringer, had 125steals as a freshman in 1996. Conley scored a career-high 16 pointsSaturday, eclipsing his previous best of 15 scored against IowaState Dec. 19, 2006. Conley also played a career-high 36 minutes.His previous high was 35 minutes against San Francisco Nov. 17,2006. Ohio State went on a 10-2 run to end the first half Saturdayand take a 36-33 lead at halftime. The Buckeyes have led at thehalf in all 11 home games this season and in 15 of 17 gamesoverall, with a 14-1 record in those games. The last six points inthat 10-2 run before halftime came on 3-pointers from freshman MikeConley Jr. It marked the first time this season Conley made morethan one 3-pointer in a game. Ohio State led 59-56 with 5:00minutes left in the game Saturday. The Buckeyes are now 14-0 thisseason when leading with 5:00 remaining and 54-4 under head coachThad Matta. Ohio State is 14-1 this season and 58-16 under ThadMatta when its opponents shoot less than 50 percent from the field.OSU also is 13-0 this season when it holds its opponents to lessthan 70 points and 53-9 under Matta. Ohio State is now 209-54 whenplaying with an AP Top 10 ranking and 308-94 when playing with anAP Top 25 ranking. Ohio State has been in the Top 10 for the last24 games (19-5) and among the Top 25 in the last 42 games (33-9).Ohio State is now 46-39 all-time when playing in games in whichboth teams are ranked. Tennessee entered the game at Ohio Stateaveraging 85.9 points per game, which ranks eighth in the nation.The Buckeyes held the Volunteers to 66 points Saturday.
