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No. 1 Ohio State vs. #9 Xavier (Game Thread)

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BB73

BB73

Loves Buckeye History
Staff member
Bookie
'16 & '17 Upset Contest Winner
The Musketeers get a chance against their former coach.

No. 1 Ohio State (31-3) vs. No. 9 Xavier (25-8), 3/17/07, 1:10PM EST, CBS​



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As a Cinci native who lives 20 minutes from XU and has lots of friends who are XU fans/XU students, this would be a fun one to win. (Between beating XU and UC in one year, I'll have bragging rights over just about all my friends. :biggrin:)
 
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Dispatch

Victory gives Musketeers? fans a date with Matta
Friday, March 16, 2007
Todd Jones
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Ohio State men?s basketball coach Thad Matta might want to start stuffing cotton into his ears.
Xavier fans, still upset over how Matta departed for OSU in 2004, booed him on two occasions last night in Rupp Arena.
On Saturday, those Xavier fans will have a chance to do more than just holler at Matta. They?ll try to send him and the No. 1-seeded Buckeyes home when the two Ohio schools meet for the first time in 23 years in a second-round NCAA Tournament game.

Cont'd...
 
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A couple of factors I see playing into this game:

For Xavier:
  • Crowd: Xavier only an hour away from Lexington and the Xavier-BYU game was much louder than the OSU-CCSU game (at least it sounded that way on TV) could give Xavier a small advantage in this area.
  • Underdog: Playing the role of the underdog may give Xavier an extra spark at the beginning of the game
(Unfortunately I don't know a lot about Xavier's players or I'd comment on a few of them).

For Ohio State:
  • Oden: Xavier doesn't have anyone to match up to Oden... feed the post and let Oden take over. Xavier will have to double-down on Oden to attempt to neutralize him and if they do that...
  • Butler: If Jamar continues to shoot well it'll be tough for Xavier to double-down on Oden then get back to Jamar on time to contest his shot.
  • Leadership: The upperclassmen, specifically Lewis and Butler are starting to stepping it up a notch.
Neutral/Non-factors:
  • Matta: I don't think this is as much a factor for the Xavier team as it is for their fans... only 2 or 3 players on the team were under Matta when he was there.
Side question: Was Lavender recruited by Ohio State? If not, did he want to play for Ohio State?
 
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Good post bk.

I heard on the radio last night that Xavier had claimed they'd play Ohio State, anytime, anywhere. Tomorrow, they'll get what they've been asking for. An ass whipping.

Like you said, they have no one that can match up with Oden underneath and they aren't quick enough to come out of the paint to alter shots from the perimeter. Cook and Butler could have a field day if they concentrate on Oden.

Xavier will try to force the ball inside early and bait Oden into foul trouble. If he plays like he has been, he won't take the bait.

I'll call it. We'll have two players with double doubles. Oden and a player to be named. Likely Butler. Xavier likes the outside shots and that forces long rebounds.

Xavier 56
Ohio State 70
 
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I would look for X to come out fast tomorrow similar to scUM in the game this year. We will need to hang with them for a few minutes until the adrenaline wears off. Worst case scenario OSU gets down early and has to claw back. Better case, we hang with them and pull away midway through the first half. Best case, X comes out with a lot of emotion, but can't hit shots (similar to CC yesterday) and get down early. Pound Oden inside, and hope the shooters keep shooting well.
 
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