UNC 66, Ohio State 55
Recap |
BoxscoreWe are winning by healthy margins, but to me the games seem a lot closer than the score indicates. This game is another example. OSU played us close for 30 minutes, but we pulled away in the final 10 minutes. Neither team shot well at all. Ohio State shot an abysmal 27% from the floor while we shot 38% (not much better). From 3pt range, they shot 30% and we shot 27% (led by Bobby Frasor going 0-5). This game shouldn't have been close. We should have blown them out (not because OSU is a bad team, but because they had an off night shooting). But we didn't.
Part of our problem against OSU was we couldn't break the zone and that can be attributed to Ty Lawson not being in the game. Ty had to sit this one out as he lets his ankle heal (reports are he's going to play against Kentucky on Saturday). We need him! I'll say it again, while Bobby and Q do a decent job at the point, they are not Ty Lawson. We can't win a championship without Ty.
The two bright spots offensively last night were Wayne Ellington (again) and Deon Thompson. I've been fairly critical of Deon so far this year, especially on the defensive end, but he really played well (at least offensively) against OSU. Wayne shot 8-15 from the field and scored a career high 23. He nailed a huge 3 pointer under five minutes just when it looked like OSU might get back into the game. Last year I wasn't confident with Wayne taking the last shot against Georgetown to send UNC to the Final Four, but this year I absolutely would want him taking that shot. He plays so much more confident now.
Tyler had a decent night, but not great. He shot 4-13 in the first half and was 1-4 from the free throw line on the game. I think the refs missed several fouls against Tyler that are normally called. The guy averages going to the line 11 times a game and he only went 4 times last night?? They missed calls.
Despite some of the issues I've highlighted, it is always good to get a win on the road especially against a talented Ohio State team.
Stats that stick out- Rebounds: 58 (UNC), 42 (OSU)
- Free throws: 7-14 (UNC)
- Blocks: 9 (OSU), 5 (UNC - 3 from Alex Stephenson)
- Three point shooting: 1-5 Danny Green, 0-5 Bobby Frasor
