# 2011–12 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team

The 2011–12 Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball team represented Ohio State University during the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Their head coach is Thad Matta, in his 8th season with the Buckeyes. The team plays its home games at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio, and is a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team clinched a share of the Big Ten regular season championship for the third year in the row with a 13–5 conference record, sharing it with Michigan and Michigan State. In the postseason, the team was invited to the 2012 Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament, where they beat Purdue and Michigan before losing to Michigan State in the championship, and they also were invited to the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, where they beat Loyola, Gonzaga, Cincinnati, and an upset of Syracuse before losing to Kansas in the Final Four to finish the season with 31–8 in overall record.

## Pre-season
### Previous season

Ohio State, led by experienced seniors and player of the year candidate Jared Sullinger, started the season 24–0. The Buckeyes were ranked No. 1 for six weeks during the regular season, as well as entering postseason play, and earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament with an overall regular season record of 29–2 along with a Big Ten tournament championship. After defeating UT–San Antonio and George Mason in the first two rounds of the tournament, Ohio State fell to the Kentucky Wildcats, who would eventually go on to the Final Four, 62–60, ending their season in the Sweet Sixteen for the second year in a row.

### Departures

* No. 10 Eddie Days – G
* No. 23 David Lighty – G/F
* No. 24 Nikola Kecman – F
* No. 33 Jon Diebler – G
* No. 52 Dallas Lauderdale – F

### 2011 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Trey McDonald PF | Battle Creek, Michigan | Battle Creek Central | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Oct 18, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 91 ||||||
| LaQuinton Ross SF | Burlington, New Jersey | Life Center Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Aug 16, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Shannon Scott PG | Alpharetta, Georgia | Milton | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Nov 25, 2009 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| Sam Thompson SF | Chicago, Illinois | Whitney Young | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 12, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Amir Williams C | Beverly Hills, Michigan | Country Day | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | Nov 17, 2010 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 95 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 8 Rivals: 10 ESPN: 6 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Ohio State 2011 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 14, 2011. "Ohio State Buckeyes 2011 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 14, 2011. "2011 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 14, 2011. ||||||

