From: atchison@cis.ohio-state.edu (mark edward atchison)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college
Subject: tOSU 67-Wisc 76
Date: 21 Jan 1993 09:24:12 -0500
Organization: The Ohio State University Dept. of Computer and Info. Science
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: lyre.cis.ohio-state.edu


Sounds like November all over again, but Ohio State strolled into Madison last
night and dropped a game that they should've (okay -- could've) won.  Michael
Finley burned the Bucks for a career high 34 points and 11 rebounds, leading --
nay, carrying -- the Badgers to a 76-67 victory.

If this was the CBA, Ohio State would have collected some points for winning
the second and third quarters, but Wisconsin got the final run and it was too
much for the Buckeyes to overcome.  The Badgers jetted out to a 21-6 lead over
the first 8 minutes, on the strength of 8 OSU turnovers.  Ohio State then 
stormed back to close out the half, outscoring the Badgers 25-14 in the next
12 minutes.  The Buckeyes continued the run, topping Wisconsin 19-10 over the
first 8 minutes of the second half, but the Badgers recovered for the last
12, burying the Bucks 31-17 to finish it out.

Ohio State's first half spurt was led by freshman Greg Simpson, who came off
the bench to pour in 16 first half points on 5-5 shooting, including a three
pointer and two breakaway transition layups, and added 3 assists and 2 steals.
Freshmen are noted for their inconsistency, however, and Simpson didn't even 
get a *shot* in the second half until he fired a desperation three with 0:20 
left (he hit it).

The Buckeyes felt they had an advantage in the post going into the game, but
Wisconsin obviously felt otherwise.  Funderburke scored 14 points, but 6 were 
in the final minute, and Dudley, Brandewie, and Watson combined for only 2 more
in a total of 40 minutes between them.  Ohio State outrebounded their opponent
for the first time in the Big 10 season, 41-26, but Wisconsin made their's 
count, breaking the Bucks' backs with 11 offensive boards in the second half 
alone.  Ohio State also hurt their chances by turning it over a lot for the 
first time in four conference tilts, totalling 18.

On a somewhat bizzarre, and who knows -- maybe groundbreaking -- note, Ohio 
State played 11 men, and every one played at least 12 minutes.  Don't know if
the NCAA has ever seen that much "depth" [note the quotes, flamers] exhibited
in a single game.  Ayers seemed to be searching frantically for much of the 
game for a good combination.  I thought it was interesting that the last-few-
minutes-crunchtime crew included Charles Macon and not Rickey Dudley or Derek 
Anderson.

In the end, it was simply too much Finley.  With 11:58 on the clock, and the
Buckeyes ahead 50-47, he stormed the baseline unchecked and followed a miss by
Andy Kilbride with one of the most viscious one-handed jams I've seen all year,
and the crowd -- which had been *comatose* -- responded.  The parade continued
later with about 6 minutes left.  Charles Macon slipped in the lane, completely
undercutting Finley's legs for a foul.  Finley not only hit the improbable 
bucket, but actually followed through with his feet over his head.  Seconds 
later, with the Badgers milking the shot clock, Finley hung in the air for a 
jumper right of the lane, bringing the ball back to his heel in the double 
clutch.  To quote the TV guy, "Well if *that* goes in, we'll know...[silence]."
Finley's 34 points were the most scored by an individual against tOSU since
Nick Anderson piled up 35 for Illinois back in 1989.

Stars of the game:

Simpson's first half performance was electric.  He had two steals which led to
breakaways, hit 5/6 free throws, drew rain with a high arching three which hit
nothing but net, and dribbled past the slower Wisconsin full-court man, drawing
several fouls.  That only made him a star of the half, unfortunately.
Alex Davis seemed to regain his stroke a little bit, going 6-10 from the field,
and Lawrence Funderburke hit some big buckets in the final few to go with 9
rebounds, but no one else was very outstanding.  Finley cast an awfully large
shadow.

We may now see what ability this young team has to retain confidence.  Probable
losses at Indiana and Michigan, combined with some long layoffs, could leave
the Buckeyes without a win in three calendar weeks going into a home contest
with Illinois on January 30.  The past few years have given them the luxury of
not having to learn how to win.  These few weeks may give them the burden of
having to remember how.  See you in Bloomington.

Ohio State  - 67 | 1st: .550 (11-20) 2nd: .341 (15-44) game: .406
------------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYER     MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA 3GM 3GA REB AST FLS TOV BLK STL PTS
Skelton     28   3  12   0   0   1   6   3   3   3   2   0   2   7
Funderburke 28   7  16   0   0   0   0   9   1   1   2   3   1  14
Davis       26   6  10   2   2   0   1   2   0   2   1   0   1  14
Simpson     25   6   8   5   6   2   2   3   4   2   3   1   2  19
Anderson    16   0   4   3   4   0   2   3   0   2   0   0   1   3
Dudley      15   0   2   0   0   0   0   0   0   3   3   0   0   0
Macon       13   1   2   0   0   0   0   4   0   4   1   1   0   2
Brandewie   13   0   3   0   0   0   0   2   0   2   1   0   1   0
Ratliff     12   2   3   0   0   0   0   4   0   2   2   0   0   4
Watson      12   1   4   0   0   0   0   6   0   2   2   0   0   2
Etzler      12   0   0   2   2   0   0   0   2   0   1   0   0   2
TOTALS     200  26  64  12  14   3  11  41  10  23  18   5   8  67
		(.406)  (.857)  (.273)

Wisconsin   - 76 | 1st: .500 (12-24) 2nd: .452 (14-31) game: .473
------------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYER     MIN FGM FGA FTM FTA 3GM 3GA REB AST FLS TOV BLK STL PTS
Finley      37  12  23   8  11   2   5  11   1   1   3   1   2  34
Harrell     33   2   5   0   0   0   0   4   1   2   1   0   1   4
Webster     32   2   7   3   3   1   3   2   6   4   2   0   2   8
Kilbride    28   3   6   0   0   3   5   0   1   3   6   0   1   9
Kelley      24   2   6   4   5   0   0   1   0   1   1   0   1   8
J. Johnsen  18   2   3   0   0   0   0   1   0   0   1   0   0   4
Peterson    10   3   4   2   2   0   0   2   0   0   0   0   1   8
Ely         10   0   1   0   2   0   0   1   0   2   1   2   0   0
Conger       3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   2   0   0   0   0
McDuffie     3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
G. Johnson   2   0   0   1   2   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   1
Carl         0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
Moore        0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   0
TOTALS     200  26  55  18  25   6  13  26  10  15  15   3   9  76
		(.473)  (.720)  (.462)

GO BUCKS!!!
-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
 Mark Atchison, a.k.a. <atchison@cis.ohio-state.edu>; Graduate Student in the
Computer Science Dept, THE Ohio State University (NOT an Ohio State University)
		Any plagiarisms seen above are not my own...
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college