Nov. 25, 2011

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No. 3 Ohio State (6-0) 80, Valpo 47 (5-2)
Value City Arena - Columbus, Ohio 
POSTGAME QUOTES

Thad Matta, Ohio State head coach
On the first half
"Our guys weren't making shots, but we got some good looks. Valparaiso is a good basketball team. We made some mistakes defensively, and they made us pay. We did a good job on their two leading scorers, but [Jay] Harris got going on us and we didn't adjust like we needed to."

On William Buford
"I thought he was good the last couple games. William [Buford] has been efficient and that's something we've been on him about - playing efficiently on offense. I thought he did a good job defensively as well."

On the upcoming Duke game
"It's still early, but when you look at a team like Duke and you look back to the Florida game, it will be a good challenge for us. Like Florida, we'll know a lot more about ourselves when we come out of it."

Aaron Craft, sophomore guard
On what changed the game in the second half
"Defense. We came out knowing what we needed to do. I thought we did a good job on their big guys in the first half, but their guards were making shots. We knew we had to guard them better and we did."

On Ohio State's play in the first half
"They were getting all the loose balls, offensive rebounds and second chance points. You can't allow that against a good team like Valparaiso. We weren't communicating enough on defense and that's a sign we weren't ready to play."

William Buford, senior guard
On his personal performance
"My teammates set me up well, they were setting great screens and got me the ball. I was fortunate enough to knock shots down."

Jared Sullinger, sophomore forward
On playing Duke
"It's going to be fun. Duke is a great basketball team, obviously. They just won Maui [Invitational] for the fifth time. You're going to see two great teams and it's going to be a great fight."

Bryce Drew, Valparaiso head coach
On tonight's game
"They came out hard, but the pressure wasn't overwhelming; we came out rushing things. Maybe if we made some of the layups in the second half, we could have stayed in the game. We rebounded well in the first half, but their length gave us problems and probably kept us from staying in the game. That initial quick run in the second half really kept us from mounting a comeback."

On Ohio State
"[Aaron] Craft really sets the tone for them on defense - you can't substitute his energy plays that ignite them on both ends of the court. [Jared] Sullinger is probably the best post player in the country. For them to make a deep run, they're going to have to make some shots. I credit him [Sullinger] tonight because he didn't rush things and was very good in the post in the second half."