EVANSTON, Ill. – The focus, like even the best-laid travel plans, can go astray for college basketball teams this time of year. With visions of sugarplums (and mom’s home cooking) dancing through heads, attention to detail and intricacies in game plans don’t always stick where they’re supposed to.

Sunday night at Northwestern had the potential to be that kind of night for Ohio State. Yes, the Wildcats are tougher than they’ve been in years past with a defense that ranks among the nation’s best, but after consecutive blowout home wins against low-major teams the Buckeyes could be understood – if not forgiven – for paying lip service only to the warnings of the coaching staff.

Turns out they were listening, and that much became evident only moments into a New Year’s Day date with the Wildcats. Ohio State opened up a 16-6 lead barely seven minutes in, pushed it as high as 28 points and led by double figures for the final 32:48 in a 73-57 win.

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He might not have predicted an offensive eruption against a foe ranked eighth nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com, or what occasionally resembled a defensive clinic from a team ranked in the low 70s in the same category, but coach Chris Holtmann had an idea leading into Sunday that the Buckeyes were at least prepared for the challenge.

“We were clicking tonight in a lot of ways and I think our guys embraced the preparation and were able to set a good tone early,” Holtmann said. “Lot of credit to our upperclassmen, in particular Justice (Sueing) and Zed (Key). I thought they had good preparation and led the way with that. I sensed it in the days leading up that our guys had a good mindset.”

It helped that Ohio State, which has historically dominated the series, had dropped two of its past three trips here. Most recently, it was a 71-70 loss in a game played in front of no fans during the COVID-19 season of 2020-21.

That game took place one day after Christmas.

“(The) main thing was making sure that we were really critical on our disciplinary stuff and game plan things,” said Sueing, who played 16 minutes in that game. “This (Northwestern) team, their defense is really (good) so we want to be able to attack them aggressively but still be able to get our best shot and limit our turnovers. Just being able to come in with that mindset of we’re going to get better and get ready.”

The numbers occasionally looked like a video game being played on expert level by a neophyte. The Wildcats had three field goals in the first 15:40 of the game and needed to hit four in the final 4:20 just to pull within 35-17 at the half. Until that point, Ohio State had held Northwestern to a 3 for 27 (11.1%) shooting performance, and it felt even more dominant than that.

Buckeyes freshman Brice Sensabaugh said the focus was on making the Wildcats earn whatever they got.

“They got some good offensive pieces and we located those guys early,” he said. “Making them earn it. Make them tough shots. get to the glass and keep them away from second-chance efforts was key for us.”

Then at the other end, Northwestern was physical. It forced the Buckeyes into plenty of tough shots, many of them contested. It mattered little as Ohio State’s 73 points marked the second most allowed by the Wildcats this season. The Buckeyes remain No. 3 nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency according to KenPom.com.

“It just shows that regardless of who steps on the floor on the other end, we’re going to continue to be us,” said Sueing, who had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. “We’re going to stick to our principles. We’re going to stick to our core of Ohio State hoops. The outcome, if we hit all our points that we do of being a Buckeye, man, we’ll live with the outcome regardless because that means we’re doing our job. It’s just a matter of us coming out here, being us, playing together and leaving it all on the floor.”

Sensabaugh led four players in double figures with 18 points. He has scored in double digits in all but one game this year and now in six straight games.

“Obviously we’re a great offensive team, so just going through their defensive principles and tendencies helped us a lot,” Sensabaugh said. “Getting the best shot possible. Some tough ones, obviously, because they’re such a good defensive team, but I think it worked in our favor.”

Full roster allows Chris Holtmann to juggle lineups

When Ohio State hosted Alabama A&M last time out, it marked the first time the Buckeyes had fielded a roster with full availability since a March 24, 2019 loss to Houston in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Sunday night was more of the same, as all 12 scholarship players were healthy and available against the Wildcats, and it allowed Holtmann to start trying a few things out.

Like, for starters, giving freshman guard Bruce Thornton a break at the first media timeout in favor of Oklahoma State graduate transfer Isaac Likekele. Thornton, who led the Buckeyes in average minutes played at 29.4 entering the game, only played 28:25 – his lightest workload in nearly a month.

“Critical,” Holtmann said when asked about Likekele’s return to the lineup after missing three games due to a personal situation. “He’s really important for us because you can play him at the 1, you can play him at the 3 and we don’t have to play Bruce 34, 35 minutes.”

Thornton finished with 6 points, six assists and four rebounds. Likekele had four rebounds, two assists and three turnovers with zero points in his second game back in uniform.

Until things settle and things start to settle in the rotation, things could get “clunky” at times, Holtmann said.

“I don’t know if our offense will be quite as smooth if we’re throwing different guys in there, but that’s OK right now until we figure out what it’s gonna look like,” he said. “I do think sometimes when you’re playing more guys you can’t get in as good a rhythm. The byproduct is hopefully they’re playing harder on the other end, and that’s probably gonna be our biggest challenge this year. I’m not saying we won’t struggle to score in league play, because we will, everybody does, but that end’s gotta continue to raise its level.”

Wildcats make shots late

It wasn’t all Buckeyes on Sunday night. Ohio State’s lead was at 26 points near the midpoint of the second half when the Wildcats threatened to nearly start to make it interesting. Trailing 56-30, Northwestern would score on eight straight possessions and trim the deficit to 63-49 in the process.

It was too little too late and also the type of run that the Buckeyes said they knew the Wildcats were capable of making.

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“We have to still learn how to finish games all the way through,” Sueing said. “We had some lackadaisical days towards the end, just not being as disciplined as we were, as sharp as we were in the first half. We had the lead, so it worked in our favor but that’s not always going to be the case in Big Ten play, especially with this game we have coming up this week.”

Holtmann said the early lead put some cumulative pressure on the Wildcats.

“They’re physical,” he said. “Their defensive numbers are what they are for a reason, but I can’t overemphasize getting a lead because that put a little game pressure on them. They missed some clean looks.”

Up next: No. 1 Purdue at Value City Arena

There’s a chance Ohio State will be ranked again when this week’s Associated Press top 25 poll is released Monday at noon. There’s virtually no chance the new poll won’t still feature undefeated Purdue perched all the way at the top.

While the Boilermakers could take a blemish Monday night against Rutgers, they will almost certainly bring the No. 1 ranking to Value City Arena on Thursday night and give the Buckeyes a chance to defeat the nation’s top-ranked team for the second time in as many years. Last year, it was No. 1 Duke that lost in Columbus as part of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Holtmann said they will enjoy the win against the Wildcats on Sunday night before fully turning their attention toward Purdue.

“They’re as advanced, probably more so, than any No. 1 team we’ve played,” he said. “They’re so far ahead of everybody right now in terms of how they do things and they obviously have a cheat code in Zach Edey, who’s a difference maker.”

Sueing could only watch last season as the Buckeyes knocked off the Blue Devils, setting off a court storming in the process. This year, he’ll be a featured contributor.

“It’s going to be a fun game, man,” he said. “It’s a game we want. That’s what you come to Ohio State for, these big games, these big Big Ten games. Purdue’s No. 1 in the country. We look forward to it. We know it’s going to be a good game.

“We know they’re going to give it their all and so are we. Yeah, we don’t flinch.”

ajardy@dispatch.com

@AdamJardy

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State turns good preparation into blowout win at Northwestern