Ohio State Faces Memphis For Trip To Final Four – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 23, 2007
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San Antonio, Texas – No. 1 Ohio State advanced to take on No. 2 seed Memphis at 3:40 p.m. CDT Saturday (CBS) in the 2007 South Regional Finals at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Buckeyes downed Tennessee for the second time this season outscoring the Volunteers by 18 points in the second half to claim the 85-84 victory Thursday. Memphis defeated Texas A&M in the first semifinal of the day, 65-64.
Ohio State and Memphis (33-3) have met just once previously, a 94-55 Buckeye victory Dec. 3, 1959 in Columbus. The Buckeyes are 11-3 all-time vs. current members of Conference USA members.
The Buckeyes have won three games in an NCAA tournament for the sixth time in 20 all-time tournament appearances. The Buckeyes have made 11 appearances in the regional finals.
Thad Matta’s 100th game at Ohio State was memorable. The Buckeyes overcame a 20-point deficit to advance. Matta is 79-21 (.790) overall in his third season in Columbus. Overall in seven seasons as a head coach, Matta is 181-52 (.777).
Noting the Tennessee Game, South Regional Semifinal
The last time Ohio State played a non-conference opponent twicein the same season was during the 1988-89 campaign. The Buckeyesdefeated Nebraska in Columbus 103-76 (12/14/88) and then again85-74 (3/20/89) in the NIT. In that same season, Ohio State playedat St. John’s (W 75-72 (12/29/88) in the ECAC Holiday Classic andthen fell St. John’s in overtime in the third round of the NIT(83-80) March 23, 1989. The Buckeyes downed Tennessee earlier thisseason in Columbus 68-66 (1/13/07). Ohio State won for the 33rdtime on the year, increasing the school record for wins in aseason. The 1961 and 1991 teams each had 27 wins to hold theprevious record. The Buckeyes extended their overall win streak to20 games, including 16-consecutive victories vs. Big Ten Conferencefoes. In seven seasons as a head coach Matta has never failed toreach 20 victories … the Tennessee win Thursday gives him 33victories this season, his first 30-win season … he has taken allsix eligible teams to NCAA postseason competition and his secondteam to the Elite 8. Mike Conley Jr. has 81 steals on the season.He owns the Ohio State single season record for both steals andassists (224). With the victory vs. Tennessee, Ohio State advancedto the Elite 8 for the first time since 1992. That year theBuckeyes were a No. 1 seed and defeated No. 4 North Carolina(80-73) in the regional semifinal but fell to No. 6 Michigan inovertime (75-71) in the regional finals. The one-point win vs.Tennessee in the South Region semifinals is the first single pointvictory in NCAA tournament play since an 84-83 overtime win vs.Providence in the First Round of the 1990 tournament. Ohio State is4-1 in NCAA tournament games decided by one point. The Buckeyes owna 60-59 victory over Marquette in the regional semifinals of the1971 event, an 82-81 win in the regional finals of the 1968tournament, a 56-55 victory over Louisville in the regionalsemifinals in 1961 and a 56-55 loss to C.C.N.Y in the regionalsemifinals in 1950. Ohio State is 65-56 (.527) all-time inone-point games with a record of 14-8 (.636) on neutral courts.Ohio State improved to 35-18 in NCAA tournament games. As a No. 1seed, the Buckeyes are now 8-2. Head coach Thad Matta made hissixth NCAA tournament appearance. He is 10-5 in NCAA tournamentgames. This is the second time in his career Matta has advanced tothe Elite 8. The last time was with Xavier in 2004 when theMusketeers fell to Duke in the regional finals. The Buckeyes are27-23 all-time vs. the Southeastern Conference and 4-0 vs.Tennessee. Ohio State, ranked No. 1 in both of the most recentESPN/USA Today and Associated Press polls, is 58-4 all-time whenplaying as the top-ranked team. The win was Ohio State’s20th-consecutive dating back to a 68-66 home victory againstTennessee Jan. 13. Ohio State was down 20 points in the first half(49-29) with 35 seconds to play and trailed by 17 at the break.Ohio State outscored the Volunteers by 18 over the final 20minutes. The Buckeyes committed just one turnover in the secondhalf while shooting 58 percent (14-24) from the field. Ron Lewisfinished with a team-high 25 points to again lead the Buckeyes inscoring. He tallied 27 in the overtime win vs. Xavier in the SecondRound. Lewis scored 18-second half points while Conley added 13including nine free throws. Mike Conley Jr. is the second Buckeyeand 15th player in Big Ten history to record at least 350 points,150 assists, 100 rebounds and 50 steals in the same season. Conleynow has 387 points, 224 assists, 122 rebounds and 81 steals.Scoonie Penn accomplished the feat for Ohio State in 1998-99 with609 points, 150 assists, 140 rebounds and 70 steals. Lewis isaveraging 21.7 points in three NCAA tournament games to date. Hehas made 22-40 field goals (.550), 10-20 (.500) 3-pointers and11-11 from the foul line. Both Greg Oden and Mike Conley areaveraging 14.0 points in NCAA play while Jamar Butler iscontributing 11 points a game. Ohio State improved to 21-1 thisseason when scoring 70 or more points. The Buckeyes added to itssingle-season record for made 3-pointers with 274 and set the OSUrecord for the most 3s attempted in a season with 740. Ohio Statefinished with a 52.9 field goal percentage vs. the Volunteers. Itwas the 16th time this season the Buckeyes have shot 50 percent orbetter from the field with a 15-1 record in those games. FreshmanDavid Lighty scored seven crucial points while playing 20 minutes,his most court time since Dec. 2 against Valparaiso (20 mins.).Lighty’s point total was his most since a 10-point game Dec. 30 vs.Coppin State. Conley Jr. tallied six assists for the 20th time thisseason. Ohio State is 18-2 in those games. Freshman Greg Oden has99 blocks on the season. With one more rejection, he will becomethe second Buckeye all-time and first freshman to block 100 shotsin a season. Ken Johnson, the Big Ten’s all-time leader in blockedshots (444) recorded three seasons with 100 or more blocks in 1999(100), 2001 (125) and 2000 (161). Oden’s total ranks No. 9 all-timein career blocks as well. As a Top 25 ranked team, Ohio State is327-94 and as a Top 10 team, the Buckeyes are 228-54 all-time (AP).The Buckeyes have been among the Top 25 the last 61 games (52-9)and have been among the Top 10 in the last 43 games (38-5). OhioState will play for the 12th time on CBS television when they takeon Memphis Saturday. Ohio State is 10-1 when playing on CBS thisyear, including wins in the last five games and in eight of thelast 10.
