Thomas, Buckeyes Blow Past Greyhounds On Way To Round Of 32

Thomas came up big against the Greyhounds

Ohio State used its size advantage to handle Loyola, Md., dominating the Greyhounds the way a No. 2 seed is expected to handle a 15 seed.

The Buckeyes made sure there wouldn't be a second scare at the Consol Energy Center.

Deshaun Thomas scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds -- one off his career best -- to lead Ohio State to a 78-59 victory Thursday night in the second round of the East Regional.

That was far different from top-seeded Syracuse's 72-65 victory over North Carolina-Asheville, a game that had many thinking it could be the first time a No. 16 seed beat a No. 1.

"Obviously this tournament is about advancing, and that's what we did tonight," Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. "I don't think we played at the level we need to. Our guys know that. Give Loyola a ton of credit for that. They came at us."

William Buford had 17 points and Jared Sullinger added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Buckeyes (28-7), who dominated the smaller Greyhounds inside, finishing with a 49-24 rebound advantage.

"Deshaun was excellent on the boards and also scoring the basketball," Sullinger said. "He pretty much carried this team. I don't think we would have won it without him."

Ohio State will play seventh-seeded Gonzaga in the third round Saturday. The Bulldogs beat 10th-seeded West Virginia 77-54.

Basketball Preview: #2 Ohio State vs. #15 Indiana

Sullinger and co. will have their hands full

After carrying a perfect non-conference record, Indiana was greeted to a rude awakening in its Big Ten opener, and it won't get any easier, as the Buckeyes are up next. Getting back on track could prove difficult with Ohio State coming to town.

Hoping to rebound from their first defeat, the No. 13 Hoosiers look to avoid a seventh consecutive loss to the second-ranked Buckeyes on Saturday. Aside from a 73-72 win over then-No. 1 Kentucky on Dec. 10, Indiana (12-1, 0-1) posted 11 double-digit wins during its 12-0 start. Coach Tom Crean's team, though, failed to carry over any momentum into Wednesday's 80-65 loss at No. 16 Michigan State.

The Hoosiers, whose 50.5 field-goal percentage ranks among the top 10 in the country, shot 42.2 percent from the floor versus the Spartans and had a season-low nine free throws, making just five. Indiana entered Wednesday averaging 28.0 attempts from the foul line.

Basketball Recap: #2 Ohio State 74, South Carolina 66

Thomas carried the Buckeyes with 30 pts

Ohio State coach Thad Matta might have a second career ahead as a comedian. Asked about the status of injured star forward Jared Sullinger, Matta quickly said the Buckeyes sophomore wasn't hurt, just yanked from the second-ranked Buckeyes' 74-66 win over South Carolina on Saturday for shoddy defense.

"He had no problems, we just sent him to the showers," Matta told the room of stunned media.

Then Matta acknowledged the joke and Sullinger's bone bruise in his left foot. Ohio State's coach was just glad he could laugh a little bit since his leading scorer wasn't more seriously hurt.

"We think he'll be fine," Matta said. "We're just happy there wasn't a break in there."

Still, Ohio State (10-1) showed it could succeed with Sullinger sidelined. Deshaun Thomas had a career-high 30 points and William Buford added 17 as Matta collected his 200th win in nine seasons with the Buckeyes.

"We had to get a little juice into us," Thomas said. "We made some mistakes on offense in the first half with turnovers and that's not us. So we just put a little fire and juice into us."

That looked as if it might be hard once Sullinger left the game. The Buckeyes were trailing 33-29 at the half and had appeared a step slower than the Gamecocks (4-6).

The Buckeyes used a 20-8 charge in the second half to take control.

Thomas got the run started with a jumper. Lenzelle Smith Jr. had a basket and a 3-pointer to put Ohio State in front for good, 41-37. Thomas added a 3-pointer and finished the surge with a short jump shot for a 49-43 lead.

Basketball Preview: #2 Ohio State vs. #13 Kansas

The #2 Ohio State men’s basketball team (8-0) heads into Lawrence, Kan. on Saturday afternoon to take on the #13 ranked Kansas Jayhawks (6-2). The Buckeyes are riding high from last week’s blowout win over #5 Duke in Value City Arena and a weekend triumph without star Sullinger, over Texas-Pan American.

Thad Matta is hoping to have the services leading scorer Jared Sullinger back when the Buckeyes take the court at Allen Fieldhouse. The National Player of the Year candidate sat out the last game due to back spasms that he developed against Duke. Much like Ohio State, Kansas is coming off of a 30-plus win season and a conference championship. However, both teams suffered disappointing losses in the NCAA Tournament to eventual Final Four teams Kentucky and VCU.

While Ohio State returned an enormous amount of talent (Buford, Craft, Sullinger and Thomas), the Jayhawks have had to replace four of their top-five scorers from a season ago; including NBA Draft picks Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris and Josh Selby. Kansas is led in scoring and rebounding by junior power forward Thomas Robinson (17.4 points, 12.0 rebounds).

The Jayhawks also boast a 7 foot junior center in Jeff Withey. Even though their only losses came on neutral courts to #1 Kentucky (Champions Classic in Madison Square Garden) and #5 Duke (Maui Invitational Final), the Jayhawks haven’t always look their best in wins over #21 Georgetown, UCLA, Florida Atlantic, USF and Long Beach State.

In fact, Bill Self publicly criticized his team’s 22-turnover performance against LBS, and remarked how it couldn’t be repeated against Ohio State if they expected to competitive in the game. Assuming that Sullinger plays in the game, which you have to expect that he will, the Buckeyes should have no problem riding his inside play and scoring, along with Aaron Craft taking advantage of Jayhawks recent turnover woes, to secure an important road victory over a ranked opponent.

Prediction: Ohio State 73, Kansas 68

Ohio State vs. Florida State - Game Notes

- First things first, great victory for the Buckeyes. Florida State is not ranked, but they are a very tough team to play against. They remind me a lot of Cavs teams from 2-3 years ago, under former head coach Mike Brown. Very, very tough defense, but incompetent at times on the offensive end. They have a lot of big men, and a lot of tall wing players, but the lack of a true point guard hurts them, and can stall movement.

He did very well last night

- When he plays aggressively, Chris Singleton is one of the better players in the ACC. He is already a game changer on defense. He had plenty of blocks, and even had a steal against Aaron Craft. Fran Fraschilla made a point during the broadcast of how the Ohio State big men play into contact, while the FSU big men avoid it. If Singleton can learn to embrace the contact on offense, you will see this guy in the NBA (lockouts pending).

- I would like to single out a player or two after every game that really impressed me, but I have a feeling that will be very difficult this season. I am impressed by every player on this team almost every time they play. I will try to be brief for each guy, so join me after the break: