It sure has been an up and down Big Ten campaign for the Ohio State basketball team this year. It just added another huge peak to go with a couple of valleys by winning on the road against a No. 10 ranked Wisconsin team 74-62.
To be fair, it was probably a game you plugged into the loss column when you scanned the schedule earlier in the year, but the Buckeyes have now risen to the occasion on the road against Rutgers, Illinois, and now Wisconsin, all top fifteen opponents at the time.
But it wasn’t pretty. There were a lot of good things you can take from this game, but also some trends that need to be addressed.
As we always do, here are three takeaways from the big win over the Badgers on Saturday afternoon.
NEXT … Take advantage of what the opposition provides
Ohio State didn’t play down to Wisconsin
We have to call it like we see it. Wisconsin had an off night shooting the ball in this one. It couldn’t hit a three-pointer to save its life in the first half. It got a little better in the second, but for the game, the Badgers shot just 7-of-27 from beyond the arc in this one. For the game, Wisconsin only managed to fill up the hoop at a 41.8 percent clip, and that doomed the chances of victory.
But you have to give Ohio State credit too. Rather than find other ways to keep this game extremely close, the Buckeyes didn’t. OSU shot almost 51 percent overall — but more importantly — it didn’t get caught up in a Wisconsin type game and lose an ugly one.
NEXT … The road warriors
Another big win on the road
So far this year, Ohio State has road wins against Illinois, Rutgers, and now Wisconsin. Those were all top fifteen wins away from home at the time, and despite having no fans in the stands, that’s still getting it done. It’s hard enough to go to another gym with different visuals, rims, and backgrounds and shoot the ball well, but OSU has found a way to do it.
Again, it’s a different year because of COVID-19, but this team seems to thrive on the road and its hard to put your pulse on why that is. The team seems to rally around each other and go into battle together better when jumping on a bus or airplane.
Balance is what it’s all about
There’s a ton of balance for Ohio State this year
You can pretty much count on E.J. Liddell each and every week, but every other game is a bit like drawing straws when it comes to which player is going to provide that second option. Often it is Duane Washington, but he’s been too inconsistent to count on.
But, there’s good news with that because it’s not a problem at this point. Instead, guys like Seth Towns, Kyle Young, Justin Ahrens, or Justice Sueing could get into double figures any game. That makes Ohio State a tough team to guard and opens up a lot of options in all kinds of scenarios for Chris Holtmann and staff.
Let’s hope that continues going forward.
