10 Thoughts On Missouri State

1. This was basically a tournament game for Missouri State, or that’s how their crowd acted. They were grayed out, they’d won 22 straight non-conference games, and they smelled blood in the first half.

2. Let’s talk for just a second about how Travis Ford is 3rd all time in winning percentage at OSU behind Mr. Iba and Eddie. Think about that for a second, it’s insane.

3. I’m probably going to type this like 399 times this year, but Jurick is such a massive resource to have in the middle. He protects the rim so well and just completely changes the dynamic of the defense from “we’re fast and athletic and may or may not have any clue what we’re doing” to “we have a purpose, this is what we are so bring it on.”

4. Speaking of big guys, how awesome did Mike Cobbins look on offense? He’s one of those guys that probably doesn’t measure that well. His J doesn’t seem like it’s great and he seems a little gaunt, but throw him in the middle of a game and he just gets it. He understands where to be and why he’s there. You can’t put a price on that. Well, you can, but probably only Miami and Ohio State can afford it.

5. At halftime this really felt like OSU was headed for another double-digit loss. For them to recover on the road, against the momentum against a team that needed this W for its postseason resume, was pretty remarkable.

6. I DVRed the game so I watched it pretty late last night and I’m a little tardy on this, but ESPN: “Justin Blackmon is turning pro!” is not breaking news and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t put that graphic at the bottom of my screen. Bill Haisten reported this like a month ago and Gundy talked about it farther back than that. The dude participated in senior night, what did you think he was going to do? Come back?

7. Reid Gettys said “Le’Bryan Nash is playing like he’s trying to sip water from a fire hydrant.” Uhh, sure Reid. Okay.

8. The point guard combination tonight (mostly Gulley, a little Dowell, some Cezar, and a spice of Keiton) worked well ton. I’m not thrilled about basically putting four different dudes out there throughout the game, but a win on the road is a win on the road.

9. When Nash stops thinking about why he is or isn’t sucking, he plays a lot better. You can almost watch his physical gifts overtake whatever mental incapacities he’s facing on the court as it happens.

10. How about Ford spinning around during the 12-minute timeout in the second half like he was literally going to kill the referee even though the ref wasn’t the guy who grabbed him? How scared are you if you’re that ref? You have to have at least a little something slide out the back end, right?

11. (bonus) Missouri State only scored 1 point in the last 4:45 and didn’t score in the last 4:08. That’s big time defense on the road from OSU. I’m really excited about this win for the Cowboys. No, they didn’t shoot particularly well, but they hung in, hit free throws, didn’t turn it over, and got a big W against a strong mid-major before heading to NYC for a massive non-con tilt with Pitt and Jamie Dixon’s hair.

12. (bonus) Weird stat: OSU’s last 10 points were on free throws. There wasn’t a field goal made by either team in the last 4:49.