Last night the Ohio State Buckeyes fell to the Duke Blue Devils, 73-68, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was a tightly contested, entertaining match-up between two pretty good basketball teams.
The Buckeyes played excellent on-the-ball defense and rebounded the ball well to dominate the first half — even though they played most of the half with Deshaun Thomas, their top scorer, riding the bench with two fouls. The Buckeyes were sharp and attacking and had Duke on its heels. In the second half, however, Duke played much more aggressively at both ends of the court, and it paid off. Duke hit big shots, Ohio State didn’t, and when Duke pulled ahead it made the free throws that salted the game away.
Duke’s Mason Plumlee is as good as advertised. As expected, he dominated inside, scoring 21 points and corralling 17 rebounds. The Blue Devils also got great contributions from Rasheed Sulaimon, Ryan Kelly, and Quinn Cook, all of whom responded to Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s halftime instructions and hit huge shots to help Plumlee put the Blue Devils on top. As usual, Duke was helped by its awesome home court advantage, with great blue-painted fans screaming every time an Ohio State player touched the ball.
The Buckeyes’ main problem was shooting. Thomas never seemed to get into a rhythm after his early foul trouble, and Aaron Craft, Lenzelle Smith Jr., and Shannon Scott all struggled with their shots. Still, the game had lots of positives for the young Ohio State team. The Buckeyes stood toe-to-toe with a basketball power on its legendary home court, kept its poise even when shots weren’t dropping, and played down to the wire in a game many pundits expected would be a Duke blowout. Playing in a tough venue like Cameron Indoor Stadium will serve the Buckeyes well when the Big Ten season begins. I also thought that Amir Williams and Evan Ravenel played pretty well inside — if you can say that when the opposing center scores 21 points — and their experience with Plumlee should help when they match up against Indiana’s stud center, Cody Zeller. Sophomores LaQuinton Ross and Sam Thompson weren’t intimidated and showed they can make big contributions, and I suspect that Craft will use his off night as an incentive to play even harder the rest of the year.
It would have been nice to beat Duke, end its streak of home floor wins against non-conference opponents, and win the Big Ten-ACC Challenge for the Big Ten, but the Buckeyes have nothing to be ashamed of. Coach Matta and his staff will use the lessons from this game to teach and tinker and get the team ready for the Big Ten season.
Cameron is tough because the crowd is loud and proud, but mostly it’s tough because Duke always has great teams under Coach Mike Krzyzewski. This year is no exception. The Blue Devils are ranked second and they’ve already beaten two of the most highly regarded teams in the nation, Kentucky and Louisville. After six games, the Blue Devils have five players averaging in double figures. They are led by 6-10 center Mason Plumlee, who is netting almost 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks per game, and senior guard Seth Curry. The Blue Devils have a lot of talent and play the tough, disciplined game you expect from a Coach K team.
Duke clearly has the edge in tomorrow night’s contest, but the game should be an intriguing one. Plumlee gives Duke a strong inside game that the Buckeyes lack; OSU big men Evan Ravenel and Amir Williams will have to play exceptionally well to keep the Buckeyes competitive. OSU defensive whiz Aaron Craft will take on one of the Duke guards, but can the Buckeyes guard the rest of the Blue Devil squad? At the other end of the court, Duke will have to figure out how to defend the Buckeyes’ top scorer, Deshaun Thomas, who can take the ball inside or pop from outside. Ohio State fans also are looking for Lenzelle Smith, Jr., one of the heroes of the Buckeyes’ run to the Final Four last year, to assert himself at the offensive end.
The team begins with three stalwart players who really emerged last year: scoring and rebounding machine Deshaun Thomas, point guard and defensive stopper Aaron Craft, and do-everything guard Lenzelle Smith, Jr. All three played significant minutes and made big contributions to last year’s success. To replace Sullinger in the middle, the Buckeyes will look to 6-11 sophomore Amir Williams, a shot blocker who showed promise is limited action last year, and senior Evan Ravenel, who backed up Sullinger. The other spot might be occupied by point guard Shannon Scott, who will need to improve his shooting this year, jump-out-of-the-gym alley-ooper Sam Thompson, or silky smooth shooter LaQuinton Ross. Add in freshman Amedeo Della Valle, from Alba, Italy, and you give coach Thad Matta lots of pieces to work with.
The game is part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the annual event that until recently hasn’t been much of a challenge for the ACC. The 
Smith is a 6-4 guard, and he plays the game the way it should be played. He sweats and scrambles when he’s guarding an opposing player and looks like he eventually could be as versatile on the defensive end as David Lighty — who could guard just about anybody. Smith has a solid offensive game; he’s patient, unselfish, and doesn’t force shots. But where Smith really shines is in transition. I love watching #32 rip down a rebound and rush pell mell down the court, head up and looking to dish. He’s made some terrific passes, including some alley-oop lobs leading to rim-rattling, crowd-pleasing dunks.
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