"I think Greg would be the first to tell you he's not back to where he's going to be," Matta said. But there were pleasant surprises. "I was shocked at his conditioning. I thought he'd get a little more tired."

He missed seven games while he waited for medical clearance, including a loss Wednesday at North Carolina. It hurt to miss that game, but Oden said it was no worse than sitting out against Loyola or VMI. "Every game was the hardest." His physicians have told him not to dive for loose balls, and, if he were to find himself falling to the floor, to keep his right hand out of harm's way and "just bang my head" on the floor.

Oden's first few minutes after entering the game largely were uneventful. His first real involvement in the game developed when he tried to help out on a jump-hook launched by Crusaders forward Urule Igbavboa; Oden forced him to put plenty of arc on the shot and nearly got the block — the possibility that he might reject it drew a crowd reaction — but Igbavboa got it home.

Oden scored his first point on a free throw, which he shot lefthanded, something he learned while he was keeping his right wrist immobile. He did not perfect that technique, however.

During his first half on the floor, Oden did not get a lot of touches in the post. The Buckeyes had been conditioned to play as if they weren't waiting for him during the games he missed, and so they didn't really wait for him once he was there. He got more opportunities after the break and was fouled enough to shoot 8-of-15 on free throws.

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The brace on his right hand makes it hard for him to control the release of a shot, so teams might be tempted to hack-a-Greg — it just doesn't have the same ring as hack-a-Shaq, does it? — until he becomes more comfortable as a lefty or returns to his old style.

Of course, that has a cost. Oden fouled out two of Valpo's big men despite his relatively limited playing time. He left the game with 2:21 to play, the game long since decided. His seat on the bench no longer seemed so cold.