No. 2 Ohio State takes on unranked - but 5-1 - Florida State in tonight's round of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
View full sizeEarly success means Ohio State freshman Jared Sullinger is having to adjust his game on the fly.This should be a cakewalk. With that in mind, another word for cakewalk is sometimes "upset."
Ohio State's men's basketball team is ranked No. 2 in all the polls. When the Buckeyes played then-10th-ranked Florida 10 days ago, they came away with 93-75 win. Two days ago, the Gators beat unranked cross-state rival Florida State, 55-51.
Tonight, the ACC/Big Ten Challenge continues with the Buckeyes in Tallahassee to take on the Seminoles. Easy game, right?
Probably not. Here's what bigtennetwork.com had to say to preview the bout:
Hot shooting usually keys the offense for Florida State, but Ohio State doesn't allow opponents to get many open looks from the field.
Being accurate from the field is critical for the Buckeyes, but the Seminoles don't give opponents easy baskets.
In its last game, Ohio State had no trouble with Miami (OH), downing the RedHawks 66-45.
Florida State is good at both ends of the court. In the offensive front court, the Seminoles hit the offensive boards hard. Defensively, Florida State doesn't allow many open looks, as it bottles up the paint with opponents shooting 37.5 percent on two-pointers. For the Seminoles, Chris Singleton is back after a solid 2009-10 campaign during which he averaged 10.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.
Why bother playing?
Seven of the eight college basketball experts at espn.com are predicting a Buckeye win tonight, too. Jay Williams is the lone dissenter:
Jay Williams: Florida State -- Yes, I call the upset here. Xavier Gibson and Bernard James will give Mr. Sullinger a lot to deal with down low.
Sullinger would be Ohio State's freshman big man Jared Sullinger, who had 26 points against Florida in that win 10 days ago.
'Nole and void
The Miami Herald preview didn't actually say "Ohio State will kick Florida State booty." But it probably could have.
The Buckeyes are as dangerous a team as any in the country, thanks to a balanced attack that features great veteran leadership and a ton of youthful talent. The backcourt is highlighted by the play of seniors David Lighty (15.5 ppg, 4.2 apg) and Jon Diebler (11.0 ppg), junior William Buford (11.5 ppg) and the emergence of freshman Deshaun Thomas (14.8 ppg). The attack in the frontcourt is spearheaded by another freshman phenom in Jared Sullinger (15.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg). With great scoring depth, OSU is averaging a steady 81.2 ppg. The defensive effort has been solid as well, with the team yielding just 53.4 ppg and outrebounding foes by 9.8 caroms per contest. Lighty was on fire in the second half against Miami-Ohio, netting 19 of his 21 points in the second stanza and leading the Buckeyes to victory. Thomas poured in 15 points, while Sullinger tallied 12 for OSU, which (is) .521 from the floor overall.
Apparently, there's a new tune hopping up the charts. Not sure of the title, but the chorus goes something like this: "A tisket, a tasket. The Buckeyes own the basket."
From The Plain Dealer
Speaking of Sullinger, beat writer Doug Lesmerises previewed tonight's game with an interview with the 6-8 freshman from Columbus' Northland High School.
"Sometimes as a freshman, you come out and you walk out there and think, 'I'll do the same thing I did the last game,'" Sullinger said Monday, admitting that the lower level of competition has affected his level of play.
There's another thing, too. After what he did to the Gators, opponents are game-planning for Sullinger. They want to take him outside on defense and get him out of the lane, then get multiple players on him on the offensive end when a shot goes up.
"It's been a lot different, actually," Sullinger said. "It's obvious that sometimes the focal point is keeping me off the offensive boards, and it's kind of tough because normally it's two people boxing me out instead of one, so I can't really be as effective as I want to."
Sullinger, then, is in the adjustment-to-the-adjustment phase of his career, just five games in.