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 6* 2:00 pm | No. 3 | Walsh | W 95–49 | – | Value City Arena (13,696) Columbus, OH |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 11* 9:00 pm, BTN | No. 3 | Wright State Global Sports Shootout | W 73–42 | 1–0 | Value City Arena (13,696) Columbus, OH |
| November 15* 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 3 | No. 7 Florida Global Sports Shootout | W 81–74 | 2–0 | Value City Arena (17,785) Columbus, OH |
| November 18* 9:00 pm, BTN | No. 3 | Jackson State Global Sports Shootout | W 85–41 | 3–0 | Value City Arena (14,621) Columbus, OH |
| November 21* 8:30 pm, BTN | No. 3 | North Florida Global Sports Shootout | W 85–50 | 4–0 | Value City Arena (12,552) Columbus, OH |
| November 23* 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 3 | VMI | W 107–74 | 5–0 | Value City Arena (13,660) Columbus, OH |
| November 25* 6:30 pm, BTN | No. 3 | Valparaiso | W 80–47 | 6–0 | Value City Arena (15,606) Columbus, OH |
| November 29* 9:30 pm, ESPN | No. 2 | No. 3 Duke ACC – Big Ten Challenge | W 85–63 | 7–0 | Value City Arena (18,809) Columbus, OH |
| December 3* 12:00 pm | No. 2 | Texas–Pan American | W 64–35 | 8–0 | Value City Arena (14,041) Columbus, OH |
| December 10* 3:15 pm, ESPN | No. 2 | at No. 13 Kansas | L 67–78 | 8–1 | Allen Fieldhouse (16,300) Lawrence, KS |
| December 14* 7:30 pm, BTN | No. 2 | USC Upstate | W 82–58 | 9–1 | Value City Arena (13,552) Columbus, OH |
| December 17* 12:00 pm, ESPN | No. 2 | at South Carolina | W 74–66 | 10–1 | Colonial Life Arena (13,654) Columbia, SC |
| December 20* 8:30 pm, BTN | No. 2 | Lamar | W 70–50 | 11–1 | Value City Arena (14,169) Columbus, OH |
| December 22* 8:30 pm, BTN | No. 2 | Miami (Ohio) | W 69–40 | 12–1 | Nationwide Arena (17,463) Columbus, OH |
| Big Ten Regular Season ||||||
| December 28 5:30 pm, BTN | No. 2 | Northwestern | W 87–54 | 13–1 (1–0) | Value City Arena (19,049) Columbus, OH |
| December 31 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 2 | at No. 13 Indiana | L 70–74 | 13–2 (1–1) | Assembly Hall (17,472) Bloomington, IN |
| January 3 6:30 pm, BTN | No. 6 | Nebraska | W 71–40 | 14–2 (2–1) | Value City Arena (16,158) Columbus, OH |
| January 7 3:00 pm, BTN | No. 6 | at Iowa | W 76–47 | 15–2 (3–1) | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,400) Iowa City, IA |
| January 10 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | at Illinois | L 74–79 | 15–3 (3–2) | Assembly Hall (14,636) Champaign, IL |
| January 15 4:30 pm, CBS | No. 5 | No. 7 Indiana | W 80–63 | 16–3 (4–2) | Value City Arena (18,809) Columbus, OH |
| January 21 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 6 | at Nebraska | W 79–45 | 17–3 (5–2) | Bob Devaney Sports Center (12,214) Lincoln, NE |
| January 25 6:30 pm, BTN | No. 4 | Penn State | W 78–54 | 18–3 (6–2) | Value City Arena (16,907) Columbus, OH |
| January 29 1:00 pm, CBS | No. 4 | No. 20 Michigan | W 64–49 | 19–3 (7–2) | Value City Arena (18,809) Columbus, OH |
| February 4 2:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | at No. 19 Wisconsin | W 58–52 | 20–3 (8–2) | Kohl Center (17,230) Madison, WI |
| February 7 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | Purdue | W 87–84 | 21–3 (9–2) | Value City Arena (16,504) Columbus, OH |
| February 11 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 3 | No. 11 Michigan State | L 48–58 | 21–4 (9–3) | Value City Arena (18,809) Columbus, OH |
| February 14 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | at Minnesota | W 78–68 | 22–4 (10–3) | Williams Arena (13,245) Minneapolis, MN |
| February 18 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | at No. 17 Michigan ESPN College GameDay | L 51–56 | 22–5 (10–4) | Crisler Arena (12,721) Ann Arbor, MI |
| February 21 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 8 | Illinois | W 83–67 | 23–5 (11–4) | Value City Arena (18,481) Columbus, OH |
| February 26 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 8 | No. 16 Wisconsin | L 60–63 | 23–6 (11–5) | Value City Arena (18,809) Columbus, OH |
| February 29 8:30 pm, BTN | No. 10 | at Northwestern | W 75–73 | 24–6 (12–5) | Welsh–Ryan Arena (8,117) Evanston, IL |
| March 4 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 10 | at No. 5 Michigan State | W 72–70 | 25–6 (13–5) | Breslin Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| Big Ten tournament ||||||
| March 9 8:55 pm, BTN | No. 7 | vs. Purdue Quarterfinals | W 88–71 | 26–6 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,484) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 10 4:10 pm, CBS | No. 7 | vs. No. 10 Michigan Semifinals | W 77–55 | 27–6 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (18,451) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 11 3:30 pm, CBS | No. 7 | vs. No. 8 Michigan State Championship Game | L 64–68 | 27–7 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (17,125) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 15* 9:50 pm, TNT | No. 7 (2-E) | vs. (15-E) Loyola (MD) Second Round | W 78–59 | 28–7 | CONSOL Energy Center (19,413) Pittsburgh, PA |
| March 17* 2:45 pm, CBS | No. 7 (2-E) | vs. (7-E) Gonzaga Third Round | W 73–66 | 29–7 | CONSOL Energy Center (18,588) Pittsburgh, PA |
| March 22* 9:45 pm, CBS | No. 7 (2-E) | vs. (6-E) Cincinnati Sweet Sixteen | W 81–66 | 30–7 | TD Garden (18,796) Boston, MA |
| March 24* 7:05 pm, CBS | No. 7 (2-E) | vs. No. 2 (1-E) Syracuse Elite Eight | W 77–70 | 31–7 | TD Garden (18,796) Boston, MA |
| March 31* 9:05 pm, CBS | No. 7 (2-E) | vs. No. 6 (2-M) Kansas Final Four | L 62–64 | 31–8 | Mercedes-Benz Superdome (73,361) New Orleans, LA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time Rank indicates seed in the NCAA tournament. E-East region, W-West region, S-South region, M-Midewest Region. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received votes |