College Hoops: Top 25 roundup: Oden plays for Ohio State
Published 12:00 am Monday, December 4, 2006
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Greg Oden’s much-anticipated college debut was a lot of fun — even if he didn’t get to show off one of his favorite skills.
“It felt really good. I had fun out there with my teammates,” Oden said after getting 14 points and 10 rebounds in No. 3 Ohio State’s 78-58 victory over Valparaiso on Saturday. “I didn’t get a chance to dunk. You could tell I was anxious. I traveled, like, eight times.”
Not really. In his first competition after sitting out seven months with a wrist injury, the 7-foot freshman, touted by some as the best U.S.-born big man in a generation, did not disappoint. He was welcomed with a standing ovation that was followed by an encore during the game.
Still, he never got to dunk.
“My brother was sitting behind the bench,” Oden said, a slight smile creasing his face. “He was telling me, ‘What’s going on? You haven’t dunked.’ ”
A roar went up at 16:37 of the opening half when Oden stood, stripped off his warmups and walked slowly to midcourt to check in. He was greeted by a standing ovation of almost 30 seconds.
Oden scored his first point at 12:56 of the opening half with a left-handed free throw. He wore an elastic brace on his right wrist and hand. He hit just 8-of-15 from the line and was 3-of-4 from the field. He also had five blocked shots in 23 minutes.
“All I have to do is rebound and block shots,” he said.
DePaul 64, No. 5 Kansas 57
ROSEMONT, Ill. — Sammy Mejia hit game-tying and go-ahead 3-pointers in the final three minutes and DePaul rallied from a
14-point second-half deficit to pull off the upset.
No. 6 Alabama 78, Tennessee St. 60
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.– Jermareo Davidson had 22 points and Ronald Steele’s return provided a spark for Alabama (7-0).
Steele finished with 12 points and five assists.
North Dakota State 64,
No. 8 Marquette 60
MILWAUKEE — Andre Smith scored 26 points to lead North Dakota State.
No. 9 Texas A & amp;M 74, Pacific 62
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Joseph Jones had 24 points and Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 23 to lead Texas A & amp;M (7-0) to the win.
No. 10 LSU 74, Tulane 67
NEW ORLEANS — Glen Davis had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Garrett Temple added 18 points to help LSU overcome a slow start against Tulane.
No. 12 Wisconsin 79, Fla. International 63
MADISON, Wis. — Kammron Taylor scored 16 points to lift Wisconsin (7-1).
No. 14 Memphis 77, Manhattan 59
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Robert Dozier had 19 points and nine rebounds and Chris Douglas-Roberts finished with 14 for Memphis (5-1).
No. 16 Arizona 84, Illinois 72
PHOENIX — Chase Budinger scored 22 points and Arizona rallied from a 16-point deficit.
No. 17 Wichita State 64, No. 15 Syracuse 61
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Kyle Wilson scored 17 points, Sean Ogirri added 16, and Wichita State survived a big Syracuse rally.
Wichita State (6-0) put together a 27-1 run in the first half to take a 35-12 lead. Syracuse (7-1) trailed 39-25 at halftime and rallied to tie it at 61 late in the game.
Ryan Martin and Wilson hit free throws in the final 84 seconds and Demetris Nichols missed what would have been a go-ahead layup with 21.5 seconds left to end Syracuse’s chances.
No. 19 Butler 70, Cleve. St. 45
INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Green scored 16 points, A.J. Graves added 14 and No. 19 Butler beat Cleveland State 70-45 to protect its first Top 25 ranking in nearly five years.
No. 22 Gonzaga 87, Texas 77
PHOENIX — Derek Raivio made seven 3-pointers en route to 27 points, and No. 22 Gonzaga won the opening game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Challenge.
Raivio, 7-of-14 on 3s, fell two short of the school record of nine set twice by Dan Dickau.