• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

tOSU vs. Penn State (Unofficial Game Preview)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
vrbryant

vrbryant

Ever thus to ____ers
Staff member
The #18 Ohio State Buckeyes (10-0, 0-0)
vs.
The Penn State Nittany Lions (8-3, 0-0)
_______

Thursday, January 5 - 8:00 p.m.

PSU.bmp
PENN STATE - Official Site of Penn State Athletics - With Buckeye football heading into hibernation, the basketball team surges forward into the spotlight with perfect timing, as the conference schedule begins Thursday night versus Penn State. Coming off the thrilling last-second win over LSU, the Bucks are battle tested and picking up momentum. Bad news for the Nittany Lions, whose 8-3 record somewhat belies their true ability. Apart from being winless on the road thus far, PSU's eight victories have come against a suspect group of teams, featuring the likes of IPFW and UMKC (no, you may not buy a vowel). In any event, while certainly not a serious threat, the Lions are not without talent. They have, in all fairness, won all the games they were supposed to, and despite being a comparatively inexperienced team, they shoot well and have a good overall assist-to-turnover ratio. Let's take a look at the players.

First up is Columbus native, #2, freshman forward Jamelle Cornley (pictured below). The Brookhaven star and 2005 Ohio Mr. Basketball has started the last four games over incumbent Brandon Hassell and has been very consistent all season long. At 6'6", 235, Cornley is a stout body who works well in the post. His 12.3 points per game are good for second on the team, and he pulls down an average of 4.6 rebounds as well. He's impressive for a freshman--shooting 59.3% from the field and maintaining a nearly 1:1 A/TO are not normally qualities of first-year players. With the way LSU racked up second chance points, keeping him off the glass will be important. As a side note, if you're going to be watching from home, you'll probably hear the announcers mention that Jamelle is from Columbus and that he attended the same high school as Ron Lewis about seventeen thousand times. Just fair warning.

PSU_cornley.jpg

#2 - Jamelle Cornley​
The top scorer and rebounder for the Nittany Lions is #5, sophomore guard-forward Geary Claxton (pictured below). The 6'5" wing is posting 14.8 points and 6.5 boards in 30.6 minutes per game, and is very adept at getting to the line. Unfortunately for Penn State, he's somewhat less adept at actually scoring once getting there--he's made just 36 of his 64 attempts, a .563 average. Even so, him reaching the stripe means fouls on us, and this is something up with which we should not put. At more than twelve shot attempts per night, Mr. Claxton is nothing if not prolific. Assuming he squares off against Sully, it should be a fun match-up to watch.

PSU_claxton.jpg

#5 - Geary Claxton​
The rest of the line-up comprises the leadership of the team. The lone senior, #11 Travis Parker (6-5, 242) will join Claxton and Cornley in the frontcourt, and junior guards #3 Ben Luber (6-0, 178) and #32 David Jackson (6-3, 195) will take care of the ballhandling. Parker is the only other Lion scoring in double figures (11.1 ppg), and may well have the pleasure of guarding TDials. Jackson - a CC transfer - is a nice all-around off-guard, and Luber's 4.9 apg is good for eighth in the Big Ten. Off the bench, we'll primarily see the aforementioned #23, sophomore forward Brendan Hassell (6-9, 210), #4, sophomore guard Mike Walker (6-2, 180), and #45, junior forward Cilk McSweeney (6-6, 205). The latter two are fine outside shooters, while Hassell is the resident BUBM. (Back-up Big Man. Yes, I just made that up).

It's unreasonable in my estimation to expect Ed DeChellis and Co. to come into the Schott and give us a serious challenge after the way we closed out against LSU. This is a team that lost to Pitt (also ranked and unbeaten) by 37 points, so you have to believe that a roster that features just one senior won't be sauntering up to an even tougher opponent with ice water in their veins. Clearly I won't predict so dramatic a rout, but I imagine the only hope Penn State has of giving us a scare is for our guys to be complacent and looking ahead to Indiana this Saturday. Considering what I have seen from Coach Matta, the likelihood of that happening is very, very low.

Projected starters:

Ohio State

F - Matt Sylvester
F - J.J. Sullinger
F - Terence Dials
G - Je'Kel Foster
G - Jamar Butler

Penn State

F - Jamelle Cornley
F - Geary Claxton
F - Travis Parker
G - David Jackson
G - Ben Luber


My prediction: OSU 80 - PSU 68

Up next, Indiana...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top