Jay LaPrete - AP

2 months ago: Ohio State's William Buford, right, posts up against Cleveland State's D'Aundray Brown during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

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First half:

(I missed the first five or so minutes)

- Gray uniforms. *yawn*

- David Lighty started strong from beyond the perimeter, which surprised me. I still envision him as a drive-first, perimeter-second guy

- The team is taking smart shots on the whole, which is an encouraging development, but the shots just aren't falling. CSU is leaving some guys open, and they're just clanking off the rim.

- Kyle Madsen might become a member of Club Multi-Trill; he's been on the field for minutes and has yet to make an impact on the stat sheet.

- We're on a patented, Butler-tested (and approved!) 5-minute scoring drought once again.

- Hey, Madsen had an assist!

- It looks like CSU switched from man to (3-2?) zone defense and that had the Buckeyes completely flustered for an extended period of time.

- Good finishing effort after a slow start from Buford. Five points to close the half and it's 31-23. Not sure if I'm happy about the offensive performance, which was balanced but annoyingly cold at times. Defensively, we're alright with almost whatever we deploy, but CSU is getting a few plays inside on drives that could portend bad things for the future.

Second half notes and closing thoughts after the break...

Second Half

- Good start by the Buckeyes in building on the lead to start the half.

- Evan Turner is ahead of schedule. To have him back by the game at Purdue would be huge for this team, however, I'm a little worried that the team might regress back to "wait for ET to do something" very quickly. Let's hope the balanced nature of the offense of late sticks.

- David Lighty just brought the house down with a dunk, and I think he descended from Valhalla to deliver it. Good answer after giving up two straight treys to the same guy on the other end of the court.

- CSU on a bit of a run here. A board or eight would be nice.

- Alright, I'll be honest: I like PJ Hill. His energetic play immediately up tempo of a game. Yes, he tries too hard sometimes and that results in turnovers, but I think he brings more to the table than he takes off. If that makes any sense whatsoever.

- It appears we'll have a different leading scorer in every game, but I think Lighty can be counted on for 15+ ppg in Turner's absence. That's four straight games now with at least that many.

- CSU's "bigs" being injured is really a problem? Have you noticed our best "big" is Dallas Lauderdale?

- GAH MONTGOMERY GO AWAY

- Lauderdale with a rebound and a score... against a dude who had fallen over.

- We had to give up our customary awkward white guy back-up three, didn't we?

- MONTGOMERY IS NOT GOING AWAY

- With the lead down to just 8 points with a couple minutes left, Lighty drives, scores, and is fouled. He makes the free throw for his 30th point of the night. On the ensuing possession, CSU turns the ball over and Hill takes it in to give the Buckeyes a 13-point lead with a minute-and-a-half left. This one's over.

Closing Thoughts

Even with the whole Montgomery thing, this was a solid night defensively. I can stand a guy scoring 25 points by his lonesome, 15 on treys, if no one else scores more than seven. Offensively the moment CSU's big men got into foul trouble, Dallas Lauderdale flourished, grabbing seven boards, notching two blocks and scoring 12 points. Not the greatest of stat lines, but when you consider it's Dallas Lauderdale, you should be vaguely satisfied. I was really impressed by Lighty's production tonight; 30 points is awesome, but so is seven assists and five rebounds on a team that really needs to spread the ball around more consistently. Three players got into double figures tonight, which is good, not great. But hey, at least we out-rebounded somebody!

Even with tonight's success, I'm not sure this team has improved enough defensively to pull off a W up in Madison in 9days. Cleveland State has one guy who can knock down the open three seemingly every time it's available, and the Badgers always seem to have at least seventy. For now, I'm just hoping David Lighty improves on his performance today, Buford and that the Buckeyes can keep it close enough to have a realistic shot at winning in the end.