Tobacco Road Report

Rallying from a 20 point deficit, The Ohio State University edged a shell shocked Tennessee team by one point on Thursday night, 85-84. In a game where Greg Oden was in constant foul trouble and a limited factor, Mike Conley Jr. destroyed the Vols in the second half with dribble pentration and looked poised beyond his years. The Buckeyes used a simple high screen with the 5 man to get penetration that set up kick outs to senior Ron Lewis (25 points). It is hard to call this a complete choke by the Vols but their offense stagnated in the second half and became a series of jacking contested threes. The inability to exploit OSU with Hunter and Oden both saddled with 4 fouls was a key difference in the game. For Oden, this was a nightmare performance, but he did block the potential game winner as time expired. The Saturday matchup with Memphis will be an interesting battle of tempo and styles. OSU is the only Big 10 team that has the athletes to run the floor with the Tigers. Should be a good one.