We surmised yesterday that IUPUI might have some trouble containing Ohio State's inside game, but we didn't expect it to go this far. Jared Sullinger exploded for 40 points on just 17 shots and grabbed 13 rebounds, including 7 on the offensive end. Perhaps most impressive is that he did all this without a single solitary turnover. When Sullinger wasn't making twos or grabbing rebounds, he was at the foul stripe, where he got an incredible 23 attempts, making 16.

Sullinger's outburst helped the Buckeyes to 1.25 points per possession, which covered for a surprisingly permissive Ohio State defense. IUPUI scored 1.07 points per possession, much more than what they scored against the likes of Oral Roberts, St. Louis, and Miami (OH). The Ohio State defense this season has been based around minimizing opportunities--forcing turnovers, limiting offensive rebounds, and not fouling. The Buckeyes have been merely good, not great, at field goal percentage defense; they mostly make sure the opponents don't get a lot of shots.

The defensive rebounding and foul-free defense were intact on this night, but IUPUI became the first OSU opponent to post a turnover rate lower than 24 percent (just 17 percent). It also didn't help that the Jaguars shot 53 percent on twos and 47 percent on threes, but the biggest issue was that the turnover well dried up. We shouldn't read too much into it, as this was a win after a long layoff, but Ohio State will need those turnovers going forward.

Thad Matta subbed Aaron Craft for Dallas Lauderdale five minutes into the game, going smaller to better match up with IUPUI, and Craft never left the court after that. In fact, Matta didn't make a single substitution in the second half until the game was in hand with 1:11 remaining. Lauderdale played only 8 minutes, and Deshaun Thomas got just 9 minutes of tick. Matta used his bench the least of any coach in the nation last season, and that trend looks like it will continue. Craft took just one shot in his 35 minutes, but he grabbed 5 rebounds and dished 8 assists (3 turnovers). It's good to be in Thad Matta's top five.

Tonight, it's a doubleheader on the Big Ten Network. At 5:30pm CT, it's a size mismatch as the Big Ten's shortest team, Michigan, hosts the nation's tallest team, Utah. Then, at 7:35pm CT, Iowa looks to go 2-0 against instate schools as they host Iowa State. Looks like an entertaining evening of hoops.

- Posted by Mike Portscheller