It was a double-dip Saturday on Ohio State’s two revenue-producing sports. First, the football team took care of business against the Northwestern Wildcats, winning its fourth-straight Big Ten championship. After that though, the basketball team took to the hardcourt to take on UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic.
Much like the game on the gridiron in football, it too was a bruising, Donnybrook that the Buckeyes were able to tough out and win. Unlike what we saw in Indianapolis, the hoops team was not rescued by Trey Sermon.
It was a good bounce back after the loss at Purdue on Wednesday, and there are definitely some things to take from the victory. Here are three things we observed from the 77-70 win by Ohio State.
NEXT … Time to believe in Zed Key
Zed Key sure helps this team
Man. Zed Key doing work down low for the #Buckeyes today.
— Adam Jardy (@AdamJardy) December 19, 2020
He doesn’t jump out at you on film with unbelievable jumping ability or fast-twitch talent around the rim, but Zed Key is has been a pleasant surprise in his short time for Ohio State. It isn’t always pretty, but whenever Key breaks out the finger guns, you know he’s performing at a high level again.
What Key has done is use his body well, bring the effort and emotion, and simply outwork guys that probably have more talent than he does. He’s got a great knack around the rim, gets off his feel with good instincts, and has been able to chip in with more scoring than you’d expect from a freshman learning the ropes in a brawny league.
He managed to wrangle six boards and eleven more points today, and without him, OSU likely loses this game.
NEXT … Depth is key
There’s a lot of depth on this team
On day Seth Towns debuts, freshman come up big as Ohio State beats UCLA https://t.co/PmmMYXQHAf
— Columbus Dispatch (@DispatchAlerts) December 20, 2020
We’re still figuring out a rotation in the relatively young season, but it is becoming more and more apparent that depth is one of the biggest assets Ohio State has this year. We’ve already touched on Zed Key, but Eugene Brown is also getting a lot of minutes. In fact, the Buckeyes played eleven guys tonight, but nine guys getting significant minutes easily.
And that’s before Seth Towns gets conditioned enough to be a big part of things. He got a cup of coffee today for the first time as a Buckeye, and as he gets healthier and shakes off some of the rust, he’ll be a big part of the roster and personnel groupings going forward.
That many guys that can contribute can only be an asset in a long, bruising Big Ten season.
NEXT … Ohio State must do a better job on the defensive glass
The defensive rebounding has to be better
Jake Kyman with a big 3⃣ ‼️
Ohio State 25, UCLA 24
7:39 – 1st HalfCatch this afternoon's action live on CBS.
📲💻: https://t.co/9oJCeerzr3 pic.twitter.com/BHzKodzjDS
— UCLA Men’s Basketball (@UCLAMBB) December 19, 2020
It hasn’t been horrible so far this year, but it wasn’t great tonight. UCLA crashed the class on the offensive end and was able to get far too many second-chance points. All-told, Ohio State allowed 18 offensive boards and that’s not winning basketball on most game days.
The reality is that there were too many guys going after the basketball instead of boxing out their man. As a result offensive players from UCLA got a free run at getting to the ball and had a lot of success doing so.
The Buckeyes shot the ball very well, and without the extra chances, the game is much more comfortable.
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