Fresh off of a dominating performance by Evan Turner, the Buckeyes will face the James Madison Dukes in the second round of the 2K Sports Classic tonight.
Turner recorded just the second triple-double in Ohio State history Monday night against Alcorn State, OSU’s first-round opponent, in a 100-60 rout.
The one position on the floor in which OSU didn’t dominate was center. Zisis Sarikopoulos and Kyle Madsen had trouble on both ends of the floor. Sarikopoulos recorded four fouls in 14 minutes while allowing Alcorn State center JaMarkus Holt to post nine points, 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.
The Buckeyes’ prospects at center look to be getting better with the possible return of Dallas Lauderdale from the broken bone in his right hand. Lauderdale was in uniform and on the bench for the Alcorn State game but had not received clearance to play from team doctors.
“I’m hoping he plays,” OSU coach Thad Matta said.
James Madison enters the game with multiple injuries of their own.
JMU sophomore guard Devon Moore, of Columbus, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a scrimmage and will miss the remainder of the season. Freshman center Trevon Flores, also from Columbus, broke his nose in the same scrimmage but will suit up for Thursday night’s game.
The Dukes are led by sophomore forward Julius Wells, yet another Ohioan, who was last season’s Colonial Athletic Association rookie of the year.
“James Madison is an up-and-coming program,” Matta said. “This is their opener and we’ve done a lot of work on them.”
So with Turner’s historic night in the books and their defensive stalwart Lauderdale poised to return, the Buckeyes look to move to 2-0 in the season.
