‘EYES HAVE IT
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Central Connecticut State coach Howie Dickenman’s worst fear played out before his eyes last night.
“I told my coaches the first three minutes of the game were the most important minutes of the game,” Dickenman said after his team lost 78-57 to mighty Ohio State, the top-ranked team in the country, in last night’s NCAA tournament first-round game at Rupp Arena.
Ohio State, en route to its 18th consecutive win and a 31-3 overall record, sprinted from its dressing room to leads of 8-0 (3:17 into the game and 17-3 (6:39 in) and led 38-17 at the half en route to tomorrow’s 1:10 p.m. second-round contest.
“The game came down to our biggest fear,” an emotional Dickenman said afterward. “Our biggest fear reared its head – that we would fall behind early. We didn’t stop playing, but we didn’t play a good first half. It was close to an embarrassing half.
“In the second half we kept battling (playing OSU to a 40-40 tie after the intermission), because these guys know no other way,” Dickenman went on, his voice cracking and tears forming in his eyes. “I watched these guys give everything they had. I watched these guys battle. They did not quit.”
Indeed, Central Connecticut, which dressed only nine players, got a total of 12 minutes and no points from its bench while Ohio State’s bench contributed 22 points in 73 minutes.
“If you beat Central Connecticut, “you beat Central Connecticut,” Dickenman said. “We don’t beat ourselves. Ohio State beat us.”
No. 1-seeded Ohio State beat Central Connecticut because of 19 points and 10 rebounds from 7-foot freshman Greg Oden and Jamar Butler’s 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. It won with a barrage of sharp 3-point shooting early in the game and finished 11-of-20 from behind the arc.
“We got out to a great start and that helped us set the tone that we were coming to play,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “We saw Louisville jump on Stanford early (in yesterday’s opening game at Rupp) and we talked about that to our players.”
So Ohio State moves on, very possibly en route to a national championship. For 16th seed Central Connecticut, which finished 22-12 after starts of 0-3 and 3-9, last night was a sad ending for its three senior leaders who play with so much heart – Javier Mojica (19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals), Jemino Sobers (10 points, 8 rebounds) and Obie Nwadike (4 points, 5 rebounds), which is why there were tears flowing in the Blue Devils’ locker room.
“It hurts right now because we know we’re not going to be able to put this uniform on anymore, not going to be able to practice anymore and bond,” Mojica said. “We’re like a family. WE all hang out with each other, all stick together. That’s why we’re here. We have heart. We’re like warriors.”
