The Ohio State basketball team is all set to travel on the road for the first time in the Big Ten. We all know how tough it is to win away from home in this conference, but this team seems to be on a roll.
Meanwhile, Minnesota has struggled early on in 2019 and will be looking for a huge upset to jump start an upwards trend. It’s the last conference game in a bit of a wacky schedule philosophy we’ve seen since the league went to 22 conference games. After this quick two-game dive into the Big Ten, the conference then steps back outside of the league until after the New Year.
Let’s dive into the numbers and get to the preview and prediction of what’s going to take place in “The Barn” in Minneapolis.
Records
Ohio State 9-0, (1-0) Minnesota 4-5, (0-1)
All-time series record
Ohio State leads 87-57
Last meeting
Ohio State won 79-59 on Dec. 2 last year
Broadcast, TV, Game Time
Date: Sunday, December 15
Game Time: 6:30 PM
Venue: Williams Arena, Minneapolis, MN
Network: BTN
Next … The Ohio State Game Plan
Ohio State cliff notes game plan
This should be a fairly straight game for the Buckeyes. They are the better team, so it’s not time to overthink things and get cute — especially on the road. It’ll mostly be a vanilla game plan with man-to-man defense and half-court sets that look to penetrate with the guards and run a lot of the offense through big man Kaleb Wesson.
Minnesota does have talent at the center position with 6-10, 240 lb. big man Daniel Oturu, and it’ll no doubt try and dump things down on the post and make Wesson work hard. He has to play solid defense without fouling, and allow others to play help defense with double teams when Oturu gets the ball on the blocks.
Aside from that, major upsets are orchestrated by way of turnovers and bad shots. If the Ohio State guards can take care of the ball and get the team into the offense and take open looks, OSU shouldn’t have a problem in this one.
Next … Key Player And Prediction
Key Player For Ohio State
D.J. Carton. With Duane Washington. Jr. reportedly out because of a rib injury in this one, someone has to step up to provide scoring and explosiveness at the guard position. The most likely candidate is the athletically gifted freshman D.J. Carton.
As gifted as he is, Carton has shown a bit of a learning curve as he makes the transition to the next level. He’s been great at times, but has forced some action that’s led to turnovers at others. He’s going to be fantastic as he comes along, but the coaching staff needs him to look for his shot more and be strong and confident with the ball in a hostile environment.
Welcome to a Big Ten road game young man. Now, go get it done.
How It’ll All Go Down
This is a mismatch on paper and in the talent department. If Ohio State plays its game, this one shouldn’t be much of a contest. However, Williams Arena has had a history of shockers in its venerable past, and taking a team that has some youth at important positions could be a challenge.
But Ohio State is just too good this year. It should win the battle on the boards, lock it down on defense, and come away with yet another win in a business-like fashion. Low and behold, we might then be looking at the prospects of this team being ranked No. 1 when the rankings next come out this week.
Final Score
Ohio State 72, Minnesota 61
Line
Ohio State -8.5
