By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) –

COLUMBUS — The mission was to make Thad Matta’s players tougher, and Dave Richardson’s military training, as well as his success as a power lifter and decades in college strength and conditioning, made his acceptance of the goal very clear.

“Coach, I know what toughness is,” Richardson said.

So through a grueling summer of off-season training, his players running through a sandpit, around an obstacle course and up the steps of Ohio Stadium, Richardson pushed the Ohio State Buckeyes past their limits. Then when Richardson watched those players go through the intensity and fast pace of a Matta practice when the season started, the Army veteran had one thought:

“Holy moly. The way this cat practices, buy prescription drugs online without prescription our guys are going to die.”

That was four years ago, Matta’s second season in Columbus and Richardson’s first, Richardson’s demands plus Matta’s demands overloading the players. An OSU team led by Terence Dials, Je’Kel Foster and Jamar Butler won the Big Ten title but faded at the end of the season. Since then, both Matta and Richardson have adjusted their training to lay a foundation that allows the Ohio State starters to stay on the court longer than any players still left in the NCAA Tournament.

When Ohio State and Tennessee meet in a Midwest Regional semifinal in St. Louis on Friday, the Buckeyes will enter the game with starters Jon Diebler, David Lighty, Evan Turner and William Buford playing at least 34 minutes per game, while no Volunteer averages more than 28 minutes per game. Yet after watching the Buckeyes through three games in the Big Ten Tournament and two in the NCAA Tournament, they’ve shown that it’s the other team that will typically tire first.

“Our guys are veterans, so they know how to take care of their bodies,” Richardson said Wednesday afternoon before the Buckeyes flew to St. Louis. “If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be able to do what they’re going. If they were freshmen, they’d be done.”

With a maximum of four games left in the season, the players are hanging on, sitting in cold tubs after practice, getting regular massages the day after games for what Richardson called “flushing” to reinvigorate the muscles. Richardson works from low-intensity, high-volume workouts at the start of a season — less weight, more reps — to higher-intensity, lower-volume workouts by the end. And though Matta pointed out that……

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