@ Thee Ohio State

For starters, when did OSU start saying putting extra emphasis on 'The' when saying the name of their school? Everyone knows what I'm talking about. They turn the word 'The' into that strung out 'Theeeee". That's probably a couple extra e's in there, but I don't care. It's simply one of those things to dislike because I can.

Also, ever since my Spring Break of 2007 spent in Panama City, I have come to dislike the song 'Hang On Sloopy." It's a nice classic that usually incites mass singing when played with drunks around. However, the Buckeye's made me dislike that song by adding their O-H-I-O cheer at the end of every chorus. And as a refresher, 2007 was when Ohio State was good with Greg Oden and Mike Conley, made the title game only to get owned by Florida. Needless to say, 'Hang On Sloopy' was played many a times at the hotel pool.

As for today's game, I can't really comment too much. I was driving home from Mardi Gras in St. Louis and just got to listen to Brian Barnhart. Other than the fact I missed watching the game, I was upset because I forgot Bill Raferty was the analyst. I can't wait for tournament time to see the crazy catch-phrase he comes up with. It'll be pretty hard to beat 'ONIONS!!' though.

Just by looking at the final score it was obvious that todays game was 100x better than the 6th grade girls shootout that took place Wednesday night.

Total Combined Points Wednesday- 71
Total Illini Points today- 70

Shooting % was up 28 points overall (58-30) and 34 points from beyond the arc (52-18).
Also, the Illini shot 9 more free throws. This typically isn't that crazy, but when you shoot ZERO on one night, 9 seems like a ton.

The team also kept up it's crazy % of Asst/FGM (23/28 for 82%; above their season average as well). For those (if anyone actually reads this stuff) who didn't hear the radio broadcast, Barnhart spouted off some crazy numbers for Chester Frazier. For the season, Chester has 146 points, 144 assists, and 130 rebounds. Thats consistent, but obviously low points for your starting point guard. All Illini fans know that when Chester scores, it's more of a bonus. I could name all the intangibles that he brings to the court, but thats just wasting everyone's time. (Did you know he wants to coach after school? Or that Mike Tisdale is on a 6,000 calorie diet/day?...yeah, everyone does because any announcer for ESPN/Big10 pounds that into the viewing audience).

The defense sounded pretty good too. If it takes Evan 'The Villian' Turner 35 minutes to get on a roll, then it has to be good defense. And yes, I took that nickname from Club Trillion. Unlike Mr. Titus, I can give props/advertise for other sites. Go to his blog, laugh your ass off, and thank me when you're finished.

Well, it looks like 1/2 this post was bashing Ohio State and their traditions. The other half was looking at the box score and putting those numbers into sentences instead of spreadsheet form. Eh, nobody's perfect. See ya Thursday night unless something sparks my interest.