I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is that Evan Turner will be on the court for Gopher fans to enjoy seeing. The bad news is that Evan Turner will be on the court for Tubby Smith and his Gophers to slow down.
After missing six games with a broken bone in his lower back Turner has returned to the Buckeye's lineup. Ohio State went 3-3 without Turner, who is arguably the Big Ten's best player. He is a lot of fun to watch and has been putting up incredible numbers this season averaging 17.3 ppg, 10.6 rpg and 5.8 apg. There is no doubt that Ohio State is a vastly different team with him and it would have been awfully nice for him to wait a week before he came back. He averaged 19.5 points and 9 rebounds against the Gophers last year.
But he'll be in uniform and after getting warmed up against Indiana this week he should be ready to go. The other Buckeye to keep a close eye on is Jon Diebler. He is the "other" really good three-point shooter in the Big Ten. Diebler has a smooth stroke and can put up big numbers if not guarded tightly. He's hit 10 threes in each of his last two games and he cannot get hot.
Should be a great game and beating Ohio State with Turner will be more satisfying.