Ohio
Ohio State Suffers Most Brutal Loss Since Saturday | Defector
There was plenty of eventful men’s college basketball on Wednesday night. Nos. 1, 2, and 5 all lost tough road games, Mississippi St. produced a statement blowout over Pitt, Texas eked out a nail-biter over N.C. State, and UConn got themselves right with a victory over Baylor. But sometimes a blog girl just wants to have fun, and for this reason we turn our eyes to College Park.
While the other major conferences were doing crossover events, the Big Ten gave fans a little early preview this week: Teams play a couple conference games, retreat for variety over the holidays, then return in the new year for the full gantlet. Ohio State, in head coach Jake Diebler’s first full season, is looking to shed its underachiever reputation with an experienced roster bolstered by a couple of key transfers. Maryland, meanwhile, is hoping that the arrival of top-tier freshman Derik Queen will catapult them back into the tourney picture.
Based on the results from this match-up, Maryland is further along in their journey. In an 83-59 stomping that at one point saw the Terrapins up by 40 points, the home team benefited from sloppy Buckeye play, hit big threes early, and consistently penetrated inside. Ja’Kobi Gillespie, a stellar shooter and two-way point guard who came over from Belmont, led the way with 23 points, while Queen put together another standout night with 17 points and 11 boards. The action took place in a pretty roomy-looking barn—who would go out of their way to see An Ohio State University?—but Gillespie earned loud cheers just the same with this ankle-breaker in transition that made the score 39-14.
The Kenpom win probability graph for this game really succumbed to the effects of gravity. This is not a chart of Uncle Kracker album sales; it’s merely a tool which we can use to see how quickly the night got out of hand.
Maryland was so good, in fact, that they enjoyed perhaps the first-ever usage of “We looked great in practice” as something other than helpless bargaining after an ugly defeat.
“We had our best practice we’ve had all year yesterday,” Maryland coach Kevin Willard said. “What you saw in the first half (is) how we practiced yesterday.”
For Ohio State, who lost their last game thanks to an OT buzzer beater by Pitt, this is a one-two punch they’ll have to process quickly—not only for Rutgers on Saturday to avoid an 0-2 in-conference start but also the looming giants of Auburn and Kentucky later this month. For a loss this terrible in school history, you’d have to crack open the history books and go all the way back to four days earlier, when the OSU football team, nearly three-touchdown favorites, absolutely blew it in Columbus against a depleted Michigan squad that somehow managed to beat them 13-10 despite only passing for 62 yards.
Maryland was at home and they’ve already got a logo there, so they had no pressing need to plant some iconic symbol of theirs at center court to emphasize their dominance. But they so thoroughly owned this game that they would have been justified in doing so anyway. Maybe it’s time to cut Ryan Day some slack. It’s hard to win at a school like Ohio State.
Ohio
No. 21 Ohio State women beat Norfolk State 79-45
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kylee Kitts scored 13 points, Jaloni Cambridge added 11 and No. 21 Ohio State rolled past Norfolk State 79-45 on Thursday night for its eighth straight win.
Dasha Biriuk added 10 points for Ohio State, which is 10-1 overall and 7-0 at home.
Kitts was 6 of 12 from the field, and grabbed 10 rebounds to go with two steals and two blocks. Cambridge was 4-of-8 shooting and had eight rebounds and two steals.
Cambridge scored seven points in the first quarter as the Buckeyes jumped out to a 20-10 lead and built a 43-21 halftime advantage. Kitts and Cambridge each scored nine first-half points.
Ohio State outrebounded Norfolk State 55-32 and scored 21 points off 17 turnovers.
Jasha Clinton scored 18 points to lead Norfolk State (5-9). Ciara Bailey had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Up next
Norfolk State plays at Elon on Sunday.
Ohio State hosts Western Michigan on Mondahy.
___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball
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Menards to pay 10 states, including Ohio, $4.25 million in rebate settlement
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio is part of a multistate lawsuit settlement against home improvement store Menards.
According to the state Attorney General’s Office, Ohio and nine other states reached the settlement with Menards, a Wisconsin-based home-improvement retail store, over allegations of deceptive rebate advertising.
