OSU Buckeyes

DAYTON, Ohio -- With less than 5 seconds left in a tied game, perhaps the best pure scorer in the country came off a pair of screens that did exactly what they were designed to do: get him open.

Deshaun Thomas called for the ball -- screamed for it, waved his hands high above the 6-foot-7 inch frame that had made him essentially unguardable for the first 39 minutes and 55 seconds of his team's second-round NCAA tournament thriller -- but the pass never came.

Instead, a 6-foot-2 point guard -- who spent most of the second half turning the ball over and missing key free throws, who was being guarded by the opposing team's tallest player, who hadn't attempted a 3-pointer all afternoon and averages just 29.3 percent from beyond the arc this season -- looked him off.

To say Aaron Craft faced pressure in the final seconds of Ohio State's 78-75 win over Iowa State Sunday is to state the incredibly obvious, but that pressure wouldn't have come solely from Buckeyes fans, who would have surely blamed him for a heartbreaking second-round upset loss. Craft would have had one unhappy teammate, too.

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DAYTON, Ohio -- Quick thoughts on Ohio State's 78-75 win over Iowa State.

Overview: In a matchup between one of the nation's best and most entertaining offenses, and one of the nation's most brutal and most finely tuned defenses, it was only fitting the game came down to the final possession.

And then Aaron Craft redeemed himself.

The Buckeyes and their point guard survived a sweaty-palmed nightmare of a second half, and a flurry of huge plays in a 13-point Iowa State comeback, in time to allow Craft to back up his defender with the clock winding and the game tied at 75. Rather than driving, Craft took a 3 -- it looked like another in a series of uncharacteristically poor decisions -- but it was true, it splashed, and Craft held up his hand on the follow-through as the rest of his teammates went nuts.

Ohio State had survived.

Turning point: Even at the 11:46 mark in the second half, Ohio State still couldn't pull away -- Tyrus McGee made a brilliant drop-off to Melvin Ejim, who eventually finished with a dunk, and Iowa State closed yet another lead to just one point, 52-51. After a Thad Matta timeout, Ohio State sorted through ISU's 2-3 zone and found Deshaun Thomas for a corner 3. The next four OSU possessions went like this: A LaQuinton Ross fast-break layup (thanks to a Thomas steal), Ross for 3, two Ross free throws, and yet another Ross 3. By the time it was over, the Buckeyes led 65-53.

It looked like Ohio State was ready to hammer home yet another win, their 10th straight since mid-February … which is precisely when Iowa State came alive once more. Craft turned the ball over twice and missed the front end of two straight one-and-ones, and Iowa State recovered with a trademark flurry of baskets -- two 3s, a McGee layup, and a Korie Lucious foul and finish that tied the game at 69 with 3:53 left to play.

The game swung in every direction in the final moments -- including a pivotal and questionable charge call against ISU -- and we didn't have our outcome until Craft wound the final 30 seconds to their last possible daylight before making the 3 that will likely become his signature play as an Ohio State Buckeye.

Key player: Ross. Were it not for Ross' flurry of scores in the second half -- he provided the secondary scoring Ohio State desperately needs -- it's not unfair to think the Cyclones' eventual spurt would have put Ohio State in a hole from which they couldn't have recovered. Ross finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, including 3-of-5 from 3.

Key stat: The Cyclones made just 11 2-point field goals on the day but compensated by hitting 12 of their 25 3-point field goal attempts -- by far the best indication that this was a game they could -- if not should -- have won. Ohio State just … survived. What can you do?

What's next: The Buckeyes avoid being added to the list of West Region favorites undone by double-digit seeds and now look out on a comparably wide-open path to the Final Four when they travel to Los Angeles Thursday. Iowa State ends its second straight tournament in the second round, no doubt disappointed but also encouraged about the program's bright and sure to be entertaining future under third-year coach Fred Hoiberg.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The final unbeaten dream is dead.

Ohio State killed the last one left and in the process proved that it’s suddenly alive and well as a contender again.

