No. 2 Ohio State 82 (9-1), USC-Upstate 58 (6-5)

Quotes and Notes

Thad Matta, Ohio State head coach

On Jared Sullinger’s injury

“He did a decent job for not playing since the Duke game. He knew he was going to be winded. Hopefully now this gives him confidence to get back out there and go to work.”

 

On the game tonight

“We beat a very good basketball team tonight. When they took the clock down a little bit, moved the ball around and didn’t shoot real quick, it lowered their possessions. I felt like in the first half we didn’t quite have the intensity we needed. (Torrey) Craig is a great player. He had a good stretch where we fouled him and then he hit two threes. We put good pressure on the ball and did a good job on defense, but we did not do a good job rebounding the ball.”

 

On Sam Thompson

“Sam has been doing a good job. He’s starting to understand and pick things up. He just wants to win. He understands the game and I was very pleased with how he played.”

 

On injuries to his teams in the past

“It’s funny because we have dealt with injuries far too often. It is a process to get him (Sullinger) back to where he was playing, but for him to come out and get a double-double is impressive. He did a good job for not playing for two weeks.”

 

Jared Sullinger, sophomore center/forward

On when the decision was made to let him play tonight

“I’ve been lobbying all week, but I wasn’t cleared until this morning after shootaround. It felt great to be back out there.”

 

On returning to full strength

“I was tired – two weeks off is a killer. I did a lot of work on the treadmill these last few days, but I was still very out of shape tonight.”

 

On the decision to have him come off the bench

“It was my decision. Evan [Ravenel] has worked so hard these last few weeks and I felt he deserved a shot to start – he’s earned it.”

 

Deshaun Thomas, sophomore forward

On his performance

“I felt I played really well. It’s been a learning process, but I definitely think that I am improving with each game. I’ve been taking better shots and building more confidence in my abilities.”

 

On Ohio State’s slow start to the game

“We just tried to stay patient. They were doing some things defensively that were causing us trouble, but the coaches kept stressing execution and that shots would come from it.”

 

On becoming the “go-to guy”

“The coaches are always going to try to find a mismatch or feed the ball to whoever is on a roll. Lately, for whatever reason, that person has been me.”

 

Sam Thompson, freshman forward

On his defensive performance on Torrey Craig

“He had scored eight straight at one point in the first half, so I think they [the coaches] felt that my length and athleticism might throw him off. I went out and tried to do what they asked of me.”

 

On getting more play time

“It all starts in practice. As long as I keep doing what the coaches ask of me, more playing time will come.”

 

Eddie Payne, USC Upstate head coach

On his team

“We’re from a school called the University of South Carolina Upstate. We have a recognition problem. A Dayton writer referred to us as an ‘intramural team.’ I don’t think we are. We’re not as good as Ohio State. We’re freshmen and sophomores, but we’ll get better in time.”

 

On the game

“I’m grateful that we came and played this university. I hope we played well enough to make ourselves better and make them better.”

 

On the second half

“From our perspective, we played 18 good minutes in the first half. In the long run, their game caught up to us, with outcoaching, athleticism and more experienced players. I congratulate them and I hope that this game helps them improve.”

 

On Deshaun Thomas

“If Deshaun [Thomas] hadn’t shot so well, maybe we would have been in a better position. He really hurt us with the jump shots.”

 

On Jared Sullinger’s return

“He had good hands. They did a good job of getting him the ball inside. He was physical, and he makes his free throws. You look down [at the stats] and say, ‘was he hurt?’ That was a good start for him coming off of a back injury.”

Notes:

·         The win vs. USC Upstate was the 31st-consecutive victory at home for Ohio State dating back Michigan Feb. 27, 2010.

·         The Buckeyes move to 1-0 vs. USC Upstate all-time and 13-0 all-time vs. members of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

·         As a ranked team, Ohio State is 404-109 overall and when ranked in the AP Top 10, the Buckeyes are 283-60.

·         When ranked in the Top 3 of the Associated Press, Ohio State is 140-21.

·         As the AP No. 2 ranked team in the nation, Ohio State improves to 37-9 overall.

·         Against non-conference opponents, Ohio State is 89-5 (.945) at Value City Arena and 151-24 overall.

·         In their last 63 games, the Scarlet and Gray are 57-6.

·         The win vs. Upstate was the 106th win vs. an unranked opponent at Value City Arena.

·         Ohio State has won 103 of its last 104 games against unranked opponents in Columbus.

·         The Buckeyes own a 112-2 record vs. unranked opponents at home since 2004-05.

·         Since the 2009-10 season, the Buckeyes are 46-1 at Value City Arena.

·         This is the 271st-consecutive game Ohio State has made at least one 3-point field goal (1/10/04 vs. Penn State was the last game with zero made).

 
THAD MATTA
·         Matta’s career record moves to 301-89 overall and 199-58 at Ohio State.

·         Ohio State is 45-7 in December under Coach Matta.

·         Ohio State is now 132-23 overall at Value City Arena and 128-10 under Matta.

·         Matta is now 166-20 overall vs. unranked teams and 112-2 in Columbus.

·         Matta is 101-19 vs. non-conference competition at Ohio State.

·         The Buckeyes are 167-20 under Matta when leading at the half.

·         Ohio State is 184-5 under Matta when leading with five minutes to play.

·         When shooting a better percentage than the opponent, Ohio State improves to 176-18 under Matta.

·         The Buckeyes improve to 168-45 when limiting themselves to under 15 total turnovers (Ohio State had 13 turnovers vs. Upstate).

WILLIAM BUFORD
·         The start was Buford’s 108th donning the Scarlet and Gray.

·         Buford scored 14 points for the Buckeyes, improving his career total to 1,587. He is 11th place in Ohio State career scoring. He is 10 behind Robin Freeman (1,597) for 10th place in Ohio State career scoring.

·         It was the ninth time this season Buford has scored in double figures.

·         Buford had one rebound to push his career total to 513. He is one of 16 former Buckeyes in the prestigious 1,500 point and 500 rebound club.

·         Buford had three assists. He now has 290 for his career.


AARON CRAFT
·         With six points, Craft now has 351 for his career. It’s the sixth time this season and 15th time in his career he has scored in double figures.

·         Craft had five steals. He has 102 for his career. He has had at least one steal in all 10 games this season.

·         Craft had four assists to push his career total to 231. He has had at least three in every game this season. He has 37 in his last six games.

 


DESHAUN THOMAS
·         Thomas had a season high 23 points. It is the 20th time in his career he has scored in double figures.

·         It is also the ninth-consecutive game Thomas has scored in double figures.

·         Besides the season opener, Thomas has scored double figures in every game this season.

·         Thomas’ three assists tied a career high.

·         Thomas’ 10 made field goals are a career high (previous high was 7 vs. Kansas, 12/10/11).

 
JARED SULLINGER
·         The game vs. Upstate was the first game Sullinger has come off the bench in his career.

·         Sullinger finished the contest with 12 points and 10 rebounds. It was the eighth time this season he has scored in double figures.

·         It was the 23rd time in Sullinger’s career he has recorded a double-double, including five this season.

 
SAM THOMPSON
·         Thompson’s eight points tied a career high (vs. VMI, 11/23/11)

·         Thompson’s 21 minutes played are a career high (19 vs. Jackson State, 11/18/11)

 
EVAN RAVENEL
·         Ravenel made his third-consecutive start and finished with nine points.