Bucks Bump Bees at Bradley

Sweet Sixteen for Scarlet (and Gray)
Evan Turner recorded a game high 24 points in second seeded Ohio State’s victory over tenth seeded Georgia Tech. The Buckeyes eliminated the Yellow Jackets in the second round of the Midwest region, escaping Milwaukee with a 75-66 win. Ohio State moves on to the Sweet 16 in St. Louis, where the Tennessee Volunteers greet them on Friday. Tennessee bounced Ohio 83-68 on Saturday.
Turner, a junior, provided nine assists and nine rebounds for the smooth-in-transition Buckeyes. Georgia Tech went down with little resistance despite their size and depth advantage. ACC Freshman of the Year, Derrick Favors left the game after five minutes with two fouls. Favors and Gani Lawal picked up three fouls a piece in the first 22 minutes of the contest. Fast breaks by Ohio State hurt Georgia Tech early and a flourishing Ohio State defeated and ailed them late. Tech’s defense spotted a lead in the opening three minutes on three Buckeye turnovers but Ohio State came alive soon enough. The Yellow Jackets yielded two points in the first seven minutes of the contest as the miserable Bucks shot 3-of-13 from the field. Tech dominated at times in the first half but couldn’t hang with the high flying second half Buckeyes. The ACC representatives made adjustments on offense to try to get back in the game. It was challenging to get within striking distance with their foul troubles. The starting frontcourt for the Yellow Jackets didn’t rebound from the loss of their best shooters, but did threaten in the final minutes. Ohio State held off Tech’s last ditch effort to earn their Sweet 16 bid.
Ohio State led 28-26 at the break despite a 34.6% shooting from the field. The Yellow Jackets were sloppy and careless with the ball, committing 21 turnovers. Ohio State also benefited from Tech’s 12 personal fouls in extending a two point halftime lead to 15 points with five minutes in the game. Thad Matta’s Buckeyes did have 18 miscues themselves, but were able to wreck Tech’s rhythm. The Buckeyes have tremendous chemistry and seem to always know what they want to do with the ball. Turner makes every player around him better. The guard did turn the ball over eight times and missed a pair of key free throws in the final two minutes. He was helped the effort of his teammates at Bradley Center yesterday. Jon Diebler scored 17 of his 20 points to lift Ohio State in the second half. Diebler fired four 3-pointers, two in three consecutive possessions, as the Buckeyes continued to drain shots from downtown. David Lighty notched a 3-pointer to ignite a 14-2 Ohio State run, culminating in a 46-32 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining. Favors dazzled in the second half to pull the Yellow Jackets within nine points at the nine minute mark. The Tech freshman finished with 10 points.
The Buckeyes needed pinpoint free throw shooting to ward off an 11-0 Yellow Jacket run in the final minutes. Ohio State hit eight of its last ten from the stripe to stem the comeback. William Buford and Dallas Lauderdale pounded the ball on the inside off Turner feeds. Buford was strong on the glass with 8 rebounds and 6-of-7 from the floor in a 9 point effort. Lighty and Diebler both notched double-digit games, combining for six of the Buckeyes’ eight 3-pointers. Lawal finished with 11 points and Glen Rice, Jr. netted for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets notched just four from the arc and didn’t accumulate enough points inside. The team that single-handedly defeated Oklahoma State on free throws, made 73.7% of their shots from the line Sunday. Ohio State was slightly better, succeeding 73.9%. The Buckeyes seem to have great energy and can win even when Turner draws the attention of defenders. They lack depth, but Matta likes what he has in his strong starting five or six men. The Bucks will have to do more than just ride the hot hand of Turner against Bruce Pearl’s veteran Vols.

Parting Points: Pittsburgh crumbles against Xavier to miss out on the Sweet 16. Only West Virginia and Syracuse survive the weekend for the Big East.

The Twins locked up Joe Mauer with an $184 million extension. Phil Hughes gives up a homerun to end today’s Yankee Spring training game.

