Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Clobber Florida A & M with Three-Point Barrage
By John Porentas
OSU senior forward J. J. Sullinger equaled his career-high by scoring 24 points, 19 of them in the first half, to lead Ohio State (15-3) to a lopsided 95-53 win over visiting Florida A & M (10-11) University. With the win, Ohio State competes its non-conference schedule at a perfect 11-0, the first time an Ohio State has been undefeated in its non-league slate since the 1990-91 season.
Florida A & M's packed-in zone was effective in limiting OSU center Terence Dials' offense, Dials scored just six points, but the Buckeyes responded by hoisting a record 36 three-point attempts, one more than the previous record of 35 set in 2004. Ohio State converted on 13 of those attempts (36.1 per cent) to account for 39 of their 95 points. Sullinger made four-of-six three points attempts, Je'Kel Foster three-of-five, and Ivan Harris three-of-six.
"We played exactly the way we played all year," said FAMU Head Coach Mike Gillespie of his team's defensive strategy. "We weren't going to come out of it at any time. You would have thought they made more than 13 threes though. I was shocked when I saw that stat. I thought they had 24."
The Buckeyes shot just 38.7 per cent overall in the first half, but really lit it up in the second half, knocking down 57.5 per cent of the field goal attempts after the intermission. While the Buckeyes were heating up, the Rattlers were cooling off. Florida A & M made just 28.1 per cent of their field goal attempts in the second half, partly because an intensified defensive effort, and partly because of the absence of FAMU leading scorer Tony Tate who did not play in the second half due to dehydration. Tate came into the game averaging 16.6 points per game but scored just five in the game in 14 minutes of action. Ohio State led by just 12 at the half at 41-29, but outscored A&M 54-24 in the second half.
"The first half I thought J. J. Sullinger was tremendous," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta. "He kind of carried us through."
Gillespie was impressed with what he saw of the Buckeyes.
"That's a helluva team we just played," said Gillespie. "When they shoot the ball that well they're as good as anybody we've played. We played Florida, Indiana, Georgia, Northern Iowa, this is a terrific team," Gillespie said.
"We didn't count on J. J. shooting the three the way that he did, and if I'm Ivan Harris I'm asking why I'm not getting more playing time. I'm sure he'd like to see us back next year so he can have another career-high, but he was terrific for them in the second half."
Harris, who played just 15 minutes, collected 15 points, nine of them from behind the three point arc, four rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot.
Gillespie was philosophical about his team's one-sided loss, but is glad his team will not have to face any more teams like the Buckeyes this season. .
"That's our eighth guaranteed game of the year. We brought in over $250,000 to our athletic department. I'm so happy that we're done playing those games. My Preparation-H won't be needed anymore for the rest of the season I hope. We go back to nine league games. Our record against equal competition is 10-3 this year."
Ohio State's dominance was not limited to outside shooting. The Buckeyes were dominant defensively, out rebounded the Rattlers 45-34, and also came up with several spectacular dunks in the game. Ivan Harris and J. J. Sullinger each came up with spectacular dunks, but none were any more spectacular by the play by Je'Kel Foster and Ron Lewis in which Foster got the ball to Lewis with a pass off the backboard for a spectacular throw-down.
"I have to be honest with you. I didn't really see the play," said Matta. "I saw Ron throwing it through, but I didn't know how he got the ball. I will tell Je'Kel when we regroup that that thing better be completed," said Matta, who obviously was not exactly thrilled with the idea of a pass off the glass.
Game Notes
* Sullinger's career high of 24 points equaled his scoring total against San Francisco November 21, 2003 in his first game as a Buckeye.
* Ohio State amassed 27 assists against FAMU, eight by Jamar Butler and six by Sylvester Mayes. The Buckeye committed just 13 turnovers against the FAMU zone.
* Everyone who dressed played for Ohio State, including walk on Sam Payne who scored a career-high two points against the Rattlers.
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