Loss Aside, OSU Had Winning Look

North Carolina and its high-powered collection of players pulled away down the stretch Wednesday night in Chapel Hill to hand the Ohio State Buckeyes their first loss. But, coupled with the player who never got off the bench for OSU except during timeouts, the promise of what is ahead for the Buckeyes this season is bright indeed.

Ohio State’s credibility as one of the better teams in the country, even minus Greg Oden, got a nice boost Wednesday night.

Based on preseason hype, one would think that the Buckeyes are strictly made up of some dandy freshmen.

But the five non-freshmen who played for OSU Coach Thad Matta during the team’s 98-89 loss at North Carolina Wednesday all acquitted themselves quite well, especially guards Ron Lewis (30 points on 11 of 16 shooting from the floor) and Jamar Butler (six points while hitting both of his 3-point attempts, five assists and no turnovers in 29 minutes).

As for Matta’s three freshmen not named Greg Oden, they also, for the most part, held up well in a hostile environment while facing one of the two or three most talented teams in the country.

And as long as Matta continues to bring one of those freshmen off the bench, 6-foot-5 Daequan Cook (17.3 points and 7.3 rebounds over an average of 24.1 minutes per game) is going to be as productive and explosive a reserve in the country. Yes, something in the mold of what Marvin Williams was for Roy Williams and the Tar Heels during their national championship season of 2004-05.

And once Oden becomes acclimated to his teammates and the nuances of the college game, the Buckeyes should be lumped into the handful of six to 10, or so, teams with the most Final Four Weekend ingredients.

When will that be? The speculation has been that Oden (who underwent surgery on his right wrist in June) will make his debut sometime early in January during Big Ten Conference.

But the commentator doing all of the shouting during the national television broadcast Wednesday kept hinting that maybe Oden’s first on-floor appearance during a game will come when the Buckeyes visit the University of Cincinnati on Dec. 16.

COOL GAMES THIS WEEKEND

SATURDAY

Illinois vs. Arizona, and Texas vs. Gonzaga (Phoenix)

Frank Says: The Illini suffered their first loss of the season against Maryland Tuesday night in Champaign during the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Coach Bruce Weber’s team faces an even tougher challenge in this one, though. But it should be a toughie for the Wildcats as well as Illinois should present the toughest test for their half-court defense yet this season. That Gonzaga “held” high-powered North Carolina to 74 points in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals in New York City speaks volumes for the kind of defense Mark Few’s team is playing. The Bulldogs’ perimeter defenders will have to be up to snuff against the Lonhorns, most notably 6-10 Kevin Durant and 5-10 A.J. Abrams. The difference in the game, though, will be the inside presence of Gonzaga’s 6-10 Josh Heytvelt.

Kentucky at North Carolina

Frank Says: The Wildcats let Memphis turn their third-place game in the EA Sports Invitational into a 94-foot affair and suffered an 80-63 loss as a result. They’ll need to shorten the playing surface against the best transition team in college basketball in this one. Randolph Morris vs. Tyler Hansbrough should be a physical affair – and then some – down low.

Georgetown at Duke

Frank Says: The Hoyas lost their second game (both at home) Wednesday night to a team (Oregon, 57-50) projected to finish fifth in the Pac-10 Conference. Barring an upset in Cameron Indoor Stadium, they should lose their national Top 25 status next week – not that what a team is rated in the first week of December means a whole heck of a lot in the overall scheme of things, of course. The Blue Devils aren’t as explosive, offensively, right now as they are likely to be once their freshmen (four of them are playing a lot) getting a better feel for hoops on the college level and Greg Paulus gets as sharp at the point as he was as a freshman.

Pacific at Texas A&M

Frank Says: Only one of the Aggies’ first six victories has been decided by a margin of fewer than 30 points (75-59 over Louisiana Tech). The Tigers, who beat Billy Gillispie’s team in Stockton a year ago but suffered heavy losses from that squad, should give the Aggies a reasonably tough test in this one, though. UOP has one of the West’s better (but underrated) sophomore post players in Anthony Brown (17.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game).

SUNDAY

Texas Tech vs. Stanford and Nevada vs. California (Pete Newell Challenge, San Jose, CA)

 Frank Says: Bob Knight can tie Adolph Rupp for second place (he’s currently four behind leader Dean Smith) on the all-time list for most coaching victories with a Red Raiders’ victory over the Cardinal. But the best game in this double dip will pit the unbeaten Wolf Pack against the once-beaten Golden Bears. A Cal victory would make the Pac-10 Conference’s collective start all the more impressive. NBA sorts will be glued to this one watching Nevada’s Nick Fazekas hook up with another player projected as a likely first-round choice in June, junior DeVon Hardin.

Florida State at Florida

Frank Says: The Seminoles (courtesy Pittsburgh and Wisconsin) suffered double-digit losses in their first road encounters with quality teams. It doesn’t get any easier in Gainesville, even with defensive ace Corey Brewer sidelined indefinitely with mono for the Gators.

North Carolina State at Virginia

Frank Says: One of two ACC openers (the other has Georgia Tech at Miami). The 5-0 Wolfpack finally venture outside of Raleigh against a team that is just a down-to-the-wire loss at Purdue from being unbeaten as well.

Pittsburgh at Auburn

Frank Says: The Tigers are 6-2 but those wins (vs. Troy, Winston-Salem, East Tennessee State, Miles, Nichols State and Louisiana-Monroe) didn’t come at the expense of teams that would remind anyone of the Panthers. How is that for an understatement?

BOUNCING AROUND THE COUNTRY:

*The most startling (and impressive) score of the week so far? I opt for Missouri 86, Arkansas 64. The Hogs looked impressive indeed while knocking off Southern Illinois, Marist and West Virginia in Orlando. Prior to Thursday night, the Tigers’ early success (7-0, without leaving Columbus) in Mike Anderson’s first season as the program’s coach was looked upon with a tad bit of skepticism. After the Arkansas drilling, we’re skeptical no more.

*The most impressive thing about 8-0 Maryland’s 72-66 victory at Illinois Tuesday night is, without question, that the Terps came out of one of the toughest places in America for an opponent to play with a victory and did so without center Ekene Ibekwe (12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game).

*The Pac-10 teams are a collective 47-9 heading into Saturday’s action. But before any of those associated with the conference strain elbows or shoulders slapping each other on the back, consider that only three of those wins (UCLA against Kentucky and Georgia Tech, and Oregon at Georgetown) came against teams appearing in any preseason or current Top 25 ratings.

*Staying on the topic of the Pac-10, the top-ranked Bruins’ sophomore Darren Collison (13.2 points, 7.4 assists. 3.6 steals and only 2.4 turnovers per game, while shooting .538 from the field) is playing as well as any point guard in the country. The competition gets a little steeper in the next week for Collison, though: Bobby Brown (Cal State Fullerton, Tuesday night) and Acie Law (Texas A&M, Dec. 9).

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Inducted into the USBWA Hall of Fame in April, 2005, Frank Burlison is Scout.com’s national basketball expert and is also a columnist for the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram. He can be reached at . Read more of Burlison’s pieces at www.frankhoops.com