The 10-state led investigation revealed that Menards would give shoppers the impression that they were getting an immediate discount while shopping through its advertising, when in fact, savings actually came in the form of a rebate or in-store credit.
The investigation raised concerns with Menards’ marketing strategy and sales practices, alleging the following of the company:
- Advertised 11% off or 11% off everything that suggested an instant price cut, even though customers received only a rebate on future purchases.
- Listed prices already at an 11% discount, reinforcing the idea that shoppers were getting an in-store discount.
- Failed to clearly explain the important limits of the rebate program, burying key details in the fine print.
- Tell customers that Rebates International was a separate company handling rebates, even though it is operated by Menards itself.
The settlement, announced Thursday, included an agreement by Menards that it would, in part, discontinue ads suggesting immediate discounts, clearly explaining the rules, limits, and conditions of its rebate program, and offer customers an easier path towards claiming rebates, both in person and online, among other changes.
In addition, Menards will pay participating states $4.25 million in fees, of which $365,173.05 will go toward the Ohio Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Enforcement Fund.
Ohio
Ohio State dominate latest power ranking as nine Buckeyes rank inside Top 50 players
The honors continue to roll in for this Ohio State Buckeyes football team.
From young players ready for another College Football Playoff run next season to players hungry for one more run starting December 31 before the NFL Draft, this Ohio State Buckeyes team is loaded with talent headed into their seventh playoffs appearance since the CFP era began in 2014.
Five defensive players and four offensive players headlined a class of extremely talented Buckeyes. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza took the No. 1 spot to go along with his Heisman and Maxwell honors.
An offensive Ohio State Buckeye took the No. 2 spot right behind Mendoza.
Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith takes the No. 2 spot
Jeremiah Smith was ranked behind Mendoza along with his gun-slinging sophomore quarterback. Julian Sayin was the second-highest ranked quarterback on the list at No. 5.
“Smith caught 80 balls for 1,086 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore, but that doesn’t really tell the story…Smith commands double-teams constantly, draws the attention of everyone’s best corner, and has every defensive coordinator he faces scheming to slow him down. And none of it has mattered.”
ESPN’s David Hale
Smith is expected to have one more dominant season with the Buckeyes next season where fans hope to see him paired next to five-star recruit Chris Henry Jr. Senior wide receiver Carnell Tate has been an impressive receiving mate for Smith the past two seasons. Tate caught 48 passes, nine touchdowns, and had 838 yards. He ranked No. 26 in the rankings.
Offensive tackle Austin Siereveld ranked No. 44 as well.
The defense takes over
All five of Ohio State’s defensive players on the list ranked inside the top-22. Junior linebacker Sonny Styles sat at No. 21 to kick things off for the defense. The Buckeyes have had the best defense in college football for the entire season and these are the names that have made it happen. Projected first round NFL Draft Arvell Reese took the No. 16 spot.
“A new set of stars emerged to lead the nation’s No. 1 defense this fall, and Reese was undeniably front and center. He has thrived under new coordinator Matt Patricia, recording 6.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss from the edge position and finished second on the squad with 62 total tackles…Reese was named Big Ten’s Linebacker of the Year and recorded a sack in six of Ohio State’s first eight games of the season.”
ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg
Defensive linemen Kayden McDonald and Caden Curry ranked at No. 13 and No. 11 respectively. Safety Caleb Downs was the highest ranked defensive Buckeye at No. 7. Downs is a simply a lockdown player who can play corner or safety while still being able to tackle at a high level. If he chooses to declare for the NFL Draft after the season is over, he’ll be slated to go within the top 10 in most mock drafts.
Opposing quarterbacks only targeted downs 20 times for the entire season. Only nine passes were caught on his watch as the primary defender.
“The longest completion he gave up was 17 yards. A 14-yard completion in the second quarter of the Big Ten title game was the first one he’d given up in nearly two months. There is not a more lockdown corner in the country than Downs.”
ESPN’s David Hale
The Ohio State Buckeyes are waiting for the winner of the No. 10 Miami Hurricanes against the No. 7 Texas A&M Aggies in the first round of the College Football Playoffs this Saturday at 12:00pm Eastern on ABC/ESPN.
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