Ohio State met its goal of being a part of all the March Madness shenanigans, and now the additional stuff becomes real. Most notably, there’s a game to get ready for against an offensively talented Iowa State team that just ran through the Big Twelve Conference Tournament to win the title.
The No. 11 seeded Buckeyes will have to play one of their best games of the season to advance against a No. 6 seeded Cyclone team that seems to be hitting on all cylinders at the right time.
We’ve already previewed the game, complete with prediction, but here’s three keys to a victory in Tulsa.
Next … The defense on the perimeter
Guard the shooters on the outside
Iowa State has a trio of guards that can light it up from deep. They space you out, move the ball well and look for each other if there’s a better, more available shot.
The team shoots over 36 percent from beyond the arc as a whole, and it has everything to do with shooters getting to space and in shooting position to receive passes and knock down bombs from deep.
The Ohio State defenders will need to make sure they don’t stray too far from the perimeter in help defense so they can keep the perimeter players from getting too many uncontested opportunities and continue the hot three-point shooting. It’s a different mind set, but you’d rather the Cyclone guards get two-pointers in the mid-range game rather than their comfortable spot on the outside.
Next … Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
Beating the dead horse turnover bug
This has been a key to every game for a team that led the Big ten in turnovers this season. With such a dangerous team that can score in bunches, the Buckeyes absolutely must find a way to take care of the ball in this one. Keyshawn Woods has been much stronger with the ball as of late, but guys like C.J. Jackson and Duane Washington often try to force the issue and dribble into traffic.
That can’t happen here. There’s a fine line between trying to make a play and using bad judgement by driving into a mass of humanity and limiting options. You never want to take away a kid’s ability to free-lance a little bit, but the guards have to be smart with opportunity in this one. They have the ball in their hands more than any other position on the floor, and most of the turnovers have been coming from there.
It would help if Ohio State could keep the turnovers down to about ten or less in this one so that it’s not giving Iowa State additional possessions in a one-and-done scenario.
Next … The Wesson attack
Kaleb Wesson has to have effective minutes
Wesson seems to be one of the three keys to every game when we start putting these things together, and for good reason. If you ever had any doubt how valuable he was to Ohio State’s fortunes, all you have to do is put the tape back in from his three-game suspension and things will be crystal clear.
Without the younger Wesson, this OSU team has no identity. He not only provides some much needed offense, he adds some rim protection, rebounding, and garners so much attention of opposing defenses that it opens things up for others.
Wesson has to be on the floor for Ohio State to have a chance. That means he can’t get in foul trouble and needs to be given some opportunistic breaks to catch his wind so that he remains fresh and motivated throughout the contest.