Limping along without a win over a ranked opponent and a little more than a week removed from an embarrassing early loss in conference play, the Buckeyes finally rediscovered the defense-first formula that has proved to work from them so many times before. And while Ohio State would have taken a momentum-building win over any ranked team in the Big Ten to help validate itself again as a national threat, there were certainly no complaints about the collateral damage a 56-53 win on Sunday at Value City Arena caused No. 2 Michigan.

A perfect start for the Wolverines is gone. Trey Burke’s player of the year candidacy hit a minor snag thanks to the relentless pressure the Buckeyes slapped on him. And with Michigan poised to jump to No. 1 in the polls after watching the other unbeaten teams fall one by one this week, it’ll likely be heading the other direction while No. 15 Ohio State reversed its slide and put itself in position to climb again.

“It’s always in the back of your mind,” Buckeyes point guard Aaron Craft said. “We hadn’t played our best when we played the better teams that we played this year, and I think we kind of just took a step back and tried to find a way to get a big win.

“Any time you can do it against a team like Michigan or in this league [is big], and you just can’t lose at home. That’s something that you really harp on if you want to be there at the end of the season, to try to win a Big Ten championship.”

The Buckeyes checked off everything on that to-do list one by one, almost as soon as the ball was tipped.

There was no shortage of passion on the court or in the sellout crowd, and Ohio State turned that energy into a huge 16-0 run that put a young Michigan team on its heels just seven minutes into the game.

The Buckeyes also tirelessly defended their home court, harassing Burke with lockdown defense from Craft that forced Michigan’s leading scorer to take 14 shots to get his 15 points while turning the ball over four times.

And the message that it was going to take a return to a tougher brand of basketball after losses at Duke, last month at home against Kansas and in an ugly trip to Illinois was clearly delivered, putting the Buckeyes right back in the mix in the rugged Big Ten.

“Our coaches, everybody, we were disappointed in our effort [at Illinois],” senior Evan Ravenel said. “We just told the team, if we come out here like that, we’re going to get beat up and beat every game in this league.

“We know what kind of team we have and know how we’ve got to play, we’ve got to play physical, grind it out, play strong defensively and we’ve got to have a good mind to win games. That’s what we did today.”

The Buckeyes didn’t exactly do it for the entire 40 minutes, struggling through a lengthy dry spell as the Wolverines dialed up the defensive pressure themselves to completely erase a lead that had been as large as 21 points to tie the game late in the second half.

But just as Ohio State had tightened the screws defensively in jumping out in front of its rival, it put itself back in control by making it difficult for Burke to get open looks -- or anybody else, for that matter, as the Big Ten’s best shooting team connected on just 38 percent of its attempts from the floor to watch its perfect start go up in flames.

“[Ohio State coach Thad Matta’s] teams have always been this way, but this one really, the perimeter defense in particular, is exceptional,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “Thad is a great defensive coach and they’ve got great defenders, and that combination is very good.

“Craft is as good as there is, as good as I’ve ever seen. He’s tremendous, he’s going to be good and you just have to applaud that and say, ‘OK, we’ve got to continue to get better, because they’re going to continue to get better.’”

The Buckeyes have some proof of improvement now.

And while the work is far from over with so much basketball left ahead of Ohio State in the Big Ten, it made sure there would be no need for a second crack at ending a rival's perfect season -- or another chance to claim its first signature victory.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Quick thoughts following a 74-66 victory for Kansas in a top-10 showdown against Ohio State on Saturday afternoon at Value City Arena.

Overview: The venue apparently doesn’t make any difference. Kansas has the formula for beating Ohio State anywhere the programs play.

After beating OSU at home during the regular season a year ago and in a neutral building at the Final Four, the Jayhawks and coach Bill Self continued their mastery in the series between the top-10 programs by completing the trifecta with a convincing win in Columbus, the team's first true road game of the season.

The victory keeps the hot streak rolling for the No. 9 Jayhawks, which have won nine straight and are rounding into a dangerous contender with their blend of veteran talent and a precocious young scorer in Ben McLemore. The redshirt freshman continued his national coming-out party with a dynamic offensive performance, leading Kansas with 22 points and making it look effortless at times.

