Next Up - Ohio State
Ohio State (18-10, 7-7) at Iowa (17-10, 5-9)
7:05 pm CST
Carver-Hawkeye Arena

Stats Glossary

Team................Pts/Poss.....adjFG%.....TO/poss.....Oreb Rt.....FTA/FGA......3A/FGA
Ohio State............102...........0.495...........0.175..........0.255..........0.268.............0.406
Opponents.............99............0.481...........0.221..........0.319..........0.296.............0.280

Iowa......................102...........0.490...........0.221..........0.333..........0.366.............0.300
Opponents............101...........0.473...........0.224..........0.325..........0.419.............0.324

Big Ten Avg..........104...........0.505..........0.215...........0.319..........0.346.............0.340

Ohio State has performed fairly similarly to Iowa in their Big Ten games - a little below average on offense, a little below average on defense, but the two teams arrive at those performance levels by different paths.

Ohio State relies on the three pointer, as they've attempted more threes than any Big Ten team. Luckily for Iowa, the Buckeyes shoot a rather ho-hum 32.3% from long range. Their affection for the long-ball probably contributes to their hideous offensive rebound rate, despite the best efforts of Terence Dials. Only Northwestern rebounds fewer of their own misses. In some ways, Ohio State is a less effective version of Illinois - both teams shoot lots of threes, have a very low turnover rate, and neither they nor their opponents shoot many free throws. Stress the less effective part though, because Illinois scores 21 more points per 100 possessions, mainly because they hit a scalding 41% of their threes.

Individuals
Ohio State
Name.......................Mpg..........Floor%......O Rtg........%poss......Ppg......Rpg......Apg
Terence Dials..........32.4...........0.543.........107...........24.6%.....15.1.......7.6.......0.5
Tony Stockman.......26.1...........0.396............92...........26.0%....10.6.......1.6.......2.1
J.J. Sullinger............27.2..........0.504..........110...........18.4%.......8.8.......6.1.......1.3
Ivan Harris...............17.6...........0.403.........104...........16.5%.......5.1.......2.6.......0.6
Je'Kel Foster............27.6..........0.384............98...........16.7%.......6.7........3.0......2.7
Matt Sylvester..........23.3..........0.491...........111...........23.0%.......9.8.......2.5......1.9
Fuss-Cheatham.......21.4..........0.405............92...........17.4%.......4.8........2.1......2.4
Jamar Butler............19.9...........0.403............99...........13.5%.......3.5........1.8......2.0

Give Thad Matta credit for doing something Alford never tried - benching one of his main players. Tony Stockman averaged 32.3 mpg and 13 ppg in Ohio State's first six conference games. But by taking over 13 shots a game with a below average 46% adjFG%, he was dragging down Ohio State's offensive production (notice the %poss and O Rtg numbers - very PP-esque). Stockman has been coming off the bench for the last eight games, and his playing time dipped to 21.4 mpg in that span.

It should be interesting to see if Iowa can find anyone to slow down Terence Dials. He burned Iowa for 22 points and 8 rebounds last time, and Iowa hasn't exactly shut down any opposing post players this year.

Iowa
Name.......................Mpg..........Floor%......O Rtg........%poss......Ppg......Rpg......Apg
Greg Brunner..........33.8...........0.533..........110...........24.7%.....16.1......9.0........1.7
Adam Haluska.........30.9..........0.520...........119...........20.9%....14.5......4.0........1.2
Jeff Horner...............37.8..........0.435...........104...........20.0%....12.6......3.8........4.6
Erek Hansen............17.6..........0.443.............91............11.1%......2.4.......1.6........0.7
Doug Thomas..........15.6..........0.544...........107............16.0%......4.5......4.4........0.2
Mike Henderson.......21.1...........0.326............66.............16.7%......3.6......2.3........1.1
Carlton Reed............13.2..........0.361............83.............14.0%......2.2......1.2........1.2
Alex Thompson.......10.6..........0.451............93.............13.7%.......1.6......2.3........0.8
Seth Gorney..............5.4..........0.598...........123...............8.3%......0.9......1.6........0.0

Daily Pleading for more Doug Thomas PT - Yes, I realize Doug's own foul problems keep him off the court as much as Alford's decisions do, but I want to harp on his rebounding ability some more (because people remain unconvinced by it). Here are the Big Ten's leaders, among those playing 15 mpg, in rebounds per 40 minutes (I used season stats on this one to save time).

Player...............................Mpg.......Reb/40
Aaron Johnson, PSU.......32.6.........11.97
Doug Thomas, Iowa.........15.3.........11.69
Paul Davis, MSU..............25.6........11.34
J'son Stamper, Minn.......17.4.........10.92
James Augustine, Ill........26.1.........10.82
Greg Brunner, Iowa.........31.4........10.60
Brent Petway, Mich.........21.1...........9.82
Terence Dials, OSU........32.1...........9.78
Pat Ewing Jr., Ind............16.2...........9.76
Carl Landry, Purd............30.3..........9.41
Mike Wilkinson, Wisc......31.4...........9.36
Jeff Hagen, Minn..............26.3...........9.23

Aaron Johnson, Paul Davis, James Augustine, Greg Brunner.....I'd say that's a pretty good group to be included in, let alone being one spot from the top.

Well tip-off is about five hours away....I hope this post actually makes its way to a few of you before the game starts!
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