Ohio State Buckeyes
February 10, 2001

Ricky Bower: C-
Bower gave the team an outside threat, draining 2 of 3 from long range. However, his defensive troubles were a big hinderance, as he simply could not handle the penetration of the Buckeye guards he was guarding. When he was in the game, the Bucks went right after him almost immediately.

Andy Kowske: B
Despite the presence of Johnson inside, Kowske was effective in picking his spots, notching 10 points and a pair of assists on offense. Defensively, he did a pretty good job of limiting Johnson's touches, though when Johnson did get the ball, he was in too deep for help to bail Kowske out. Team high 7 rebounds.

Charlie Wills: C
Effectively hit his open jumpers when his man strayed. Like Kowske, was adequate against Johnson, but no more. Didn't rebound very well as he failed to wrap up a couple of defensive boards that led to OSU buckets.

Roy Boone: D
Possibly an unfair grade considering he was playing hurt, but he did not shoot the ball well and wasn't a force taking the ball to the hoop on a consistent basis. Like the rest of the Wisconsin guards, Boone also had trouble with OSU's dribble drives on the defensive end.

Kirk Penney: B
Outstanding job of spotting up beyond the arc, hitting 4 of 6 from long range. He also put the ball on the floor effectively, though he did not finish inside, altering a couple of shots because of Johnson's presence.

Mike Kelley: B
Hit a couple of threes for 8 points and was active with his digs on the post (3 steals). He also did a reasonable job of containing Brown (Brown hit 3 of his 5 shots on other defenders), though Brown did get into the lane and was able to shoot over Mike a few times.

Mark Vershaw: C
As expected, was not a factor inside, though did a nice job early of finding a couple mid range jumpers as well as getting to the line (7 of 8). Vershaw also added 5 assists with some nice recognition of cutters, though this was somewhat negated by 3 turnovers. Was not a factor on the glass.

Maurice Linton: D-
Limited minutes once again with two missed shots (one forced) and a turnover.

Travon Davis: D
Had a horrible time defensively as the bigger OSU guards just shot right over the top of him, which limited his minutes as well. Darby did a nice job of keeping him out of the lane on offense.

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