Song that sums up Pitt in the first half yesterday- “Basket Case” by Green Day

Tenth Tech Throws Terrific

The tenth seeded Yellow Jackets held off Oklahoma State in the Midwest region opening round of the NCAA tournament Friday. Georgia Tech took a 64-59 decision over the Big 12’s best 3-point shooting team to improve their record at Wisconsin’s Bradley Center to 5-0 in the tournament. The Yellow Jackets advanced to the second round, where they will face second seeded Ohio State, by securing a stellar 24-of-25 from the charity stripe. Seventh seeded Oklahoma State boasted more tournament experience than the Yellow Jackets, but Tech held a favorable size advantage.
Stammering Georgia Tech struggled to hit buckets from the field in the final quarter after hammering the game’s first six shots. The Yellow Jackets were rescued by excellent free throw shooting and aggressiveness. James Anderson, the nation’s third leading scorer, was held to less than 15 points for just the fifth time this season in the Cowboys’ loss. His season average is 22.6. Anderson knocked down 11 points and grabbed five rebounds for 22-11 Oklahoma State. He missed all six attempts from downtown and was just 3-of-12 from the floor. Marshall Moses added 14 and Keiton Page had 13 points for the Cowboys, including three 3-pointers. Page gave Oklahoma State the biggest lead of the game during the first half on a steal at midcourt. The tiny Cowboys guard gave his team a 34-27 lead but it was hardly sufficient for the 96% free throw shooting Jackets. Tech was led by junior forward, Gani Lawal. Lawal finished with 14 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes. He was 4-for-4 from the line. The free-throw challenged Yellow Jackets (65%) scored their final 13 points from the line Friday.
Senior guard and second leading scorer for the Cowboys, Obi Muonelo, closed out the first half by banking one of his ten shots. Oklahoma State forged a five point halftime lead but the Jackets learned to play through their scoring droughts with a stingy defense in the second half. Georgia Tech took a two point edge on Zachary Peacock’s jumper with 13 minutes remaining, and held a three point lead for three minutes as both teams exchanged offensive woes. Peacock, Tech’s most efficient free throw shooter, was also perfect from the line Friday. Anderson tied the game with an uncontested slam dunk on a Derrick Favors swipe. Favors came within a rebound of a double-double for Georgia Tech. But even the Big 12 player of the year, Anderson, couldn’t stop the Jackets from notching free throws. Head coach, Paul Hewitt’s Jackets continued to guard and rebound with ferocity.
Favors, the ACC freshman of the year, drained a pair of free throws with 2:27 left, and Iman Shumpert converted two more after drawing a foul for a 62-59 Tech advantage. It was a lead the Jackets wouldn’t relinquish. Shumpert was the only Yellow Jacket to miss a free throw in the final four minutes. The Cowboys’ attempt to set up a shot at the other end went for naught. Maurice Miller stripped Anderson of the ball and bucketed two free throws to seal the win for Tech. The turnover proved to be critical. Miller went 6-for-6 in the last two minutes of the game. The Cowboys fell to 38-23 all-time in the tourney. They never quite found their rhythm against a Tech team that lost five of seven headed into the tournament. Oklahoma appeared frazzled in the frantic final quarter as the Yellow Jackets put the sting in their saddle. They were outscored by ten points in the second half and were out-rebounded 28-17 during the contest. Travis Ford’s Cowboys end their season Friday on a sour note in what was likely the suppressed All-American Anderson’s final collegiate appearance.

Parting Points: Song to start the Spring-“The One I Love”- R.E.M.

Devil Dealin’ & Dishin’

Ilya Kovalchuk was one of the players included in a blockbuster NHL trade Thursday. The defensive-minded Devils traded for the marquee left wing in a deal with the Atlanta Thrashers. New Jersey acquired the high scoring, three-time All-Star and Anssi Salmela for four of their own yesterday. Defenseman Johnny Oduya, rookie forward Niclas Bergfors, junior prospect Patrice Cormier and a first-round draft pick were part of the blockbuster swap. Kovalchuk arrives just in time to bolster an ailing and injured New Jersey roster. The 26 year old Russian had 31 goals this season for Atlanta, and has posted 50 goal seasons twice in his young career. General manager, Lou Lamoriello, believes Kovalchuk will add his unsullied hockey sense at the power forward position on the Devils’ ice. The new skater in black and red is expected to play Friday as the Devils host Toronto. He should be an assest to a team that has struggled to score goals as of late. Kovalchuk was drafted in 2001 by the Thrashers. Since his NHL debut, he has continued to lead the NHL. The Olympian has 328 goals and will become a free agent at season’s end.
Oduya, the 28 year old Swedish skater, was having a disappointing season in New Jersey. Oduya and Bergfors are both serviceable players but the Devils got the better end of this bargain deal. New Jersey, second in the conference, immediately upgrades their credibility at both ends of the puck. Oduya has four points all season for the Devils. Bergfors has 13 goals on the season with 27 points, landing him at fifth place among league rookies. Still, it’s hard to decipher whether Bergfors’ future production will equal what Kovalchuk brings to the ice. The Atlantic Division-leading Devils drafted the rookie in 2005 at 23rd overall, but Bergfors is not the better player in the trade. Thrashers GM, Don Waddell, attempted to sign Kovalchuk to an extension. Kovalchuk turned him down what would have been the biggest contract over 12 years. The Russian declined all the offers from Atlanta, a major blow to the suffering franchise. Salmela is a mobile 25 year old defenseman, but his output this season has been mediocre at best. He managed just four assists in 29 games for the Thrashers this year. Salmela was drafted by the Devils in 2008 before being dealt in the Niclas Havelid deal with Atlanta. New Jersey also waved adieu to Cormier, their temperamental 19 year old. Cormier will impact the Thrashers down the road. He captained the Canadian team to a 2010 World Junior Championship but endured a season-ending suspension after hitting an opposing player.
In other Devils news, the Duke Blue Devils showed their horns last night in Durham. The ACC leaders toppled Georgia Tech 86-67 behind Kyle Singler’s 30 point barrage. Jon Scheyer added 21 points for 10th ranked Duke. Nolan Smith contributed 14 for the 18-4 Blue Devils, who hit nearly 67% of their 3-pointers. The Yellowjackets, fourth best in the nation in field-goal percentage defense, couldn’t stop Duke from finishing 45% from the field. Singler stymied Tech from the rainbow and was given the freedom to have open looks all night. The junior forward was 8-of-10 from the arc on this career night. The Devils dominated the second half and it all added up to Mike Krzyzewski’s 15th consecutive Cameron Indoor Stadium victory. Singler, Scheyer and Smith are the most productive scoring trio in college basketball. The three average 53 points per game. It was apparent they were too much for the young Yellowjackets. Twenty-first ranked Tech was led by senior Zachery Peacock’s 11 tallies.

Parting Points: It’s nice to see the LA Kings off to their best start since the ’80 season . At 35-19-3, this Kings fan cannot complain.

“There’s a freedom in your arms that carries me through”- Lee Ann Rimes