OSU’s success hinges on shooting
OSU vs KENTUCKY
When: Friday at
9:45 p.m.
Where: Newark, N.J.
TV/radio: (27) (19) (2)/WNIO-AM (1390).
By Bob Baptist
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS
On a trip home from Indianapolis two years ago, Ohio State coaches perused the box scores of the two games that had been played that day in Lucas Oil Stadium — the first college basketball games staged in the city’s new, retractable-roof football stadium.
The four best 3-point shooters in the house that day — one from each team — had made a collective 3 of 25 attempts behind the arc. One player made all three; the rest were a combined 0 of 17.
Jon Diebler of Ohio State was 0 of 5, and the Buckeyes as a whole were 3 of 16 in their win over Notre Dame.
So yes, Ohio State coach Thad Matta said, count him as in favor of his team playing an NCAA East Regional semifinal against Kentucky in an arena Friday night instead of a domed stadium.
“The fact we’re in an arena, I guess I like that,” Matta said.
The game will be in the 18,500-seat Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., home of the NBA’s New Jersey Nets and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils.
The previous two times the Buckeyes reached the Sweet 16 under Matta, last year and in 2007, they played in domed stadiums.
Matta downplayed the difference between venues before playing Tennessee in the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis a year ago.
“It’s the same,” he said then. “I don’t make a big deal out of it. The baskets are still 10 feet high.”
In St. Louis, however, the Buckeyes were not the same team as the previous weekend in Milwaukee’s Bradley Center, where they made 18 3-pointers and shot 42 percent behind the arc in wins over Cal-Santa Barbara and Georgia Tech.
Diebler, who made 11 of 22 3s and scored 43 points in those two games, was 1 of 7 and scored three points in the loss to Tennessee. Ohio State was 9 of 23 behind the arc and missed 9 of 12 in the second half.
Of course, the higher level of competition the second weekend of the NCAA tournament probably has something to do with it, too.
Tennessee’s defense was superior to that of Ohio State’s previous two opponents last year. Kentucky is expected to pose a better challenge than did George Mason and Texas-San Antonio, which the Buckeyes eliminated with a hail of 3-pointers in Cleveland.
Ohio State made 28 of 50 3s last weekend. Diebler was 8 of 16, William Buford 7 of 12 and David Lighty 9 of 10. Ohio State shot better than 58 percent overall in the two games.
Asked if he kept anything from Quicken Loans Arena as a good-luck charm, Matta said, “We bought the baskets.”
Seriously, he added, the two games were not a lot different from the first 34. The Buckeyes entered the NCAA tournament ranked second nationally in 3-point percentage and third in field-goal percentage.
“We’ve shot the ball pretty well all season, right at 50 percent, which I think is tremendous when you go through the Big Ten season because I think you’ve got some of the best defense being played in the Big Ten,” Matta said.
“We’ve just got to continue to take great shots. That’s the big thing in my mind I want us to do, get great looks — which will be difficult to do against [Kentucky’s] defense.”