Columbus, Ohio — Trying to stop Greg Oden is like playing a game of Russian roulette — you pick your poison and hope you live to tell about it.
After Saturday's game, MSU junior center Drew Naymick had no problem reciting the catalog of moves the all-world Ohio State freshman uses on the low post — the head fake, the drop step, the off-arm hook — "it's legal," Naymick said — all performed with textbook precision.
"That's what makes him a great player," Naymick said.
Oden's expansive repertoire — not to mention his brute force — has opened him up for dozens of uncontested highlight-reel dunks already this season. Most teams have tried with limited success to double-team him, but that leaves one of the Buckeyes' litany of shooters open somewhere on the perimeter, where they've hit a Big Ten-leading 8.6 threes a game.
So MSU head coach Tom Izzo, as he's often done with other star players, opted against using a double-team on Oden and decided to force the 7-footer to beat the Spartans one-on-one on the block.
He did early. Predictably, the Buckeyes force-fed Oden for the first seven minutes, and he responded with remarkable touch around the basket. He hit the same right baseline hook three times and had nine points before heading to the bench at the 12:40 mark.
But as potent as Oden was in that opening stretch, the Spartans knew the odds were in their favor.
"We said we've got to give him those (hook shots). We just said we can't let him dunk the ball," Izzo said. "The hook's good, but maybe it's 50 percent. The dunk is 101 percent."
Rotating Naymick and sophomore center Idong Ibok on the assignment throughout the game, the Spartans did a phenomenal job denying Oden position in the paint and fouling him when he had a chance to go up strong.
Oden went without a field goal for the game's final 26:40, and his only points in that stretch came on 10-of-12 shooting from the free-throw line.
"Oden got his points (19)," Naymick said, "but he didn't have any dunks. We didn't give him any angles to the basket, and we made him work for what he got."
'I had a good look'
Other than the end result, MSU's final play went exactly as planned. Coming out of a timeout down by two with 11 seconds left, junior guard Drew Neitzel dribbled to his right over a screen on the perimeter, where he was met by a wall of Ohio State defenders. Neitzel passed the ball back to his left, where sophomore guard Maurice Joseph was waiting open at the top of the key. Joseph said his open 3-point try "felt good" off his hand, but it clanged off the left rim as time expired.
"I was the first option coming off the ball screen," said Neitzel, who already had scored 24 points in the second half, "but we figured they were going to double team me, so that's why we put MoJo in that spot."
Izzo said he purposefully drew up a play that would either win or lose the game with a three because of the toll the comeback had taken on his team. Both Naymick and Ibok had four fouls, and Izzo said Neitzel and sophomore guard Travis Walton were so tired they were "walking on their knees."
"I didn't think our guys could survive another five minutes," Izzo said.
Awesome pick-up line, baby!
With ESPN's College Gameday crew in town for the game, there were several recognizable faces in the crowd.
As color commentator Dick Vitale and Howie Schwab of "Stump the Schwab" walked back out to the court for the second half, they were passed by Erin Andrews, who was doing the sideline report for ESPN's broadcast.
"I've always had a crush on this girl Erin Andrews," Vitale said as he leaned in for a kiss. "You think she might date me?"
"She's available," Andrews replied with a smile.
As Vitale walked away, he called out over his shoulder, "Only because she wants me."
