Postgame Notes From No. 5 Ohio State vs. Michigan State – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2007
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Attendance: 18,965 (sellout) With the win Saturday, Ohio Stateextended its home winning streak to 21 games dating back to a 77-67win over Wisconsin Jan. 18, 2006. The Buckeyes’ last home loss wasJan. 15, 2006, in double-overtime, 62-59, against Michigan State.Ohio State’s current 21-game winning streak now stands alone as thethird-longest in program history. Under head coach Thad Matta, theBuckeyes now are 46-3 in Columbus and 44-3 at Value City Arena.Ohio State is now 17-3 in Big Ten games at VCA under Matta. Withthe win Saturday, Matta is now 2-2 in his career against MichiganState. The game Saturday marked Ohio State’s eighth sellout of theseason and seventh-consecutive sellout. When Value City Arena issold out, the Buckeyes are 35-7 overall and 27-5 in Big Tensellouts. With Michigan State’s .444 field goal percentage (24-54)Saturday, Ohio State now is 18-1 this season and 62-16 under Mattawhen its opponents shoot less than 50 percent from the field. TheBuckeyes held Michigan State to 64 points Saturday. Ohio State isnow 17-0 this season when holding opponents to less than 70 pointsand 57-9 under Matta. In Big Ten games only, Michigan State enteredthe game leading the league in scoring defense, allowing only 55.8points a game, but gave up 66 to the Buckeyes Saturday. Ohio Statejunior Jamar Butler handed out six assists Saturday againstMichigan State. The Buckeyes now are 30-7 when Butler hands outfour or more assists. Ohio State went on a 15-7 run early in thegame Saturday and then a 23-8 run to close out the first half enroute to a 43-23 lead at the intermission. The Buckeyes have led athalftime in all 14 home games this season and in 19 of 21 gamesoverall, with an 18-1 record in those games. Ohio State freshmanDaequan Cook connected on two 3-pointers Saturday, giving him 39treys for the season, good for second-most all-time among Buckeyefreshman. Cook trails Michael Redd (1998) by seven for No. 1 on thefreshman 3-pointers made list. Ohio State freshman Greg Odenconnected on a career-high 11 free throws Saturday against MichiganState. He was 11-for-14 from the line. Oden had three blocked shotsSaturday, giving him 50 for the season. The Ohio State freshmanrecord is 70, set by Herb Williams in 1978. Ken Johnson rankssecond with 58 rejections in 1998. With a pair of 3-point FGSaturday, Ivan Harris now stands at No. 10 all-time at Ohio Statewith 110 career makes from long range. At a .402 career clip(110-273), Harris ranks third all-time in 3-point FG percentage atOhio State. Mike Conley Jr. had a pair of steals Saturday to goalong with five assists. He now needs just eight swipes to passMichael Redd (61 steals in 1998) for No. 1 in steals in a freshmanseason. Ohio State is now 213-54 when playing with an AP Top 10ranking and 312-94 when playing with an AP Top 25 ranking. OhioState has been in the Top 10 for the last 28 games (23-5). OhioState led 61-56 with 5:00 minutes left in the game Saturday. TheBuckeyes are now 18-0 this season when leading with 5:00 remainingand 57-4 under Matta.
