Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Can't Close the Deal;
Takes First Loss of Season vs. Creighton
By John Porentas
The Buckeyes (4-1) were in a position to claim their
fifth win against no losses and in the process the Guardians Classic
championship, but just couldn't make the plays they need to make,
allowing Creighton (5-0) to win the tournament championship for the
second time in three years with a 65-63 overtime win over OSU.
In their first four outings this season the Buckeyes
were able to establish large leads earl, but were unable to replicate
that feat against Creighton. The Buckeyes scored well in the early
going, but were not able to do much to slow down Creighton.
"We gave up 15 points in the first six-and-a-half
minutes, and 12 the rest of the way in the first half," said
OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.
"We weren't defensively ready to go at the start
of the game."
The Buckeyes finally did play a little defense and were
able establish an eight point lead at 29-21 with about four-and-a-half
minutes left in the half, but went scoreless from that point until
the buzzer. The drought allowed Creighton to score six unanswered
points and close to within two at 29-27 at the intermission.
"The stretch where we were up eight and at the
line, and we give us six straight points without even getting the
ball back. That was just a killer for us right there," said Matta.
The Creighton rally at the end of the half came with
several key Buckeyes on the bench with foul problems at the end of
the half.
"I felt like one of the biggest things that hurt
us was the end of the first half. We had three guys on the bench with
two fouls. We didn't score the last four minutes of the half,"
said Matta.
The Buckeyes were clinging to a two point lead at 50-48
in the second half and had several golden opportunities to extend
their lead but came up empty on two trips down the court when senior
center Terence Dials misfired from point blank range on both possession.
The Buckeyes remained in the lead until the 1:02 mark
when a dunk put Creighton up 56-55 at 54-53. Creighton extended the
lead to 56-53 with 30 seconds remaining, but J. J. Sullinger was able
to score on a drive with 23 seconds remaining. After a Creighton free
throw, Sullinger was able to tie the game with a tip in with nine
seconds remaining. Just for good measure, Sullinger blocked Creighton's
last shot in regulation to send the game into overtime.
"I like the fact that we made the
play down the stretch to send it into overtime. That was a heck of
a defensive possession to not let them get a shot off at the end of
the clock," said Matta.
The Buckeyes never led in overtime and
trailed by as many as five with just over one minute to play, but
rallied to tie the game on a long three pointer by Tony Stockman with
13 seconds remaining. The Buckeyes could not get a stop at the defensive
end, however, and Creighton scored the winning field goal with four
seconds remaining on the clock. An off-balance three-point attempt
at the buzzer was off the mark.
OSU made just two-of-seven free throws
in the game and committed a season-high 19 turnovers. OSU was outscored
12-2 from the free throw line.
"I think this one hurts you because you had a chance
to win the game. We had some major miscues throughout the course of
the game," said Matta.
"This team is not where we want it, but I think
we're making some progress. Like I told the team, we're just going
to learn from this thing and continue to get better. Losses hurt,
and the way you lose this game with the lead that we had, it's a tough
one to take," Matta said.
"We gave a game away tonight. Creighton is a heck
of a basketball team, but that was one that we could have won. This
team has a long, long way to go."
Sullinger led the Buckeyes in scoring with 16 points.
Forward Ivan Harris added 11 to be the only other Buckeye in double
figures.
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