Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 25, 1992 TAG: 9203250007
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: CINCINNATI LENGTH: Medium
Jackson, Ohio State's slashing junior swingman, may be the only collegian on the first U.S. Olympic team written in pros.
If your notion, however, is that North Carolina's chance for success in Friday's Southeast Regional semifinal against the Buckeyes is based on slowing Jackson's scoring, the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament offered other evidence on OSU's behalf.
In routs of Mississippi Valley State and Connecticut at Riverfront Coliseum last week, Jackson made only 10 of 39 shots and the third-ranked Buckeyes hardly blinked. In Saturday's 78-55 ripping of UConn, Jackson started 0-of-9.
"I felt like I was 0-for-20," he said after OSU clinched its regional trip down I-75 to Rupp Arena. "If I go 0-for-9 and we can come back that just says a lot about our team. It says, `If I go 0-for-9, so what?' "
It also says two-year backcourt starters Mark Baker and Jamaal Brown bring maturity to coach Randy Ayers' team. Forward Chris Jent was one of the better sixth men in the country a year ago.
"Now, Jent is one of the underrated great players in the country," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "What he does for Ohio State physically and emotionally can't be measured statistically."
Jent, the human floor burn, has been joined up front by the heralded and once-troubled transfer, Lawrence Funderburke. He moved into Ayers' starting lineup in mid-February, replacing Bill Robinson, who has provided needed strength to a depth-shy, undersized team.
The Buckeyes are the only repeat No. 1 seed from a year ago in the tournament. The Big Ten champs (25-5) are 52-9 the past two seasons, the best two-year span at OSU since the '61 and '62 national runners-up were a combined 53-3.
However, this team is different from the one that started 25-1 last year, then struggled in the NCAA before being upset in the Sweet 16 by St. John's. It's different because Ayers changed his approach.
"Last year at this time, we were emotionally tired," said the third-year coach who succeeded Gary Williams. "We're fresher now. We lost ['91 seniors] Perry Carter and Treg Lee, and we're not as strong up front, but this team is like having five student-coaches on the court."
Ayers helped by cutting back on practice time and in showing tapes of opponents, emphasized specific players and situations, rather than having the Buckeyes watch whole games or halves and trying to decipher the key frames.
"The difference this year is Ohio State's poise," Calhoun said. "They play very intelligently. People know Ohio State is Final Four material.
"We played Duke last year [losing in the Sweet 16], and Ohio State has some of the same characteristics of that team. You can't compare them exactly, but their poise, the way four or five guys can handle the ball and know what to do with it. They play like Duke played last year."
When Jackson doesn't score, he still contributes positives. In the two rounds at Riverfront, the 6-foot-6 Toledo native - who as a kid dreamed of playing in Carolina blue - contributed 16 rebounds and eight assists.
And, on a couple of occasions when he sent passes to an open teammate, Jackson would yell, "Shoot." When an All-American speaks, people listen.
"No one player can always win a game," Jackson said. "This team understands that."
That's why the Buckeyes really aren't the Jackson Five.
by CNB