Siena vs Ohio State: NCAA Tournament Preview & Betting Odds

Written March 17, 2009 by Jack Jones

siena-ohio-state-ncaa-tournament-preview-031709 The 8th seeded Ohio State Buckeyes are set to face the 9th seeded Siena Saints this Friday in opening round action of the Men’s NCAA Tournament. This is a tough draw for the Buckeyes, not necessarily because of their first round contest, but because Louisville likely waits for them in the second round. What Ohio State can’t do, however, is overlook this Siena team, who know doubt has upset on their minds. History also isn’t on the Buckeyes’ side as 9 seeds have won more often than 8 seeds in the first round of the tournament since it expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Odds makers have Ohio State as 3 point favorites over Siena.

Siena dominated the Metro Atlantic Conference in the regular season as well as the conference tournament. The suffered just 2 conference losses this year and while they did not fair well against ranked opponents during the regular season, they are a dangerous first round opponent. The Saints had four starters who averaged double-digit point this season with Kenny Hasbrouck (14.8 ppg), Edwin Ubiles (14.6 ppg), Alex Franklin (13.6 ppg), and Ryan Rossiter (10.0 ppg). This team is a bit undersized in the paint, but their success in the tournament will be determined by their guards, Hasbrouck and Ubiles. Ubiles is a 6-6 Jr. that can play just about any position on the court and it will be interesting to see who Ohio State matches him up with, though I can’t imagine anyone but Evan Turner taking the responsibility. Kenny Hasbrouck leads the team in scoring and they’ll need his sharp-shooting from beyond the arc in this game to stay in it. During the season Hasbrouck shot 36.3% from 3 point range. The Saints will also get help off of the bench from Clarence Jackson, another guard that shoots well from the floor. Playing in just 15 minutes per game, Jackson averaged 8.3 points per game this season.

The Ohio State Buckeyes finished their regular season with two wins, but they really did struggle down the stretch in the Big Ten. They went just 3-4 in their final 7 conference games. The Buckeyes did come out in the the Big Ten Tournament and make it to the finals, but they lost a close one to Purdue for the title. There is little doubt who leads on the court at Ohio State. Evan Turner leads the team in scoring, rebounds, assists, and steals. A dynamic 6-7 Guard/Forward, it will likely be Turner’s job to square off with Siena’s Edwin Ubiles in one of the more interesting head-to-head player match ups in the first round. The Buckeyes were not a great scoring team throughout their regular season scoring just 66.7 points per game (compare that to 77.7 points per game for the Saints), but keep in mind that they played their conference ball in the slower-paced Big Ten where defense usually takes precedence over a power-offense. I do think the Buckeyes have the talent to score more against a faster-paced opponents like Siena, but we’ll have to see if that puts them out of their comfort zone or not.

Ultimately this is a game that could easily go either way. Siena has a very hot hand right now and I like the fact that they have all five starters back from last year’s team and they can count on points from any number of guys. Ohio State’s strength will come through if they can control the pace a little and let their defense take over the game. The Buckeyes can’t afford to look ahead to a possible match up with Louisville, they need to take this Siena team very seriously.

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