The Buckeyes bounced back in a big way after falling to Duke, they crushed St. Francis 96-59. It wasn’t all pretty for Chris Holtmann and Ohio State, but the end result very much was. The win improved the Buckeyes’ record to 6-2, with their lone losses to two ranked opponents, San Diego State and Duke. Find out below five things we learned from Ohio State’s home win this afternoon.
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A first half Duke hangover
One half down, one half to go#Team124 #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/Oz52xsqwta
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) December 3, 2022
The Buckeyes didn’t jump all over St. Francis as they should have. A 15-point lead about midway through the first half but then took the gas off the let up a bit. OSU led by just 8 points at intermission as St. Francis fought their way back into the game. It wasn’t the Bucks shooting, 51.6% from the field and 6-of-10 from three, it was the defense. They allowed St. Francis to shoot 55.2% overall and 40% from beyond the arc. The good was that they created 8 turnovers while giving it up just four times. But ….
The defense showed up in the second half
Winning >>>>#Team124 #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/F6viUcPOIz
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) December 3, 2022
St. Francis had 36 points at the half and looked like it could hang with the Buckeyes and make this a game. Chris Holtmann made some great adjustments at halftime and the defense was stellar. At the under-eight time out, the Buckeyes had allowed just 13 points in the half and then just 10 more points after that. Talk about putting the clamps on St. Francis.
Brice Sensabaugh “struggled”
Brice And-1 💪 @bricepsensa x @OhioStateHoops pic.twitter.com/Vi1SzjhOJf
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) December 3, 2022
After a less-than-stellar showing against Duke, the freshman bounced back. He finished with 15 points and 2 rebounds even though he didn’t shoot well from inside the arc. Sensabaugh was excellent from three, making half of his six attempts. You’d like to see him be a bit more aggressive on the boards, but the rest of the team more than made up for that. If this was a “bad” game for Sensabaugh, the Buckeyes should be in a very good position.
Felix Okpara is coming around
.@_Issaaac ↗️ @Felixokpara24 = @OhioStateHoops alley-oop pic.twitter.com/TyCyBF6T73
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) December 3, 2022
This was a perfect opportunity for another freshman to get a good amount of playing time and he did the most with it. Okpara’s offensive game is a work in progress (he did make his only three-point attempt!), but his length can not be taught. He bothered plenty of shots, even though he was credited with just one block (it sure looked like he got a piece of more than a few others). Okpara was a menace on the boards, grabbing 12 total with 6 on the offensive end. He finished with a double-double, 10 points, and those boards. It was a very encouraging sign, especially with Big Ten play right around the corner and the need to develop depth behind Zed Key.
This team is ready for conference play
Having a lot of fun pic.twitter.com/IwplBLgIHL
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) December 3, 2022
The Buckeyes will have to wait until Thursday to start the Big Ten schedule, but it looks like this team is ready for the conference grind even if it’s just one game until New Year’s Day. The contest against Rutgers with North Carolina looming after will be an interesting one. The Scarlet Knights aren’t as good as they were last season and will be coming off a tough game against the Hoosiers before taking on the Bucks. I expect Holtmann’s squad to start the conference season 1-0.
