#1 Ohio State 67, #2 Georgetown 60 (Final)

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

FINAL FOUR INSIDER
Hoyas can't iron out OSU's wrinkles

Sunday, April 01, 2007 Doug Lesmerises

Plain Dealer Reporter
Atlanta- If some of Ohio State's defenses looked unfamiliar Saturday, they were just as unfamiliar to Georgetown and the Buckeyes themselves. With some tweaks to their zone schemes, and a strategy that constantly switched between zone and man-to-man, Ohio State kept the Hoyas sputtering for much of the night in a 67-60 Final Four victory.
"They're a rhythm team, and they never found a rhythm," OSU assistant Alan Major said.
Asked about the defensive adjustments, OSU junior guard Jamar Butler said, "I'm going to keep that a secret, but we have a lot of defenses we play."
But freshman point guard Mike Conley Jr. was more forthcoming, admitting that the Buckeyes worked on some special wrinkles just for the Hoyas.
"We had a lot of time to prepare for them," Conley said. "And we thought if we could get that down, we could really hold them."
Earlier in the week, Ohio State coach Thad Matta said the biggest change between this game and last year's 70-52 loss to the Georgetown in the second round of the NCAA Tournament was the prep time. Last year, the Buckeyes had a day. This year, the Buckeyes had six days to get ready for the Hoyas' version of the cutting Princeton offense, and it made all difference.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

CPD

ONE FINAL STEP AWAY

Buckeyes rise above Hoyas, get Gators again in title game
Sunday, April 01, 2007 Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Atlanta- Greg Oden thought to himself, "Here we go again." He was headed to the bench after picking up his second foul less than three minutes into Saturday's national semifinal, another NCAA Tournament men's basketball game to go on without him. Yet Ohio State wound up going somewhere the Buckeyes hadn't gone since 1962.
Holding their own without Oden while he sat out nearly the entire first half, then exploiting the foul trouble of Georgetown's 7-2 Roy Hibbert, Ohio State rolled into Monday night's NCAA Tournament championship game. The 67-60 Final Four victory over the Hoyas at the Georgia Dome sets up a rematch of the Jan. 8 football national championship game, with Florida again standing between OSU and a national title.
Ohio State advanced even though Georgetown shot better than the Buckeyes, Hibbert still scored 19 points and tournament hero Ron Lewis had nine points on 1-of-8 shooting.

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[Best Buckeye]

IMO it was our defense that won this game. I thought that Oden, Hibbart, and Conley would do their thing and that the difference would be the play of Green and the other big men. And it was.
We held Green (best player in that conference) to five shots. 5!!!.
We held their other forward, Summers, to 1 - 10 . We held the number of backdoors to 2. This to a team that lived on them.
We got 9 turnovers in the first half.
That, people , is defense.
IN YO FACE TALKING HEADS !!!

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

DDN

NCAA MEN'S TOURNAMENT
OSU fulfills coach's talk about a final

The Buckeyes overcome Oden's foul trouble and Georgetown to gain their first trip to the NCAA title game in 45 years. They'll play Florida.


By Mark Gokavi
Staff Writer

Sunday, April 01, 2007

ATLANTA ? This was Thad Matta's plan all along.
When he recruited Greg Oden and Mike Conley from Indianapolis Lawrence North, he talked about a national title game.
"This is crazy," Oden said Saturday night at the Georgia Dome. "Because this is our dream and, to be honest with you, when coach Matta recruited us, this is what he said. Like this was his dream. He was so confident about it."
The Buckeyes made it come true.
Although Oden was in foul trouble ? again ? Ohio State held off Georgetown, 67-60, in a NCAA national semifinal.
Riding a 22-game streak, Ohio State (35-3) faces Florida (34-5) at 9:21 p.m. Monday for the national title ? a rematch of the BCS football championship game.

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

DDN

OSU NOTES
Hibbert wins battle of big men, but Oden plays for title


By Mark Gokavi
Staff Writer

Sunday, April 01, 2007

ATLANTA ? Let Roy Hibbert have the head-to-head victory Saturday at the Georgia Dome. Greg Oden will take the shot at a national title.
Both Georgetown's 7-foot-2 Hibbert and Ohio State's 7-foot Oden had four fouls during Ohio State's 67-60 national semifinal win.
I just had to make smarter decisions when I'm out there," Hibbert said. "I need to be a better player when it comes to knowing when to foul and when not to foul."
Hibbert had 19 points, six rebounds, a block, an assist and two turnovers in 24 minutes. Oden had 13 points, nine boards, two turnovers, a block and a steal in 20 minutes.
"I think the buildup between those two going head-to-head is natural," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. "They are, you know, two of the best, if not the two best, big guys, low-post centers out there."

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[OSUBasketballJunkie]

DDN

OSU 67, Georgetown 60
Critics have it all wrong: Harris can defend Hoyas' Green


By Mark Gokavi
Staff Writer

Sunday, April 01, 2007

ATLANTA ? Ivan Harris has more than just a pretty jump shot.
Pointed to as a powerless power forward by some media outlets, the senior from Springfield more than held his own Saturday night at the Georgia Dome.
Harris scored nine points, had seven rebounds (five on offense), an assist, a steal and zero fouls in 15 minutes. He also did his part against Big East player of the year Jeff Green, who had nine points and 12 rebounds.
"I read everything and I took it personal," said Harris, who also drew Green's third foul. "I knew I had to go out there and play hard. They said I couldn't guard Green, stuff like that. But I stepped up and played my game."

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