Postgame Notes From No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Tennessee – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 23, 2007
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Attendance: 26,776 The last time Ohio State played anon-conference opponent twice in the same season was during the1988-89 campaign. The Buckeyes defeated Nebraska in Columbus 103-76(12/14/88) and then again 85-74 (3/20/89) in the NIT. In that sameseason, Ohio State played at St. John’s (W 75-72 (12/29/88) in theECAC Holiday Classic and then fell St. John’s in overtime in thethird round of the NIT (83-80) March 23, 1989. The Buckeyes downedTennessee earlier this season in Columbus 68-66 (1/13/07). OhioState won for the 33rd time on the year, increasing the schoolrecord for wins in a season. The 1961 and 1991 teams each had 27wins to hold the previous record. The Buckeyes extended theiroverall win streak to 20 games, including 16-consecutive victoriesvs. Big Ten Conference foes. In seven seasons as a head coach Mattahas never failed to reach 20 victories … the Tennessee winThursday gives him 33 victories this season, his first 30-winseason … he has taken all six eligible teams to NCAA postseasoncompetition and his second team to the Elite 8. Mike Conley Jr. has81 steals on the season. He owns the Ohio State single seasonrecord for both steals and assists (224). With the victory vs.Tennessee, Ohio State advanced to the Elite 8 for the first timesince 1992. That year the Buckeyes were a No. 1 seed and defeatedNo. 4 North Carolina (80-73) in the regional semifinal but fell toNo. 6 Michigan in overtime (75-71) in the regional finals. Theone-point win vs. Tennessee in the South Region semifinals is thefirst single point victory in NCAA tournament play since an 84-83overtime win vs. Providence in the First Round of the 1990tournament. Ohio State is 4-1 in NCAA tournament games decided byone point. The Buckeyes own a 60-59 victory over Marquette in theregional semifinals of the 1971 event, an 82-81 win in the regionalfinals of the 1968 tournament, a 56-55 victory over Louisville inthe regional semifinals in 1961 and a 56-55 loss to C.C.N.Y in theregional semifinals 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.
