Ohio State Favored On the Road Against West Virginia In Top-25 Clash

Sports News - January 23rd, 2010 - Written By Bryan

Ohio State is riding a three-game win streak as they travel to West Virginia to take on the Mountaineers, in match up of the ACC versus the Big East. Last year, West Virginia traveled to Columbus and crushed Ohio State on their home floor, 76-48. With the loss still fresh in their minds, The Buckeyes look to repay the favor against the Mountaineers this year, in a battle of Top-25 teams.

"The key thing was they punked us," Ohio State guard Evan Turner said of the loss to West Virginia last year. "It didn't bother me how they executed or anything like that, I just think they just gave us a good butt-whipping."

Ohio State sported an undefeated record, and were ranked 15th in the country before West Virginia came to town and thoroughly embarrassed them. It was the Buckeyes worst home loss ever to an unranked team. This year, Ohio State is 14-5 and has played well recently, despite injuries.

Turner says he is very close to being back 100 percent, following two broken bones he suffered back in December. Turner was close to a triple-double in Ohio State's last game against Big 10 rival Northwestern. The point guard tabbed 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in the Buckeyes 76-56 win.

Turner eclipsed a rather impressive milestone during the Northwestern game, becoming only the second player in Ohio State history to achieve 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 300 assists throughout his career in the Scarlet and Grey.

"I think he's the best player in the country," said Turner's Buckeyes teammate Jon Diebler. "The guy does everything."

Ohio State possesses one of the strongest back courts in all of Division I basketball. Guards Jon Diebler and William Buford each average over 13 points per game, and provide the Buckeyes with a perimeter scoring threat that opens up the post down low. This is critical because Ohio Sate has no real post scorer. By creating points from the outside however, the post becomes less congested. This opens up the opportunities for players like forward Dallas Lauderdale to create points in the paint. Points in the paint will be a key statistic for Ohio State against West Virginia.

One thing is for sure, and that is that the loss to West Virginia last year has motivated the Buckeye players this week.

"I don't really know what went wrong," said Buckeye Forward David Lighty. "They did everything right and we really didn't in that game. It's in the back of our minds, and it's always there to kind of motivate us to work hard. We get to redeem ourselves."

West Virginia has expected nothing less.

"I expect that to be on their minds, especially coming into our place," Mountaineer forward Devin Ebanks remarked in an interview about the match up. "They'll have a little bit of revenge on their mind."

The Mountaineers have played well enough this season to earn another national ranking for the Big East conference, which is arguably the strongest conference in basketball. They played a very close game against Syracuse back on the 16th of this month, losing by one point, 72-71. Despite the loss, the performance warranted national attention for the West Virginia Program.

The Mountaineers are led offensively by forward Da-Sean Butler. Butler is averaging close to 16 points and six rebounds per outing. West Virginia's top three leading scorers are their post players, a stark contrast to Ohio State. The Mountaineers will try and exploit the defense of the Buckeyes down low, and open up the perimeter shooting for their guards. If West Virginia is able to dominate the paint, as they did a year ago, it could be a very long day for the Buckeyes and a very happy day for the home crowd.

West Virginia began the season winning their first 11 games, and have continued to perform well. This game against Ohio State is the last out of conference game for the Mountaineers before getting into the meat of their Big East schedule.

Oddsmakers have installed Ohio State as a 5 1/2-point favorite to defeat West Virginia according to the College Basketball Betting Lines at BetUs. Tip off is 2pm EST and will be broadcast on CBS.