Shockers shock the Buckeyes

The basket  must have looked like pin hole to Aaron Craft and the number two seeded Buckeyes Saturday night in The Staple Center. Ohio State went 19 for 61 and were defeated by the underdog Wichita State Shockers for the right to move on the Final Four in Atlanta.

Shockers Coach Greg Marshall told his team before the game "Do what your capable of doing." The number nine seeded Shockers came out in the first half and out scored, out rebounded and generally out played the Buckeyes. In a sloppy first half Ohio State shot 24% as Wichita State clamped down on the Buckeyes offense, denying every drive to the lane, and contesting every 3 point shot. The shockers led by the scoring effort of Cleanthony Early were able to take a 35-22 lead going into the half.

The second half was more of the same in which Ohio State was plagued by foul trouble and poor shooting. Both teams struggled to score early in the second going almost a 3 minute span without hitting a bucket until Tekele Cotton broke the draught for the Shockers hitting a field goal at the17 minute mark. Led by the hot hand of Wichita State Senior Malcolm Early who finished  the game with 14 points he pulled his team out out to a 51-33 point lead, the biggest deficit The Buckeyes had faced in the tournament.

But with 3:43 on the clock and trailing by 20 the Buckeyes pushed the initiative and began  to play with a new found since of urgency. With the Shockers seemingly running out of gas Deshaun Thomas and company went on a 16-4 run to pull the game within 8 points. But time was not on their side and as the seconds ticked off the clock there would be no last second heroics by Aaron Craft or LaQuinton Ross this time.

"We gotta make shots." said Buckeyes Coach Thad Matta at the half "We gotta put the ball in the basket." but that was the ultimate undoing of the Bucks as they shot a miserable 31% for the game.

Buckeye scorers were led by Deshaun Thomas with 21 points and LaQuinton Ross with 19, Aaron Craft finished with 9 points and went 2-12 from the field.

Armstead, Early.Cotton, and Van Fleet all finished with double digits for Wichita State. The Shockers have not been to The Final Four since 1965 and will face the winner of Louisville Duke.

Congratulations to coach Thad Matta and the entire Buckeyes basketball team on a great season!.

Jordan Hall's move to slot gives Meyer the weapon he needs

Urban Meyer was missing one key component last year that kept the offense from reaching its full potential - a true threat at slot receiver.

The 2013 season will be different as Senior Jordan Hall makes the move over to the H-Back position where he will be utilized as both a running back and motioning out to the slot receiver position. Hall is still adapting to the new position and has been splitting his time between both positions in spring practice. Stan Drayton, The Buckeyes running back coach said" Hall looks small but he is 200 pounds, benches 400 and makes people miss in space if you miss a tackle he is gone."

Hall is excited about the move which is not completely unfamiliar to him as he did play the position back at Jeannette High School. Hall said " As a back you have to run through the defensive line, then the linebackers and the safety. As a receiver there are two people to make miss. I'm pretty sure I can make two miss."

Also the additions of recruits James Clark a highly coveted wide receiver and Texas native Dontre Wilson a running back wide receiver hybrid should give Meyer depth at a position that he did not have.

Clutch 3 pointer sends Buckeyes to the Elite 8

The number 2 seeded Ohio State Buckeyes pulled out a thrilling victory in The Staple Center Thursday night sending them to the elite eight for the second year in a row. Arizona was able to tie the game at 70 with less than a minute to go when Senior guard Mark Lyons was fouled on a layup and then converted on the free throw. But Ohio State sophomore LaQuinton Ross nailed a clutch three pointer with 2.1 seconds on the clock from NBA range sealing the victory and sending the number 4 seeded Wildcats home.

In the first half Arizona led by the scoring of Mark Lyons and Solomon Hill held leads of up to 11 points complimented by a stifling defense that held Ohio State to 40% shooting.

The Wildcats were poised to break the game open as the Buckeyes struggled to score in the first half and relied heavily on Deshaun Thomas. When Thad Matta called time out with 2 minutes left it seemed to energize his squad and they went on a 12-5 run to finish the first half.

The momentum carried over into the second half and the Buckeyes opened with a 10-0 run as the Arizona defense faltered. OSU went on to shoot 45 percent from the field in the second half and out rebounded the bigger Wildcats 17-13 after halftime.

Ohio State led 67-63 entering the final two minutes but Mark Lyons hit both ends of a one and one and drove inside for a layup to cut it to 70-67 entering the final minute He was then able to drive to the basket and tie the game on an acrobatic shot with 21.8 seconds left assisted by a LaQuinton Ross foul.

But Ross who before the game was assigned Kobe Bryant's locker knew he was destined for something special that night and he delivered draining the long range three that left the Wildcats with no time to work with. After the game Ross said "We like to get the big men on a pick-and-roll. They messed up the switch there, and I was able to knock down the shot. It's every kids dream to hit the game winner in the tournament"

Lyons led the Arizona scorers with 23 points, Solomon Hill added 16 points, but the rest of Arizona combined for just 31 points on 10-for-29 shooting. Deshaun Thomas led Ohio State with 20 points, Aaron Craft, Sam Thompson and Ross all finished the night with double-digit scoring nights. Ohio State extended their winning streak to 11 game and have not lost since Feb. 17 when they were embarrassed by Wisconsin, before winning the Big Ten tournament.

Saturday, Ohio State will face Wichita State with the winner advancing to the Final Four in Atlanta.

Aaron Craft is trending again

 

 

The newest #tag taking twitter by storm  #AaaronCraftDrawsChargesFromStuff 

 

Pretty funny stuff!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Johnny Manziel tweets were faked

  If you had not heard there was a story circulating that Johnny Manziel was bashing Aaron Craft on twitter. College Spun is reporting that this was never the case and that someone had faked the twitter messages. Full story here -  Johnny Manziel Never Bashed Aaron Craft, But Someone Used Photoshop To Make It Look Like He Did

Browns looking for a new QB

So far Cleveland has either worked out or interviewed 5 Quarterbacks. Should Brandon Weeden start packing his bags now?

Cleveland Browns 2013 draft prospect official visits 

Private Workouts

Sheldon Richardson, DL Missouri

Don Jones, S Arkansas State

Dion Jordan, OLB Oregon

Geno Smith, QB West Virginia

Matt Scott, QB Arizona

Datone Jones, DE/OLB UCLA

EJ Manuel, QB Florida State

Tyrann Mathieu, CB LSU

Dee Milliner, CB Alabama

Kenny Stills, WR Oklahoma


Combine Meetings

Lane Johnson, OT Oklahoma

Jarvis Jones, OLB Georgia

Brian Winters, G Kent State


Pro Day Interest

Anthony Capasso, WR Ashland

Landry Jones, QB Oklahoma

Matt Barkley, QB USC


Senior Bowl Meetings

Nick Kasa, TE Colorado

Carson Tinker, LS Alabama

Cornelius Washington, DE/OLB Georgia


East-West Shrine Meetings

Josh Hill, TE Idaho State

AJ Klein, LB Iowa State

Will Pericak, DL Colorado

Earl Watford, OG James Madison

Zombie attack at UFC 162

 

 To say I was excited to hear that Chan Sung Jung will face Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas at UFC 162 is an understatement. The Korean Zombie has quickly became one of my favorite UFC fighters to watch. With his straight forward relentless standup and unbelievable ground game every fight has potential to become an instant classic. Zombie sustained a shoulder injury during his Fight and Submission of the night performance over Dustin Poirier back in May 2012 and has not been back in the cage since.

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/03/ricardo-lamas-meets-chang-sung-jung-at-julys-ufc-162-card-in-las-vegas