The No. 7 Buckeyes weren’t able to counter with nearly as much consistency from their leading scorer, as Deshaun Thomas was flustered by extra defensive attention from Kansas and made only four shots from the field despite leading the team with 16 points.

While their defense makes them a tough out and a threat in the Big Ten, the Bucks have come up short against both ranked opponents they’ve faced this season after dropping a close decision at Duke last month.

Turning point: After it closed the deficit to a one-possession game and got the vocal home crowd back on its feet, Ohio State’s momentum and the noise disappeared almost right away. Turning to one of its veterans instead of a high-scoring freshman, Kansas delivered a dagger with a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Travis Releford with just more than 8 minutes to play in the second half.

The Jayhawks would go on an 8-0 run shortly after that deep bomb, and Ohio State didn’t have the firepower to rally down the stretch.

Key player: The star was already on the rise, but McLemore confirmed he belongs in the conversation among the best scorers in the country by answering the biggest challenge of his young career.

McLemore was a threat from all over the court, knocking down open 3-pointers on the outside and putting back offensive rebounds on the inside to keep Kansas afloat against Ohio State’s stingy defense. It hardly seemed to matter whom the Buckeyes used to try to slow him down. McLemore used his athleticism to get in productive spots and convert.

Key stat: Just like they were late against Kansas in the Final Four and in their last big test against Duke, the Buckeyes were undone by spotty shooting on the perimeter in the second half, which spoiled an otherwise solid defensive outing. After hitting just less than 50 percent of its attempts in a competitive first half, OSU made just one of its first 13 attempts from 3-point range after coming back out of the locker room as the Jayhawks pulled away. Ohio State wound up shooting 26 percent from beyond the arc and couldn’t keep pace down the stretch.

Miscellaneous: Coach Thad Matta dropped to 76-3 in his career at Ohio State against nonconference opponents at home. ... The Buckeyes had a 39-game winning streak at home against non-Big Ten teams snapped. The last team to knock off the Bucks on their home floor was West Virginia on Dec. 27, 2008. ... Kansas leads the all-time series with Ohio State 8-3.

Next up: The Buckeyes wrap up play outside the conference with one final tuneup against Chicago State next weekend before opening up Big Ten action with a home date against Nebraska on Jan. 2. The Jayhawks return home for nonconference meetings with American and Temple over the next two weeks before starting league play against Iowa State on Jan. 9.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The focal point hasn’t changed.

Opposing defenses still have to account for Braxton Miller first and foremost to stop Ohio State on the ground, though even with extra attention the sophomore has proven plenty capable of busting big plays.

But when the Buckeyes are able to expand the arsenal around Miller and roll out additional weapons in the running game, that not only makes the quarterback more effective, it also turns an entire attack into a unit that is built to perform like few others in the country.

Ohio State now has a player who has developed into a tackle-breaking machine in running back Carlos Hyde and a backup from the same mold in Rod Smith. It has a reliable pitch-man in Corey “Philly” Brown for an outlet on the perimeter. And then there’s Miller, who is equally effective on the edge or bursting right up the middle. The group has helped the Buckeyes demolish defenses with 724 rushing yards and nine touchdowns over the last two games heading into Saturday’s home date with Purdue.

“The run game is predicated on being able to be physical and run the ball inside the tackles, create some conflict,” running backs coach Stan Drayton said. “Then the next thing the defense is going to do is try to load the box, so when they load the box, the next part of the offense is to be able to attack the perimeter -- and not just with one guy, but potentially two guys.

“That’s the essence of spread football in the run game, and we definitely have the personnel to fit it.”

That’s particularly true at quarterback for Ohio State’s version of the spread, which needs a triggerman who can stress the defense. Miller is certainly doing that in his second season as a starter with the Buckeyes, having rushed for 912 yards and nine touchdowns already while adding yet another component to the offense by throwing for 1,271 yards and 11 TDs.

He might only be getting started as he continues to learn new coach Urban Meyer’s offense while the Buckeyes recruit and develop talent to put more weapons around him. But even with the group he has with him now, Ohio State is already grinding up defenses at a rate that is hard to match.

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