What to make of Ohio State's defense: 4 thoughts through the first 10 games
Ohio State's men's basketball team will enter the 11th game of the season with a bit of intrigue.
The last time out, the Buckeyes were moments from climbing into the Associated Press poll for the first time this season. On a seven-game winning streak, they led Penn State by double digits midway through the second half at the Bryce Jordan Center only to head home with a three-point loss. It dropped Ohio State to 8-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Big Ten, and it also gave the Buckeyes a couple of things to stew on during an extended break from game action.
After playing six games in the span of 16 days, Ohio State will take on UCLA in Atlanta as part of the CBS Sports Classic with the benefit of a full week’s worth of rest and preparation. When the Buckeyes take the court at State Farm Arena, they will have gone a full week without playing a game.
The time in between has allowed them to focus on a few things. Atop the list: getting healthier, and rebounding better on the defensive end.
“Sometimes you’re going to have great wins and some tough losses,” coach Chris Holtmann said. “It’s about how you respond in both those situations so we’ll see how we respond. We’ve had a good approach. We’ve also been able to give them a little bit of time off since we’ve been a little banged up and we needed it because that stretch was really, really long of (being) on almost every day for about 17 days.”
“Roddy and Scotty are making progress, so we’ll see,” Holtmann said. “They’re being evaluated day to day, but they’re making good progress. It’s encouraging for Saturday. Taison’s been out with an injury not related to his knee. His knee’s healthy. He’s certainly questionable going into Saturday.”
Ten games into the season, here are four thoughts on the Buckeyes:
The defense is better … except for when it’s not
There was no bigger question mark around the Ohio State offseason than the one about the defense. In short: could the Buckeyes get back to a team with a defense deemed at least decent? For all of the prolific numbers the offense has posted on a seemingly annual basis, Ohio State’s inability to offer better resistance has been the main culprit holding the Buckeyes back.
Through 10 games, the overall defensive numbers are on pace to be Ohio State’s best since the 2019-20 season when it finished No. 19 nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com. These Buckeyes rank No. 76 nationally after finishing 106th last year, 111th the year prior and 82nd in 2020-21.
And yet, the numbers are oddly skewed. Penn State outscored the Buckeyes 46-25 in the last 15:14 to turn an 18-point deficit into a three-point win. Minnesota outscored Ohio State 54-42 in the final 22:17 after the Buckeyes built a 42-20 lead in an 84-74 home win. It’s cherry picking a bit, but in that 37:31 of Big Ten play the Buckeyes have been outscored 100-67 while going 1-1. Adding to that, Ohio State led Western Michigan 59-28 with 13:41 left but the Broncos outscored the Buckeyes 28-14 the rest of the way in a 73-56 Ohio State home win.
Add those three segments together, and after building leads of 18, 22 and 31 points, Ohio State was outscored 128-81 in the final 51:11 of those three games while going 2-1.
“We need to be better defensively, particularly with a lead,” Holtmann said. “We need to be better for longer stretches, but certainly defensively with a lead. Teams are going to make runs in college basketball, but we need to be better on that end in the second half when we have leads. We need to be better in the second half in general, because we have not been as good in the second half defensively.”
In the first 68:49 of those three games, though, Ohio State has outscored its opponents 156-85. And through 10 games, Ohio State is fourth in the Big Ten in scoring margin at plus-13.50 per game.
“The biggest challenge for us in this has been our group understanding the importance of sustaining an effort and focusing for longer stretches of time regardless of where the score is,” Holtmann said. “Teams are going to make runs, especially when they’re at home. That’s the reality. What can we do to control it? We can certainly be more on point with our focus, concentration and effort in the midst of those situations.”
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Ohio State is Big Ten’s best 3-point shooting team
The Buckeyes are shooting 40.4% from behind the arc this season, ahead of the other 13 Big Ten teams. Five Ohio State players have attempted at least 20 3-pointers this season, and all five of them are shooting at least 40.0%. Scotty Middleton leads the team at 47.6% (10 for 21), ahead of Roddy Gayle (44.8%, 13 for 29), Bruce Thornton (41.8%, 23 for 55), Jamison Battle (41.0%, 25 for 61) and Dale Bonner (40.0%, 12 for 30).
Through 10 games last year, the Buckeyes were shooting 37.1% from deep. Brice Sensabaugh led the way at 47.6% (20 for 42), but of the four players with at least 30 attempts only Thornton (47.1%, 16 for 34) was better than 40.0%.
“We played a good schedule, but once we go into (Big Ten) games and we really go against each other and we get more of a sample size, I think if those numbers stay consistent, will it shock me? No, but I’m not sure I would’ve went into the season saying that (we’d be the best),” Holtmann said.
As of the conclusion of Wednesday night’s games, Ohio State was eighth nationally in 3-point shooting percentage and it is taking more of them than a season ago: the Buckeyes are attempting 37.1% of their shots from 3 this year compared to 31.7% last year.
Sophomore backcourt is thriving
So much of what Ohio State hopes to grow into this season rests on the shoulders of its sophomore backcourt continuing to develop. Both Thornton and Gayle had moments and showed flashes of promise as freshmen, but the two are now settling into roles as upper-level Big Ten guards whose production goes a long way toward whether Ohio State wins or loses.
In the Big Ten, Thornton is among the top 10 in six different statistical categories and leads the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio at 5.38. He is the only Big Ten player among the league’s top 15 in field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage and 3-point percentage. The analytics at EvanMiya.com rank Thornton as the 16th-best offensive player in the nation and third in the Big Ten.
After scoring 45 points in the first 10 games last season (4.5 per game), Gayle has scored 143 to the same point of this season and is second to Thornton on the team at 14.3 points per game. He is top 15 in four different categories among Big Ten players and he’s third on the team in rebounding average at 5.0 per game. He needs to score 19 points to equal his total for last season, seven more rebounds to match last year’s mark and he’s already passed last year’s assist total, having handed out 38 this year compared to 32 last season.
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Freshmen are playing limited roles, if any
So much of the 2022-23 season revolved around four freshman being ready to assume significant roles on an almost entirely rebuilt roster. And through 10 games, that foursome of Sensabaugh, Thornton, Gayle and Felix Okpara had accounted for 11% of the total minutes played while playing in all 10 games. Thornton led the team in minutes played at 29.4 per game with Sensabaugh at 20.8, Gayle at 14.8 and Okpara at 12.6.
This year’s freshmen have been called on far less. Of the four, none have played in all 10 games and Middleton leads the way with 17.8 minutes in nine appearances (he missed one game due to injury). Devin Royal has also appeared in nine games but was a healthy, unused sub at Penn State and is averaging 8 minutes. Taison Chatman and Austin Parks have both battled injuries and have been limited to four and five appearances, respectively.
An eight-man rotation has mostly meant that, when healthy, the freshmen have been developing in practice instead of in games.
“It’s going to allow those guys to come along maybe at their own pace,” Holtmann said. “The biggest thing right now is if we feel like they help our team get better and if our team’s better when they’re out there and playing their role at the highest level, then there will be opportunities for them to play. That’s what it’s going to be based on, and guys gotta keep getting better at practice.”
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Where is Ohio State's team defense? 4 thoughts as UCLA approaches
