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Dispatch

NO. 5 OHIO STATE 74 EASTERN KENTUCKY 45
Cook scores 22, helps Ohio State smoke Eastern

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH


TERRY GILLIAM ASSOCIATED PRESS Ohio State?s David Lighty goes high to block a shot by Eastern Kentucky?s Darnell Dialls in the first half.


Coach Thad Matta wanted Ohio State fans to get warmed up for today.

Well, if the football team induces its opponent into a small fraction of the miscues Matta?s men?s basketball team created last night, hide the couches and empty the dumpsters.

Eastern Kentucky committed 14 turnovers in the last 12 minutes of the first half, and 26 for the game, and No. 5 Ohio State started Michigan weekend with a bang, smoking Eastern Kentucky 74-45 before the season?s first sold-out if not capacity crowd in Value City Arena.

Those who showed up also saw the Buckeyes wear their new, gray uniforms for the first time.

"We knew coming into tonight?s game that we wanted to try to dictate, to the best of our ability, the tempo," Matta said. "We lost our intensity a couple times in the second half, not getting matched up and giving them some open looks. But for the most part I thought we did a pretty good job of playing sound defense."

Freshman Daequan Cook came off the bench to lead Ohio State (4-0) with 22 points, 16 of them in the first half, when he made all seven of his shots from the field.

"I didn?t really pay attention to how many shots I made. I just played my game," Cook said. "It was mainly my teammates getting me open and going with the flow of the game and getting to the open spots on the court."

Freshman Mike Conley Jr. added 13 points, making all six of his shots from the field, and had three of OSU?s 15 steals. Jamar Butler had four steals.

"We wanted to wear them down. We knew if we wore them down with the press, it would lead to turnovers," Butler said. "We really weren?t trying to turn them over (as much as) just trying to shrink the shot clock; that way, they couldn?t set up and run their offense."

The festivities began with the obligatory Michigan vulgarity from the upper deck of the arena before the national anthem was played. That brought a smile to Greg Oden?s face.

Ohio State pressed from the outset, but it was nothing more than a nagging inconvenience for Eastern Kentucky, which made seven of its first eight shots from the field and led 11-5 before being tied at 15.

The end for the Colonels began soon after. Conley tipped a pass on the press to force one turnover and the Buckeyes simultaneously seemed to turn up the intensity in their halfcourt defense, as well, forcing four more turnovers in Eastern?s next six possessions.

Ohio State outscored the Colonels 20-2 in a span of 8 minutes, 39 seconds and went to halftime leading 43-23. Eastern scored the first five points of the second half but got no closer.

"I think our team executed very well to start both halves," Eastern Kentucky coach Jeff Neubauer said.

"It?s after the game got into a flow that we got rattled. They applied more pressure as the game went on.

"I was happy with our offense at times when we didn?t turn it over."
The return to gray uniforms for the first time in 10 years was a surprise even to the players.

"We wore white out there to warm up with and we came back in and they had gray hanging up in our locker," Conley said. "We were real surprised. We thought they looked real good."

Matta said he had no particular reason for having the team wear the new uniforms when it did. "I just like them in scarlet and gray," he said.

"I told coach (Jim) Tressel I was going to tell you guys that when they took the gray out of the sleeves of the football uniforms ? which has really hurt the team ? that we just got all the leftover material. He told me, ?If you say that, I?ll kill you.? "

Matta?s safe for today, at least. Tressel has another target in his sights.

bbaptist@dispatch.com

Saturday, November 18, 2006