The opponent has something to do with it, but the Ohio State basketball team has looked like a shell of what we’ve seen over the last ten games or so. And it has everything to do with shooting the basketball.
The Buckeyes are just 10-of-27 from the floor (37.0%), including just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc, and it’s all led to a 37-30 halftime deficit. Truth be known, it could be more if not for points from the free-throw line for the Buckeyes.
Despite the relatively low-score, the pace has been a more fast-paced game than Ohio State would like, and it has had to go deeper into the bench than usual. The fact that Kaleb Wesson was saddled with two fouls early in the first half also didn’t help.
While the Buckeyes have struggled shooting the ball, Illinois has not. The Illini knocked down 14-of-27 shots from the floor (51.9%), including 4-of-11 from 3-point range.
The bright spot for Ohio State has been the play of E.J. Liddell. He leads the team in scoring with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and has battled in the paint by pulling in five rebounds.
If OSU is going to come back in this one, it’ll have to slow things down a bit and not let the pace of Illinois’ play speed up looks at the rim. It’s going to have to be a much better second half than what we’ve seen so far.
