OSU scored the first 6 points of Saturday’s game, had a 9-1 lead less than 3 minutes in, and never looked back. The Pokes shot 49% from the floor, went to the free-throw line 38 times, and had more assists (13) than turnovers (10).
Utah has a lot of size and matching up with their type of length has been an issue at times this year for OSU. But, although Utah did have 11 more 2nd chance points than OSU, the Cowboys made up for that in several other areas. The Pokes outscored the Utes 35-21 in bench points, made 8 more free throws, and won the rebounding battle.
1st Half
2nd Half
Both teams traded buckets for the most part to start the 2nd half, but after a dunk from Patrick Suemnick, then a 3 by Chi Chi Avery, the Pokes took a 12-point lead with 14:17 to go in the game.
They eventually got the lead-up to as many as 15 with just 8:44 to go and answered every late push from the Utes.
Utah was never able to get the lead below 7 points, and that was with just 1:18 left, so OSU did a great job building a lead and then holding onto it.
Lots of Fun!
Watching OSU play basketball yesterday was a lot of fun. They were very active on both ends and knew how to attack Utah. They knew where the holes were in Utah’s defense, where to get the ball, and who to get it to.
Watch the motion away from the ball from Bryce Thompson as he comes off Avery’s screen. Chi Chi then “Picks and Pops” forces Utah to switch the screen, and once that happens, one of their “bigs” is forced to come out on the floor to guard. Avery recognized the matchup and used his quickness advantage to take his bigger defender to the rack.
This is a great offensive set that took advantage of the attention Bryce Thompson gets, which is another example of how valuable he is to this team.
Rotations
OSU shot 36 free throws, thanks, in large part, to how they were constantly forcing Utah to rotate on defense. And, as Utah rotated, OSU stayed one step ahead.
As Avery begins to drive, Suemnick’s man rotates over to double the ball. As soon as his man doubles the ball, Patrick enters the high post and forces a rotation from Newman’s man. When Newman saw his man rotate, he “back cut,” forcing his man to cover him and opening space for Avery to work.
Avery could have either finished the play himself, as he did by getting fouled, or handed it to Suemnick who could have rolled for a likely dunk.
This is another great example of knowing how to attack the rotations of Utah’s defense.
Whichever coach did the Scout this week needs a lot of praise, the game plan was “spot on”. Not just the plan, but how it was communicated & taught to the players because it was executed very well.
Sharing the Ball
One thing OSU did better yesterday was share the ball. They had 13 assists on 47 made shots, which isn’t incredible by any stretch, but it is better. Here’s an example of the “one more” mentality this team played with on Saturday to get good shot attempts against a much longer team.
Jamyron doesn’t make this shot, but that’s the “result”. The process of how the shot was created and the shot itself was fantastic, and having a good process will lead to the desired results more times than not.
Well Ran Offense!
Here’s another example of OSU doing a masterful job of forcing Utah to rotate, creating a bad matchup, which forces them to foul.
And, then, also, the balance and spacing in the set, combined with the action away from the ball is superb.
Suemnick gets the ball at the elbow, which draws his “big” out, at least some, especially after he dribbles twice toward Thompson. Chi sets a back pick to force Thompson’s defender into a trailing position, which creates a forced switch by the defense.
On the opposite side of the court, Dow is showing a “pop” action, which opens the elbow because his man can’t sink to help on the ball. That allows Thompson to turn the corner and get “downhill while being guarded by a “big” off the switch. Thompson uses his quickness to draw a fairly easy foul.
Individual Performances
Patrick Suemnick might have played his best game in a Cowboy uniform on Saturday. We’ve seen how he was used to set up the offense, but he also scored for himself off the same actions.
He was the player many times that, as Utah rotated to stop the ball, he was open as the “one more”. As defenses rotate, and double, someone has to be open, and when that someone in Suemick at the elbow, it’s Phi Slamma Jamma time.
Suemnick hasn’t been a huge threat posting up and demanding the ball in the low post, but he can be very effective in initiating the offense and scoring on the back end of rotations.
When he gets the ball at the free throw line and starts “downhill” defenders have to make a “business decision”.
Bryce Thompson is THE “Heart and Soul” of this team. He scores, draws attention to set up teammates, and plays for the Brand.
Thompson scored 20 points on Saturday, which marks his 8th double-digit scoring game in a row. It’s also the 6th time in his last 7 games where he’s scored 15 points or more.
He also pulled down 7 boards, had a couple of assists, and made all 4 free throws and 3-point attempts.
Chi Chi Avery is open as soon as he gets off the bus!
Avery is also a scoring machine and had 17 on Saturday. He had huge buckets when Utah tried to put “scoreboard” pressure on OSU, and kept Utah at arm’s length. That made any push the Utes tried to make down the stretch less dramatic.
Avery has scored 39 points in his last 2 games and has reached double-digits in 4 of 5. If you erase the game at Tech, where he didn’t score at all, he’s averaging 19 points a game in his last 4 games.
Connor Dow can shoot the lights out, we all know that, but his impact goes way beyond that. His motion away from the ball forces defensive rotations, and his ability to shoot doesn’t allow his defender to help with dribble penetration. That allows Bryce, or any other player for OSU open space to get “downhill” and get to the rack.
Also, his instant energy off the bench is a huge factor in wearing down the other team. Imagine playing significant minutes, like Utah’s main players do, then having to guard the activity of Dow off the bench and fight through multiple screens.
Next Up
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