Keydets Hang Tough Early, Fall to #4 Ohio State 107-69

Men's Basketball VMIKeydets.com

Keydets Hang Tough Early, Fall to #4 Ohio State 107-69

COLUMBUS, Ohio- VMI made 13,219 opening-night fans nervous by cutting the Ohio State lead to five points just after halftime, but the Buckeyes responded in a big way in their 107-69 win over the Keydets on Friday evening at the Value City Arena. The game was the fourth contest of the 2006 SportsTime Ohio BCA Classic.

With the loss, the Keydets will have a quick turnaround, as they take on Princeton, who fell to Loyola of Chicago 68-57 in earlier action, at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Fred Robinson's career-high 16 points were tied with junior Reggie Williams for the game-high for the Keydets, as Williams also chipped in with 11 rebounds for the game's only double-double. Senior Matt Murrer posted 15 points to round out the double-digit scoring for VMI.

"I was very pleased with our play in the first half," said VMI head coach Duggar Baucom. "In the second half, it was just a bad combination of us going down and turning the ball over, then they'd come back down and be able to score, and we just couldn't stop it. For us to get 13 offensive rebounds in the first half was great to see. But now we just have to get tough, and bounce back tomorrow for a 2:30 p.m. game."

VMI survived Ohio State's initial surge, as the Buckeyes jumped out to a 16-4 advantage over the game's opening four-plus minutes. But the Keydets got into the flow quickly, as a three-pointer and a tip-in by Matt Murrer was followed by a jumper from senior Jack Castleberry, cutting the margin to 18-11.

The lead swelled to as many as 15 before the Keydets struck back with a 14-3 run of their own over the middle four minutes of the first half, with the Keydets cutting the margin to 29-25 on a three-pointer by Chavis Holmes with eight minutes remaining.

That was as close as the lead would get throughout the game, though a tip-in by Murrer at the 2:23 mark got the Keydets within six, while a pair of free throws just before halftime left the advantage 51-43 headed into the intermission.

"We were cautiously optimistic," said Baucom when asked about his reaction to closing the gap against the Buckeyes on a few occasions. "But it was like surfing; you like it when you get the good waves, but you know that there's a tidal wave coming."

Robinson hit his first of his four second-half three-pointers on the team's first possession of the second half, bringing about the five-point margin, before the Buckeyes took off. Ivan Harris contributed 13 points and Ron Lewis had 10 in the second frame, as the hosts outscored the Keydets 56-26 over the game's final 20 minutes.

"It just came down to us not being able to hit our shots in the second half," said Baucom on his team's 25% shooting from the field in the second half. "Fred shot really well in the second and played with a lot of energy, but we just couldn't find a rhythm as a team."

Freshman Daequan Cook poured in a game-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting in his first career collegiate outing. He was joined in double figures by junior Jamar Butler (18), Harris (17), Lewis (15), and freshman David Lighty (11). Making an impact on the boards for OSU was junior college transfer Othello Hunter, who collected 13 rebounds and eight points in his first outing for Ohio State.

Despite holding a 29-24 halftime advantage in rebounds, the final tally showed VMI losing the battle of the boards 52-42. The team's 19 offensive rebounds was a positive statistic, as they led to 16 second-chance points, compared to OSU's 10.
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