Saturday, January 29, 2000
O'Brien's bold move energized Buckeyes
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Just three weeks ago, it seemed Ohio State was lost. Now it seems the Buckeyes can't lose.
Coming off a pair of impressive wins over ranked opponents Michigan State and St. John's last week, the No.8 Buckeyes host Purdue on Saturday night.
“We're very happy where we are,” coach Jim O'Brien said.
The Buckeyes are tied for the top spot in the Big Ten after winning five in a row and nine of 10.
Ohio State (13-3, 4-1 Big Ten) lost its conference opener at Illinois and then barely scraped by Minnesota at home.
Apparently it took time for O'Brien's great gamble — bringing third-leading scorer George Reese off the bench beginning in late December — to turn the Buckeyes' fortunes around.
Along the way, Ohio State has been picking up believers.
After a surprisingly easy 78-67 victory over then-No.10 Michigan State last week, Spartans coach Tom Izzo said, “There's no doubt he made the move of all moves by putting Reese on the bench and bringing him off. I know that's a big, big part of how they beat us.”
The result has been more firepower off the bench, more quality time for freshman starter Cobe Ocokoljic and stronger play by the rest of the subs. In addition, it seems the Buckeyes' remaining starters — top scorers Scoonie Penn and Michael Redd, point guard Brian Brown and shot-blocking big man Ken Johnson — have been energized.
“You know you're going to have staples in Penn and Redd, and Brown and Johnson have probably improved their games a lot,” Izzo said. “I really like their team. I didn't think we played great down there and 90 percent of that had to do with them. They are a very, very good basketball team right now.”
That's not good news for Purdue (13-6, 4-2). A year ago, under somewhat similar circumstances, the Boilermakers came to Value City Arena to test the Buckeyes and were routed 72-43 — the most lopsided Ohio State victory ever in the series.
Purdue coach Gene Keady was asked if his team could use that game as motivation.
“Last year was a different team,” Keady said. “Saying something about that game is a waste of time because the year before we beat Ohio State bad there (107-75).”
Penn said he expected a veteran tactician such as Keady to remind his players what happened a year ago.
“Purdue will try to use the revenge factor to their advantage,” Penn said. “We beat them both times we played them last year so they want to try to come and get back what they had on us for several seasons.”
It was Penn who hit the go-ahead free throws and then blocked Erick Barkley's shot at the buzzer Saturday in the Buckeyes' 65-64 win over No.19 St. John's at Madison Square Garden. Ohio State scored the final 11 points to pull it out of the loss column.
O'Brien called the win over Michigan State terrific and the one over St. John's “improbable.”
“Our confidence is sky high right now,” said the 6-11 Johnson, who leads the nation in blocked shots. “We have a terrific attitude and we are focused.”
If indeed the Buckeyes are hitting their stride after foundering somewhat in the season's first two months, they have picked the perfect time to do it.
They play four of their next five games at home. Were they to sweep those games, they would be riding a wave of momentum before hitting their most important week of the season — games at Michigan State and at Indiana in a five-day span in mid-February.
“People are saying that we are back to tournament form right now, but we're the same team that has played all season,” Penn said, referring to the Buckeyes' run to the Final Four last year. “Right now we're clicking.”
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