COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s been easy to predict Ohio State losses throughout the 2021-22 season.
Up until Tuesday night’s game against Minnesota, all the Buckeyes would have to do is look at the box score at halftime. In five of their six losses this season, with the exception of a buzzer-beating loss to Florida in the Fort Myers Tip Off, Ohio State had trailed their opponent at halftime.
The Buckeyes have only been able to change the narrative once, and it was one of their biggest wins of the season: turning a 13-point deficit into a five-point win against No. 1 Duke.
That was the task at hand Tuesday night. Ohio State left for the locker room 20 minutes in with a two-point deficit against a team it had beaten by 11 on the road nearly a month ago. It was the Buckeyes of old: while the defense stepped up, turnovers held them back.
Taking the first possession of the second half near the buzzer, Jamari Wheeler changed the narrative with one make.
The Ohio State redshirt senior guard pulled up from deep, watching the ball float as the buzzer sounded, turning the Buckeyes’ two-point deficit into a one-point advantage they wouldn’t lose.
Wheeler ignited an Ohio State (16-6, 9-4 Big Ten) offense that couldn’t miss in the second half, shooting 57.1% from the field in the final 20 minutes to blast Minnesota (12-11, 3-11 Big Ten), 70-45, Tuesday night.
Ohio State remains perfect at home, winning all 11 games inside Value City Arena this season.
The Buckeyes now have sole possession of fourth place in the Big Ten after No. 19 Michigan State fell on the road to Penn State Tuesday night.
With a 12-point performance in the second half, junior forward E.J. Liddell led the way with 16 points, making six of his 11 attempts from the field. Adding 10 rebounds, Liddell recorded his sixth double-double of the season.
Here’s a few takeaways from Tuesday night’s 25-point victory for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State’s offense goes back in time in the first half
It wasn’t the time for an alley-oop attempt for an Ohio State team that had recorded four turnovers in the previous four-and-a-half minutes.
But Malaki Branham couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
The freshman guard lobbed up the ball in the general direction of sophomore guard Eugene Brown III. Instead of a momentum-shifting slam, the pass went into the hands of Minnesota, continuing the cold streak.
The turnovers came in all shapes and sizes, looking a lot like the team before Jan. 13 — the last time the Buckeyes recorded more than 10 turnovers in a game.
Whether it was a misread off a steal by Jamari Wheeler, stepping out of bounds on a fast break, an aggressive drive by Branham where he had the ball poked out, or simple strips by Minnesota forward Jamison Battle and guard Sean Sutherlin, Ohio State’s turnover issues were back, giving up the ball seven times over the course of nine possessions in the first half.
With it, the Golden Gophers took advantage, using a six-and-a-half-minute scoring drought by Ohio State to work their way back, using a 10-0 run to take a lead it would not lose in the first 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes of play, Ohio State needed a spark. It had 23 points, making 11 of its 27 attempts from the field. It had eight turnovers.
The spark ended up coming from an unexpected source.
Wheeler wakes up lethargic offense
Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann has encouraged Jamari Wheeler to be aggressive offensively.
He’s known what the redshirt senior guard could do defensively; it’s why the Buckeyes pursued him in the transfer portal in the first place. But he showed spurts of offensive life in his four years with Penn State too, whether it was from 3 or driving to the lane.
Holtmann needed somebody. It wasn’t E.J. Liddell in the first half, who was one of four players to score four points in the first 20 minutes.
Wheeler stepped up to the plate.
After changing the narrative with his buzzer-beating 3 to start the second half, waking up a lethargic offense that had seeped into the energy of the home crowd, the redshirt senior guard couldn’t miss, making each of his first four shot attempts, including three 3s.
In a role that Liddell usually occupied, where Wheeler went, the Ohio State offense went too, using a 24-7 run to take a 13-point lead in the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the second half.
When Wheeler stepped up, Branham stepped up, making each of his first two attempts from 3. When Wheeler stepped up sophomore Zed Key stepped up, making three of his four attempts from the field after missing two of his three attempts in the first half.
With Wheeler as the leader, Ohio State shot 57.1% from the field in the final 20 minutes, making nine-of-15 attempts from 3-point range.
