Men's Basketball
Buckeyes Wear Down Gritty Cyclones for Win
By John Porentas

Iowa State (7-5) played No. 3 Ohio State (10-1) nose to nose for most the game and trailed by just six points with 3:54 remaining in the game, but OSU's defensive pressure finally got to the Cyclones and allowed the Buckeyes to end the game with a 13-0 run to claim a 75-56 win in a game that was much, much closer than the final score indicated.

"We didn't quit against a very talented Ohio State team," commented Iowa State Greg McDemott of his team's performance.

"A lack of discipline late cost us the game. Their ability to make plays and us not responding to that was really the difference in the end."

Iowa State entered the contest with the idea of slowing down the pace of the game to limit OSU's number of possessions and slow down the high flying Buckeyes, and for the first half, the Cyclones were extremely successful with that strategy. The Cyclones not only worked deep into the shot clock, but also collected eight offensive rebounds off their 19 missed shots to maintain possession and run clock. Offensively, Iowa State knocked down six-of-14 three point attempts, including two that went in off the glass, to trail by just one at the half at 29-28.

"We did what we had to do. We controlled the tempo for the most part," said McDermott.

The close first half was a result Iowa State's strategy and a rather flat performance by the Buckeyes.

"Iowa State did a great job. They came to play. I told our guys were not mentally as ready as we needed to be to start this basketball game," said OSU Head Coach Thad Matta.

"I don't know how or why, but it's a good lesson for a young basketball team. To their credit, they just kept coming at us every possession. I give our guys a lot of credit for keeping their toughness and keeping their composure," Matta said.

The OSU coaching staff thought that full-court pressure might make the Cyclones play a little faster and also pick up OSU's intensity, but Matta was at first reluctant to take that route.

"Honestly I challenged our guys because we had talked about opening it up and pressing them. I was a little bit nervous to do it," said Matta.

"At half time I said we're going to see what we're made of because the coaches were telling me to go to the press and I didn't think we were playing hard enough to press. I thought they answered the call to it, I really did," Matta said.

"I wasn't surprised that Thad would probably go to that to try and speed the game up," said McDermott.

"To our guys credit we didn't let that affect us and we didn't really turn it over too much, but I thought it threw us out of rhythm somewhat. The press certainly impacted us. More than anything it probably wore into our guards as the game went on."

OSU's pressure brought life to the Buckeyes on both the offensive the defensive ends of the court, particularly to Mike Conley. Conley drew the second-half assignment of guarding Iowa guard Mike Taylor in the second half. Taylor put up 13 points in the first half but was limited to 11 in the second half. More importantly, Taylor turned the ball over three times after the intermission.

"Really I think we just stepped up on defense," said Conley.

"We came out playing a full-court press and that got us going. We got some transition buckets from that. I fed off that energy that everybody was giving at that time, especially defensively. I just tried to make things happen and get over this hump."

While Conley was spearheading the OSU defense, fellow freshman Daequan Cook was getting it done at the offensive end. Cook came off the bench to score a team-high 21 points in just 26 minutes of playing time. Whenever Iowa State appeared to be poised to make a run at the Buckeyes, Cook would answer with some offense to hold them at bay.

"I thought that Cook hit big baskets when we had opportunities to hang around. I thought he made big plays. He's a talented young man," said McDermott.

The Cyclones were able to hand close to the Buckeyes for most of the second half, but never took a lead. They were as close as two at 47-45 with 9:23 remaining in the game, but a dunk by Greg Oden moved OSU's lead back out to four. Iowa State pulled to within two again at 53-51 with 7:19 remaining, but this time it was Cook who hit a jumper to put OSU back up by four at at 55-51 at the 7:00 mark.

OSU moved out to a nine point lead at 62-53 when Conley canned two free throws, but Corey Johnson gave the Cyclones one last gasp when he hit a three pointer with 3:54 remaining. From there on in, however, it was all Buckeyes. OSU's pressure finally took its toll on Iowa State and the Cyclones misfired on their last six shots of the game, four of the three point attempts. Ohio State meanwhile was able to put up 13 points in the last 3:54 to win the game going away.

"The team that we played didn't back down," said Cook.

"They played harder than what we thought. They kind of shocked us and hit us in a bad spot.

"When we put the press on it was a lot more up and down where they had to make a lot more passes and we were trapping. By us playing hard on defense we were getting a lot more turnovers."

Game Notes and quotes:

* Greg Oden Update: Ohio State center Greg Oden logged a season-high and team-high 35 minutes in the game and played the entire second half. Oden scored 18 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. Oden is still shooting his free throws left handed but was able to make two of four attempts, but McDermott said it was his defensive presence that really made a difference in the game.

"I'm not sure if his offense was the difference in the game. I think his defensive presence certainly had an impact on what we were able to do on the other end," said McDermott.

"We knew we were giving up a lot inside. Points in the paint are hard to come by with their strength and athleticism in there," McDermott said.

Oden wore a wrap on his left hand in the game, but after the game said it really was nothing to be concerned about.

"I just had a jammed thumb. I've had it ever since I first started practicing," Oden said.

* VIPs: Two former Buckeye greats were on hand for the game and were introduced to the crowd during a time out near the end of the first half. Reigning Big Ten MVP Terence Dials was on hand and was called to the court for an introduction. With Dials was OSU great Jerry Lucas who was a three-time Big Ten MVP. Lucas got a big hand from the crowd, but the current Buckeyes admitted after the game that they really didn't know too much about him.

"I have no idea," said Daequan Cook when asked if he knew who Lucas was.

"We were babies. We heard great stories about him and seen clips about him that they show on ESPN classics but there's not a lot we really know about him."

* The OSU Dilemma: Opposing coaches are finding it very difficult to defend the Buckeyes now that Greg Oden has returned to the lineup. If they sag off on Oden, OSU has enough fire power to make them pay at other positions.

"We had so much respect for their shooters that you have to be careful who you help off of because Oden does such a great job of fanning it out there to the open shooter if you leave the wrong guy," said McDermott.

Oden scored 18 against Iowa State but was joined in double figures by Cook with 21, Ivan Harris with 10 and Mike Conley with 15.

* Football Team Honored: At half time of the game the OSU football team was honored for their outright Big Ten championship. Most of the team was on hand and on the floor at half time as OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel presented the Big Ten championship trophy to Director of Athletics Gene Smith. Both Tressel and Smith addressed the crowd as did OSU quarterback Troy Smith who thrilled the crowd by displaying his newly-won Heisman Trophy as well. Smith wore a Cleveland Browns jacket while on the floor.

* Conley Rises to the Challenge: OSU guard Mike Conley had an excellent game against Iowa State both offensively and defensively. His offense included 15 points and six assists with just one turnover. His defensive effort, particularly in the second half and late in the game, enabled OSU to finally separate from the Cyclones as the game wound down.

"He made some aggressive plays at the basket and defensively got his hands on some balls. I really thought he was off the charts," said Mata.

"He stepped up and made his free throws, knocked them down. He definitely sized things up and said 'I need to make something happen.'

"I think that he ignited us getting his hands on some balls. He and Jamar (Butler) to start the second half extended the defense and really did a heck of a job."

Conley was a perfect seven-for-seven from the free throw line and four-of-eight from the field. He was also credited with three steals.

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