MBB falls to No. 21 Ohio State 85-74

[mat1992 2,235]

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=371668

Kyle Young scored 19 points, including 13 in the second half to lead Ohio State over a pesky Towson squad 85-74 on Wednesday night. Towson led through a good part of the first half, but the Buckeyes took a one-point lead on a 20 footer from Zed Key. Jason Gibson led the Tigers with 19 points, while Cam Holden added 16 points in 29 minutes. Holden played just nine minutes in the first half due to foul trouble and grad student Juwan Gray did a nice job, scoring seven points off the bench.

The Tigers shot a reasonable 48.1% from the field and 12-of-28 (42.9%) from three-point range. That was helped by Gibson, Holden and Antonio Rizzuto, who combined for 10 three-pointers. However, it was a rough shooting night for Nicolas Timberlake and Terry Nolan Jr., who combined for 1-for-10 from three-point range. Nolan had just seven points on 1-for-8 shooting, but he did have a season-high 10 assists and no turnovers in his old role of playing point guard. Though I didn't remember him being on the floor, former starting point guard Radhir Hicks played one minute according to the box score.

How did Towson lose aside from the talent factor? The Tigers had just 10 turnovers and 14 assists with nine steals, while OSU had 13 turnovers. The Tigers went to the line 17 times and made 14. Defense wasn't bad, but it wasn't good enough. The Buckeyes made 57% of their overall shots and 10-of-23 from beyond the arc (43%). The key was on the boards where Ohio State had a +10 rebounding ratio (31-21), In the second half, Ohio State outrebounded Towson 19-6. That was the biggest issue. That and Ohio State making 21 of 25 free throws.

[tu_fan 110]

This was a great effort.  We went toe to toe with a top team in the country on their court.  We blitzed them with a 20-5 run in the first half and had great ball movement and shot reasonably well.  I wish he had a little more size in the front court as that hurt us in this game and in the Pitt game.  Team looks really good and showed up during the road trip where we never trailed against Kent and we led for chunks of the OSU game.  Look forward to the Coppin game.  

[mat1992 2,235]

 

[mat1992 2,235]

I'm trying to find some PS quotes. I think if you second guess, just a little bit, would we have led by 5 or 6 had he kept in Holden for a few more minutes with two fouls in the first half? That was a risk in the first half and in the second, he would have picked up 2 or 3 flop fouls. Who knows? He apparently had two flops which equal a foul and a tech. I think PS was so shocked by it, he figured it's just going to be one of those nights in terms of not getting the calls.

I felt the same way over 30 years ago in Dayton as a student announcer, broadcasting the game against the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and watching Devin Boyd pick up some early fouls, which cost him about 15 minutes. He only ended up playing 21 minutes and we lost by 11. Devin had 17 points and would have put up close to 30 if he played 35 minutes. Would have been a different game.

Felt a little different this game. OSU just bullied us on the boards and that's rare. Maybe we ran out of steam a bit after playing on Monday night. I think what hurt us aside from their rebounding and making wide open threes, we shot selection. In the first half, when Holden was on the floor and even when he was out for a brief time, we ran as good an offense I've seen us run in years. Maybe ever. Because I'm not used to that kind of ball movement and you add the strong shooting of Rizzuto, Gibson, Gray and Holden, if only Timberlake and Nolan would join the party. I'm guessing Nolan hasn't had much sleep lately, with a one-week old. That's why he was not there on Monday, helping his fiance' take care of the baby. But while his shot was off tonight and his shot selection was shaky (as was Nick's), he had 10 dimes tonight. That's the second straight game we've had a player with double-digit assists. When he drove it twice and dished it out for an open three, that's exactly what I've been asking for my point guard to do in decades. Whether it's Gibson or Hicks, they need to drive and kick more. Now, will Hicks be back in the rotation against Coppin State and UNCG? I would assume so, but probably playing less minutes. Pat also talked on pregame about trying to get Darrick Jones more time. But when the starters are playing well and Gibson is shooting lights out, tough to get minutes. I'm sure we'll need his defense against smaller, quicker guards.

 

[mat1992 2,235]

 

[Tiger12 26]

About as close to a “moral victory” as you will ever get. Thought we played really well against a very talented team. Even more impressive after playing Monday night.

Officiating was terrible in the second half. Gotta be able to swallow the whistle. Was a ref show there for a minute. Would love to know what was up with the double tech

Ton of positives tonight, the exposure for this program is really important. FWIW gambling Twitter has been all over the Tigers recently (in a good way). Anything to get more eyes on the program 

Being on TV tonight really made me wonder what a TV deal and a tourney appearance could do for this program. Basketball is the meal ticket and I hope our next AD gets that 

Lots to be optimistic about tonight, both for the team and the program as a whole. Let’s take care of business against Coppin and get ready for a tough UNCG team 

[Bay Area Tiger 347]

Ohio State guards were too athletic for Duke.  So tough to run 40 minutes with them.  
 

Credit to our coaching staff for having our guys prepared for this one.  
 

Enjoy the ride cause this group is gonna be tough in CAA play no doubt.  
 

We finally have the intestinal fortitude to battle night in and night out.  

[Chris Datres 423]

It was a terrific effort against a high-ranked team on their home floor after playing a game 48 hours prior.  What I thought would cause us problems ended up doing just that -- the difference in the frontcourt talent.  Liddell and Key were just too much down low.  That shot Key hit at the end of the first half was absurd.  At the beginning of the 2nd half, OSU was getting every loose ball and they'd get buckets while we'd come away with nothing at the other end.  The first half was, like Mat said, as good a ball movement as we've ever seen from a Towson team since probably the Truax days.  The drive and kick was on point and naturally, it helps when the shots go down too.  But we just got worn down in the post and when we'd concentrate on that, they'd start nailing 3's left and right.  But they never gave up and kept after it.  As Mark Adams stated on the broadcast, if we're the 8th-best team in this conference, then the conference is stacked.

As for the double tech, this ref's best guess is that Nolan said something to Liddell on the free throw line after the first foul shot and Liddell responded and they started jawing and the ref put a stop to it.  

[RundaPower 153]

Played hard.  As a program, gotta get one of these wins.  Thought the difference was the refs allowing OSU to push through our blockouts and keep the ball alive on the court.  Toe to toe all night long… proud of the team and the staff.

[Blounge 520]

Loved the early run moving the ball around and splashing 3's. Shots are starting to fall for us. Team is showing confidence. Cam Holden hit a 3, then scored on an and 1, then looked right at the camera and smiled lol team has been looking good ok no the national stage! Still lots of work to be done before conference play. Chase Parr needs to hit the squat rack. Terry Nolen(congrats dad) but he needs to tone down that Baltimore tendency to talk sMack. Nick Timberlake Continues to shoot ugly jumpers when he is having a bad shooting night, needs to drive to the hoop or just pass it off on those nights. Chales Thompson needs to work on his hook shot