Your Ohio State basketball team is officially in first place in the Big Ten, at least according to wins and losses. Technically speaking, Michigan remains in first place by winning percentage, with Illinois just behind, but all three teams are locked in at the top of the league because of a different number of games played.
The reason OSU has vaulted all the way to the top of the league is because it just knocked off Indiana for its sixth-straight win and ninth in its last ten. All of this, in a league that is the deepest and toughest to navigate in the country. This game against the Hoosiers, unlike some in the recent past, was rather free of drama with a 78-57 comfortable win.
Here are three things we observed as takeaways in this one.
NEXT … Bounce back for Liddell
E.J. Liddell had a nice bounce-back game
It’s not like Liddell was a non-factor against Maryland, but the Terps put a ton of emphasis on limiting Ohio State’s leading scorer earlier this week. It worked to some degree with Liddell only seven points, none in the first half.
In this one though, the defense wasn’t as keyed on the sophomore and he took advantage. Liddell was effective all over the floor yet again, scoring nineteen points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range. He also nabbed four boards and tallied two assists.
It’s a wonderful thing when your best player doesn’t get taken out of a game and then let it affect him in the next one. He’s still got a well-rounded game and the confidence to go with it.
NEXT … The defense is coming along
Ohio State’s defense is getting better
You have to call it like you see it, and so far the reason Ohio State has been tough to beat has been because of the elite offensive efficiency it has shown. It’s a deep team with a lot of scoring options from multiple spots on the floor.
Where the Buckeyes need to continue to improve is on the defensive end. We saw flashes of that today, but it still needs to be a consistent effort if OSU has designs of remaining on the No. 1 seed line, with a shot at making (dare we say) a deep run to the Final Four.
Still, there were stretches where Ohio State used defense to get runouts in this one, more so than what we’ve seen in games past. The Buckeyes held the Hoosiers to 42.0% shooting and forced fourteen turnovers. That’s a much better effort towards where head coach Chris Holtmann would like this team to go on the defensive end.
NEXT … Taking care of business
OSU is doing what it needs to do
The really good teams do what they need to do against competition they should beat. That may have been a slight issue earlier in the year with losses to Northwestern and Purdue that got away, but that seems to be a thing of the past.
If Ohio State has designs of staying in the race for the Big Ten crown, beating teams like Indiana at home has to be one it puts in the win column. It did that today by simply playing solid basketball from start to finish and not allowing the Hoosiers to get too close to make this thing a game.
This was drama-free, and just the way you like it for a team that continues to look better and better.
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