We had ourselves a Big Ten Donnybrook in East Lansing tonight. Ohio State and Michigan State played one of those old-fashioned, slug ’em out conference games that others outside the Midwest like to criticize. And yeah, it was ugly, and even so much more so if you are a Buckeye fan because they came out on the losing end 71-67.
The loss most likely not only provides a mortal wound to OSU’s diminishing Big Ten regular-season championship hopes, but also puts a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in jeopardy.
There is a lot to take from this game, and we’ll do our best to unpack it. Here are three takeaways from what we witnessed up in East Lansing Thursday night.
NEXT … Ohio State got bullied
Ohio State was not the more physical team for once
This Michigan State/Ohio State game is the best game I’ve seen all year. HIGH LEVEL, COMPETITIVE, and PHYSICAL!
I forgot basketball could be this physical; I guess I’ve just been watching too many JuCo games…
— Cole Dewey (@CoachDewey0) February 26, 2021
It’s games like tonight that give the Big Ten its reputation for being a bruising and plodding game. To be frank, maybe too much physical play was allowed to occur by the zebras in this one.
But … I digress.
If you lace the shoes up in this conference, you know there’s going to be a lot of contact that doesn’t get called on an almost nightly basis, and it’s up to you to find out what type of officiating is out there and play through it. Perhaps for the first time this year, the Buckeyes were not the more physical team, and they paid the price for it.
Look for other teams to now try to use this recipe going forward because it clearly confounded and frustrated an OSU squad that has been scoring at a really high clip as of late.
NEXT … The disappearance of Justin Ahrens
Justin Ahrens has to find a way to engage more
Ohio State’s Justin Ahrens hasn’t scored since his three pointer at the buzzer to end the first half against Penn State now three games ago. He’s 0-5 in 34 minutes of game time.
— Patrick Murphy (@_Pat_Murphy) February 26, 2021
Duane Washington was fantastic for large stretches tonight, but one of the revelations this year has been the emergence of Justin Ahrens as a defense stretcher. As of late here, he’s had issues wiggling free for open looks, however. He went scoreless for the second game in a row and only managed to get up one look tonight.
It’s clear that defenses are now trying to take away any option he has at bombing away from deep, and it’s time to get back to the lab. Ohio State is a much better team when he can provide that one extra option out on the perimeter to open things up underneath. It also goes without saying that you want him to get as many open looks from beyond the arc as possible. That’s just not happening right now.
Look for the coaching staff to draw up some things for him to get more open looks in the flow of the offense going forward.
NEXT … Missing Kyle Young
Kyle Young means so much to this team
On the official pregame radio show, #Buckeyes coach Chris Holtmann on playing without Kyle Young: "His energy and activity on the glass, his quickness getting to balls, keeping plays alive."
— Adam Jardy (@AdamJardy) February 26, 2021
Look, Ohio State has enough talent to win a game like this without Kyle Young, but it didn’t help matters any to not see him on the floor. He has that extra grit to get dirty and mop up rebounds, go after loose balls, and provide another option down on the post to keep teams honest.
When things got a little disjointed at the end, it sure would have been nice to have his leadership, calming presence, and ability to make that extra play or two he’s been known for to pull this one out. Hopefully, he gets out of concussion protocol and can rejoin the team soon because he epitomizes the identity of this team maybe more than any other player.
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