SportsLine.com report
March 19, 2000

Round 2: Buckeyes bounced by Miami, 75-62

Last year, Ohio State got to the Final Four by taking its No. 4 seeding and riding past two higher-seeded teams.

This time around, the Buckeyes had higher expectations … and couldn't quite live up to them.

In the second round in the South Region, Ohio State ran into the red-hot Miami Hurricanes, who sank most of their shots and almost all of their free throws en route to a 75-62 victory in Nashville, Tenn.

The Buckeyes, Big Ten co-champions, finished the season with a 23-8 record.

A 13-1 surge midway through the second half was decisive for Miami, although Scoonie Penn led OSU on a late comeback, scoring eight points in a 90-second span to pull the Buckeyes within 66-59, but they could get no closer in the final two minutes.

Penn finished with 19 points. Michael Redd had 13 before fouling out with 4:17 left to play, and George Reese had 11.

"It's tough," Penn said. "We felt we were a team that could have moved on, but we didn't play well enough to move on and that hurts."

The smaller Hurricanes scrapped their way to a 41-26 rebounding advantage and outshot the Buckeyes, hitting 26-of-51 (51 percent) to Ohio State's 20-of-56 (36 percent).

How They Got There

Ohio State started the season with an upset buzzer-beater loss at home to Notre Dame, and then started the Big Ten season with an upset buzzer-beater loss at Illinois.

Those weren't good omens for a team trying to duplicate a Final Fourth berth from last season, but the Buckeyes recovered from both disappointments and yet a third last-seconds loss later in the year to tie for the Big Ten championship with Michigan State.

They ended the regular-season seemingly peaking with five consecutive victories, and entered the Big Ten tournament as the No. 1 seed -- within reach of a No. 1 NCAA seeding -- only to lose to Penn State in the first round of the tournament.

Starting Lineup

• PG Scoonie Penn (5-10, 185, Sr.): His numbers aren't as good as last season, but Penn remains the Buckeyes driving force. He is famous for making game-deciding plays ("Scoonie Time") even in games in which he doesn't play that well for the first 35 minutes.
• SG Brian Brown (6-3, 190, So.): OSU's best perimeter defender, Brown won't riddle opponents from the perimeter, but he can slash, get into the lane and score effectively. Even his double-figure scoring efforts are quiet because he takes only the shots that he knows he can make.
• C Ken Johnson (6-11, 235, Sr.): Set a Big Ten record with 151 blocks while playing just three seasons. Has a nice jump hook and serviceable jumper out to 10 feet. Crucial to OSU's defense that he stays out of foul trouble.
• SF Michael Redd (6-6, 215, Jr.): OSU's leader in scoring and rebounding for three seasons and already the school's fifth-leading career scorer. Slashes into the lane with the best in college basketball. Not a deadeye perimeter shooter, but a big-time scorer.
• PF George Reese (6-7, 240, Sr.): Vastly improved from last season when he was a role player off the bench. Scored 24 points in the Big Ten opener at Illinois and topped that with 25 in the season-finale at Minnesota. Came through in many other games as a reliable inside scorer.

Keys To Success

Ohio State isn't a team that needs a specific player to score big, although Redd is most often in that role.

The difference for the Buckeyes this season is that they can withstand a poor game from their three-time leader in both scoring and rebounding.

The development of Reese inside has given OSU a threat in the lane that it lacked a year ago. Penn hasn't shot as well as he did last season, but that hasn't seemed to matter, either -- although his 3-for-16 effort was fatal in the Big Ten tournament loss to Penn State. Ohio State's improvement defensively is what has carried this team. The Buckeyes don't pressure full court like they did in 1999, but they are relentless in the half-court because center Ken Johnson affords them a fail-safe with his shot blocking.

The single most important factors in Ohio State winning are for Johnson to stay out of foul trouble and for someone, Penn, Redd or Brian Brown, to stretch the defense with some three-point field goals to open the lane for Reese.

The Coach

Jim O'Brien could run for mayor of Columbus and win. After five sub-.500 seasons under Randy Ayers, O'Brien came in and endured a 6-22 season before getting his program in place and reversing the Buckeyes' fortunes. A second-place finish in the league and Final Four berth last season, and a Big Ten co-championship this season. Want proof that O'Brien has raised expectations? Now fans at OSU are complaining that the Buckeyes don't win by large enough margins.

The Bench

Ohio State has gotten some big games off its bench, but it never knows where those might come from.

Backup center Will Dudley was huge in a win at Penn State, just as Doylan Robinson was at Minnesota and Brent Darby was at Indiana.

Any of them are capable of double-figure scoring game, or they could be essentially no help at all. That's the hazard of depending upon first- and second-year players off the bench.

Offense

Ohio State loves to run, but often doesn't dominate the glass sufficiently to do so. Give the Buckeyes a fast-break opportunity and they will cash it in, but they are also able to run half-court offense and score off set plays. They like to run two-man games with Penn and Reese, or Redd and Reese, which creates chances for any of the three to take their defender one-on-one.

OSU also likes to run a three-man weave out front, with Redd ending up in possession at the key. That allows him to either back a smaller defender into the lane for a 10-footer, or pass off to Penn and Brown for three-point attempts if their defenders double-team.

Defense

Everything starts with Johnson in the middle. His shot blocking and intimidation make taking anything to the basket against the Buckeyes a risky proposition. Penn and Brown are outstanding on-the-ball defenders capable of registering steals that create fast-break baskets. Reese and Redd are satisfactory on defense. Everyone Ohio State has is made better by the ability to take risks that Johnson will cover if a player loses his man.