# 2005–06 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

The 2005–06 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University in the 2005–06 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. They were led by their second-year head coach, Thad Matta, and played their home games at the Value City Arena, in Columbus, Ohio as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Buckeyes finished the season 26–6, 12–4 in Big Ten play to win the regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they defeated Penn State and Indiana before losing to Iowa in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as a No. 2 seed in the Minneapolis regional. There they defeated Davidson in the first round before being upset by Georgetown in the second round.

## Previous season

The Buckeyes finished the 2004–05 season 20–12, 8–8 in Big Ten play to finish in sixth place. They beat Penn State in the Big Ten tournament before losing to Wisconsin in the quarterfinals.

## Roster
### Starting lineup

| Position | Player |
| C | Terence Dials |
| G | Je'Kel Foster |
| F | Matt Sylvester |
| G/F | J.J. Sullinger |
| G | Jamar Butler |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 20, 2005* 2:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | | Chicago State | W 81–52 | 1–0 | Value City Arena (12,062) Columbus, OH |
| November 22, 2005* 8:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Butler | W 79–69 $^{OT}$ | 2–0 | Value City Arena (12,915) Columbus, OH |
| November 28, 2005* 7:30 p.m., ESPN2 | | Virginia Tech | W 69–56 | 3–0 | Value City Arena (13,218) Columbus, OH |
| December 10, 2005* 2:00 p.m., ESPN | | at Saint Joseph's | W 81–74 | 4–0 | The Palestra (7,241) Philadelphia, PA |
| December 12, 2005* 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | | Norfolk State | W 92–59 | 5–0 | Value City Arena (12,406) Columbus, OH |
| December 14, 2005* 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | | Belmont | W 85–75 | 6–0 | Value City Arena (12,940) Columbus, OH |
| December 17, 2005* 8:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | vs. Iowa State | W 70–67 | 7–0 | Wells Fargo Arena (12,500) Des Moines, IA |
| December 23, 2005* 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 24 | Tennessee State | W 74–65 | 8–0 | Value City Arena (13,598) Columbus, OH |
| December 28, 2005 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 21 | Gardner–Webb | W 87–58 | 9–0 | Value City Arena (13,928) Columbus, OH |
| December 31, 2005* 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 21 | LSU | W 78–76 | 10–0 | Value City Arena (16,136) Columbus, OH |
| January 5, 2006 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus/YES | No. 18 | Penn State | W 104–69 | 11–0 (1–0) | Value City Arena (14,709) Columbus, OH |
| January 7, 2006 4:00 p.m., CBS | No. 18 | at No. 16 Indiana | L 79–81 | 11–1 (1–1) | Assembly Hall (17,278) Bloomington, IN |
| January 11, 2006* 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 19 | at Purdue | W 80–64 | 12–1 (2–1) | Mackey Arena (10,521) West Lafayette, IN |
| January 15, 2006 4:30 p.m., CBS | No. 19 | No. 14 Michigan State | L 59–62 $^{2OT}$ | 12–2 (2–2) | Value City Arena (18,500) Columbus, OH |
| January 18, 2006 8:30 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 19 | No. 15 Wisconsin | W 77–67 | 13–2 (3–2) | Value City Arena (16,127) Columbus, OH |
| January 21, 2006 12:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 19 | at Penn State | W 75–64 | 14–2 (4–2) | Bryce Jordan Center (9,495) University Park, PA |
| January 28, 2006 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 16 | at Iowa | L 62–67 | 14–3 (4–3) | Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,500) Iowa City, IA |
| January 30, 2006* 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 16 | Florida A&M | W 95–53 | 15–3 | Value City Arena (13,347) Columbus, OH |
| February 4, 2006 3:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 20 | Minnesota | W 67–53 | 16–3 (5–3) | Value City Arena (17,736) Columbus, OH |
| February 9, 2006 7:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 19 | at No. 22 Michigan | W 94–85 | 17–3 (6–3) | Crisler Center (12,788) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 12, 2006 1:00 p.m., CBS | No. 19 | No. 10 Illinois | W 69–53 | 18–3 (7–3) | Value City Arena (18,500) Columbus, OH |
| February 15, 2006 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 12 | at Wisconsin | L 73–78 | 18–4 (7–4) | Kohl Center (17,142) Madison, WI |
| February 18, 2006 12:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 12 | Northwestern | W 61–52 | 19–4 (8–4) | Value City Arena (18,500) Columbia, OH |
| February 22, 2006 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 13 | at No. 18 Michigan State | W 79–68 | 20–4 (9–4) | Breslin Student Events Center (14,759) East Lansing, MI |
| February 25, 2006 1:30 p.m., CBS | No. 13 | Michigan | W 64–54 | 21–4 (10–4) | Value City Arena (18,500) Columbus, OH |
| March 1, 2006 8:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 9 | at Northwestern | W 56–53 | 22–4 (11–4) | Welsh-Ryan Arena (5,253) Evanston, IL |
| March 5, 2006 12:00 p.m., ESPN Plus | No. 9 | Purdue | W 76–57 | 23–4 (12–4) | Value City Arena (18,500) Columbus, OH |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| March 10, 2006 12:00 p.m., ESPN | (1) No. 7 | vs. (8) Penn State Quarterfinals | W 63–56 | 24–4 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,730) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 11, 2006 4:00 p.m., CBS | (1) No. 7 | vs. (5) Indiana Semifinals | W 52–51 | 25–4 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,730) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 12, 2006 3:30 p.m., CBS | (1) No. 7 | vs. (2) No. 20 Iowa Championship | L 60–67 | 25–5 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (17,591) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 17, 2006* 12:15 p.m., CBS | (2 M) No. 6 | vs. (15 M) Davidson First Round | W 70–62 | 26–5 | University of Dayton Arena (12,945) Dayton, OH |
| March 19, 2006* 4:50 p.m., CBS | (2 M) No. 6 | vs. (7 M) No. 23 Georgetown Second Round | L 52–70 | 26–6 | University of Dayton Arena (12,945) Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||