# 2008–09 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University. The head coach was Thad Matta, then in his fifth season with the Buckeyes. The team played its home games at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The Buckeyes finished fourth in the conference's regular season, and was runner up in the Big Ten tournament, falling to Purdue 65–61 in the final game. In the NCAA tournament, the Buckeyes lost in the first round to the Siena Saints in double overtime.

## Roster

| No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Position | Yr. | Hometown |
| 2 | Simmons, Jeremie | 6' 2" | 175 | Guard | Junior | Indianapolis, IN |
| 3 | Offutt, Walter | 6' 4" | 202 | Guard | Freshman | Indianapolis, IN |
| 4 | Hill, P.J. | 6' 1" | 170 | Guard | Junior | Minneapolis, MN |
| 10 | Crater, Anthony | 6' 1" | 170 | Guard | Freshman | Flint, MI |
| 13 | Peters, Danny | 6' 2" | 180 | Guard | Senior | New Albany, OH |
| 15 | Madsen, Kyle | 6' 10" | 250 | Center | Junior | Dublin, OH |
| 21 | Turner, Evan | 6' 7" | 210 | Guard | Sophomore | Chicago, IL |
| 23 | Lighty, David | 6' 5" | 220 | Guard | Junior | Cleveland, OH |
| 24 | Kecman, Nikola | 6' 8" | 220 | Forward | Sophomore | Belgrade, Serbia |
| 32 | Devin Dickens | 6’7” | 275 | Center | Freshman | Columbus, OH |
| 33 | Diebler, Jon | 6' 6" | 205 | Guard | Sophomore | Upper Sandusky, OH |
| 34 | Titus, Mark | 6' 4" | 215 | Guard | Junior | Brownsburg, IN |
| 40 | Grycko, J.J. | 6' 9" | 210 | Forward | Freshman | Cincinnati, OH |
| 44 | Buford, William | 6' 6" | 220 | Guard | Freshman | Toledo, OH |
| 52 | Lauderdale, Dallas | 6' 8" | 255 | Forward | Sophomore | Solon, OH |
Source

## 2008–09 Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 20* 6:30 pm | | Delaware State | W 70–42 | 1–0 (0–0) | St. John Arena (6,388) Columbus, OH |
| November 24* 8:00 pm, BTN | | Bowling Green | W 61–57 | 2–0 (0–0) | Schottenstein Center (12,751) Columbus, OH |
| November 29* 12:00 pm, BTN | | Samford | W 59–22 | 3–0 (0–0) | Schottenstein Center (13,412) Columbus, OH |
| December 2* 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 21 Miami (FL) | W 73–68 | 4–0 (0–0) | BankUnited Center (5,870) Coral Gables, FL |
| December 6* 4:00 pm, ESPNU | | vs. No. 7 Notre Dame | W 67–62 | 5–0 (0–0) | Lucas Oil Stadium (17,007) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 13* 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 21 | Butler | W 54–51 | 6–0 (0–0) | Schottenstein Center (13,976) Columbus, OH |
| December 17* 9:05 pm, ESPNU | No. 17 | Jacksonville | W 81–68 | 7–0 (0–0) | Schottenstein Center (12,250) Columbus, OH |
| December 20* 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 17 | Iona | W 71–53 | 8–0 (0–0) | Schottenstein Center (14,029) Columbus, OH |
| December 22* 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 15 | UNC Asheville | W 83–59 | 9–0 (0–0) | Schottenstein Center (13,317) Columbus, OH |
| December 27* 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 15 | West Virginia | L 48–76 | 9–1 (0–0) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| December 31 4:00 pm, BTN | No. 24 | Iowa | W 68–65 | 10–1 (1–0) | Schottenstein Center (14,946) Columbus, OH |
| January 3 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 24 | at No. 21 Minnesota | L 59–68 | 10–2 (1–1) | Williams Arena (14,625) Minneapolis, MN |
| January 6 7:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 8 Michigan State | L 58–67 | 10–3 (1–2) | Breslin Student Events Center (14,759) East Lansing, MI |
| January 9* 7:00 pm, BTN | | Houston Baptist | W 89–65 | 11–3 (1–2) | Schottenstein Center (15,081) Columbus, OH |
| January 13 7:00 pm, ESPN | | Indiana | W 77–53 | 12–3 (2–2) | Schottenstein Center (15,661) Columbus, OH |
| January 17 8:00 pm, BTN | | at No. 25 Michigan | W 65–58 | 13–3 (3–2) | Crisler Arena (13,751) Ann Arbor, MI |
| January 20 6:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 25 Illinois | L 49–67 | 13–4 (3–3) | Assembly Hall (15,549) Champagin, IL |
| January 25 3:50 pm, CBS | | No. 7 Michigan State | L 67–78 | 13–5 (3–4) | Schottenstein Center (18,767) Columbus, OH |
| January 28 6:30 pm, BTN | | Michigan | W 72–54 | 14–5 (4–4) | Schottenstein Center (16,363) Columbus, OH |
| January 31 4:05 pm, ESPN2 | | at Indiana | W 93–81 | 15–5 (5–4) | Assembly Hall (17,202) Bloomington, IN |
| February 3 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 12 Purdue | W 80–72 $^{OT}$ | 16–5 (6–4) | Schottenstein Center (17,012) Columbus, OH |
| February 7 8:00 pm, BTN | | No. 19 Minnesota | W 64–58 | 17–5 (7–4) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| February 14 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 24 | at Wisconsin ESPN College GameDay | L 50–55 | 17–6 (7–5) | Kohl Center (17,230) Madison, WI |
| February 18 8:00 pm, BTN | | at Northwestern | L 69–72 | 17–7 (7–6) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (4,312) Evanston, IL |
| February 22 1:00 pm, CBS | | No. 18 Illinois | L 68–70 | 17–8 (7–7) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| February 24 7:00 pm, ESPN | | Penn State | W 73–59 | 18–8 (8–7) | Schottenstein Center (18,170) Columbus, OH |
| February 28 4:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 16 Purdue | L 50–75 | 18–9 (8–8) | Mackey Arena (14,123) West Lafayette, IN |
| March 3 8:05 pm, BTN | | at Iowa | W 60–58 | 19–9 (9–8) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (10,338) Iowa City, IA |
| March 8 5:00 pm, BTN | | Northwestern | W 52–47 | 20–9 (10–8) | Schottenstein Center (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| March 13 2:30 pm, ESPN | | vs. Wisconsin | W 61–57 | 21–9 (10–8) | Conseco Fieldhouse (13,023) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 14 1:40 pm, CBS | | vs. No. 7 Michigan State | W 82–70 | 22–9 (10–8) | Conseco Fieldhouse (15,728) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 15 3:30 pm, CBS | | vs. No. 24 Purdue | L 61–65 | 22–10 (10–8) | Conseco Fieldhouse (12,526) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| March 20 9:40 pm, CBS | | vs. (9) Siena | L 72–74 $^{2OT}$ | 22–11 (10–8) | University of Dayton Arena (12,596) Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | 21 | 17 | 14 | 24 | — | | | | | | | | | | | Not released |
| Coaches | — | — | — | — | 21 | 16 | 13 | 23 | — | | | | | | | | | | | |