Posts tagged JamarButler at FanHouse - AOL Sports Blog

If you haven't noticed ... and judging by ESPN's ratings you haven't ... the N.I.T. crowned their champion last night. Ohio State beat UMass, 92-85.

While is was a nice win for the Buckeyes, not all of them seemed to be impressed. Especially Jamar Butler:

"That's what happens when you put an NCAA Tournament team in the NIT. They walk through it," senior Jamar Butler said with a smile. "Write that."

Maybe. While I'm not one to dismiss the N.I.T.'s value as others do, you still need to know your role. With the way the NCAA tournament panned out, it wasn't a given that Ohio State would have done anything in the NCAAs. Maybe they would have (Villanova beat them out for that final spot and advanced to the Sweet 16).

Either way, it was a nice ending to Butler's career ... which saw him playing in the NCAA title game a year ago.

Freshman Evan Turner put it in an interesting context:

"It feels good to go out with a win," said Turner, a freshman. "I don't know if this is what a Big Ten championship feels like or a national championship feels like. Hopefully my teammates and I are fortunate enough to experience that some day. But right now, this is good enough."

All hail the NIT champs!

Ohio State saved its two best games of the season for the last two games of the season, following up on Tuesday's win over Purdue with a win today over Michigan State, and getting back onto the NCAA Tournament bubble.

Jamar Butler played all 40 minutes and had a game-high 40 points to lead the Buckeyes to today's 63-54 win, and that is enough to at least give Ohio State a shot at an at-large tournament bid. Prior to today's game, Ohio State's RPI was 53, but it's moving in the right direction. And Ohio State deserves credit for its non-conference schedule; the Buckeyes beat Syracuse and Florida and lost to Texas A&M, North Carolina, Butler and Tennessee.

Still, Ohio State needs to win at least one and quite likely two Big Ten Tournament games to get to the Big Dance. The way the Buckeyes have played in the last week, no one should bet against them.

As for Michigan State, the Spartans clinched a Tournament bid some time in January, when they got off to a 19-2 start to the season. But they're 24-7 now, and they don't look much like a Tournament team. With an RPI of 14, the Spartans are obviously in no matter what they do in the Big Ten Tournament, but they're looking an awful lot like a team that will lose in the first round.

The Big Ten Diaries recaps the previous night's action in Big Ten Basketball, but of course, you're probably smart enough to figure that out on your own.

Penn State Nittany Lions 68 Illinois Fighting Illini 64

While the top four spots in the Big Ten figure to belong to MSU, OSU, Indiana, and Wisconsin, don't be surprised if the Penn State Nittany Lions sneak up into 5th place this season. After only being able to win three conference games last season the Nittany Lions picked up their second conference win in as many games on Sunday afternoon in Champaign.

The duo of Geary Claxton and Jamelle Cornley looks like one that could give a lot of Big Ten teams trouble this season, as both players had their second consecutive double-doubles at the expense of the Illini. Cornley lead Penn State with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Claxton scored 11 and grabbed 11 boards as well.

The Illini had a chance to win the game after freshman Demetri McCamey hit two three-pointers in the final minute to pull Illinois within a point with 10 seconds left, but his floater in the lane that would have won the game missed it's mark and Illinois lost it's second straight home conference game, and third overall.

Another factor that helped Penn State pull of a big road victory was outworking the Illini 49-24. This despite the fact the Nittany Lions don't have a single player over 6'5 in their starting lineup.

Illinois' next two games are at Wisconsin and Indiana, so if Bruce Weber's already feeling the heat for his teams lackluster play, just wait until they start out 0-4.

The Big Ten Diaries recaps the previous night's action in Big Ten Basketball, but of course, you're probably smart enough to figure that out on your own.

Thursday night was the second day of action in Big Ten conference play, and if the first two nights are any indicator, playing at home is not an advantage. On Wednesday night all three home teams (Iowa, Northwestern, and Michigan) lost their conference openers, and on Thursday night Ohio State went into Champaign and handed Illinois their second consecutive home loss.

Ohio State Buckeyes 74 Illinois Fighting Illini 58

While most people seem to think the Big Ten is going to be settled between Michigan State, Indiana, or even Wisconsin, it's important we don't forget about the defending conference champion Buckeyes. Ohio State started it's conference title defense with a relatively easy victory in Champaign over the Fighting Illini. The star of the game was undoubtedly Ohio State senior point guard Jamar Butler, who seems to be enjoying himself now that he's out of Mike Conley's shadow.

Illinois went into the half with a 30-29 advantage, but the Buckeyes ran away with things in the second half. Ohio State used a 15-2 run early in the second half to pull away, and Illinois never really got back into contention after that. I'm sorry, did I say Ohio State went on a 15-2 run? I meant to say Jamar Butler went on a 15-2 run, as Butler reeled off 15 consecutive points for the Buckeyes. Jamar would score 19 of his career high 32 points in the second half.

As for the Illini, it was the same old story we've seen all season. Good defense and strong rebounding combined with an absolutely atrocious output on the offensive end. In fact, the only thing offensive about this Illinois team is having to watch them play.

Illinois shot 40% from the field, which isn't that bad, but they were only 4-21 from behind the three-point line and it killed them. The loss was Illinois' third home loss of the season, the most they've had in any season since 1998-99. At their current rate, Bruce Weber will have lost his voice by mid-January.