Ohio State has a field day defensively
Ohio State’s defense woke up after Cedric Russell stepped up in the backcourt.
The Ohio State redshirt senior guard put himself up against Minnesota guard Payton Willis, showing the same aggressiveness he showed Saturday on the road against Michigan. Willis found he had nowhere to go, getting called for a double-dribble and the turnover.
Despite trailing by two at that point, Russell had seemingly set the course for Ohio State’s defense for the remainder of the half.
On the first play out of the media timeout, as the shot clock ticked down, redshirt senior forward Kyle Young forced an errant miss at the buzzer by Willis, regaining possession, continuing a string of seven-straight misses over the course of about four minutes after Minnesota made four of its first six attempts from the floor.
For the rest of the first half, the Golden Gophers made six of its next 24 shots, keeping a lead at half after Ohio State’s offense gave them opportunity after opportunity, recording eight points off eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
When Ohio State’s offense woke up in the second half, its defensive success continued too, forcing eight turnovers in the final 20 minutes, while Minnesota made six -of-22 attempts from the field.
The Golden Gophers shot 30.84% from the field in their 25-point loss.
News and notes
Ohio State freshman guard Meechie Johnson Jr. missed his second-straight game after tweaking his ankle against Rutgers. Sophomore guard Eugene Brown III made his second-straight start, scoring four points and four rebounds in 28 minutes.
With a 3-point make in the first half against Minnesota, Young recorded his first shot from deep since Jan. 20 against Purdue. In his past three games, the redshirt senior had missed three attempts from 3, not attempting one against Michigan.
What it means
It means Ohio State can wake up.
It was a group that looked like it went back in time in the first 20 minutes, reverting back to the greatest hits of solid defense, but a struggling offense that turned the ball over constantly.
In the second half, Ohio State turned into the team that looked like it was in contention for a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament.
Which one will prevail? Ohio State has a lot of basketball to play over the course of three weeks. It has a lot of chances to find out what it ends up being.
What’s next
No. 18 Ohio State returns to its home floor Saturday when it takes on Iowa in its rescheduled matchup after travel cancellations and inclement weather postponed the initial matchup Feb. 3. Tip off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Fox.
Up until Tuesday night’s game against Minnesota, all the Buckeyes would have to do is look at the box score at halftime. In five of their six losses this season, with the exception of a buzzer-beating loss to Florida in the Fort Myers Tip Off, Ohio State had trailed their opponent at halftime.
The Buckeyes have only been able to change the narrative once, and it was one of their biggest wins of the season: turning a 13-point deficit into a five-point win against No. 1 Duke.
That was the task at hand Tuesday night. Ohio State left for the locker room 20 minutes in with a two-point deficit against a team it had beaten by 11 on the road nearly a month ago. It was the Buckeyes of old: while the defense stepped up, turnovers held them back.
Taking the first possession of the second half near the buzzer, Jamari Wheeler changed the narrative with one make.
The Ohio State redshirt senior guard pulled up from deep, watching the ball float as the buzzer sounded, turning the Buckeyes’ two-point deficit into a one-point advantage they wouldn’t lose.
Wheeler ignited an Ohio State (16-6, 9-4 Big Ten) offense that couldn’t miss in the second half, shooting 57.1% from the field in the final 20 minutes to blast Minnesota (12-11, 3-11 Big Ten), 70-45, Tuesday night.
Ohio State remains perfect at home, winning all 11 games inside Value City Arena this season.
The Buckeyes now have sole possession of fourth place in the Big Ten after No. 19 Michigan State fell on the road to Penn State Tuesday night.
With a 12-point performance in the second half, junior forward E.J. Liddell led the way with 16 points, making six of his 11 attempts from the field. Adding 10 rebounds, Liddell recorded his sixth double-double of the season.
Here’s a few takeaways from Tuesday night’s 25-point victory for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State’s offense goes back in time in the first half
It wasn’t the time for an alley-oop attempt for an Ohio State team that had recorded four turnovers in the previous four-and-a-half minutes.
But Malaki Branham couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
The freshman guard lobbed up the ball in the general direction of sophomore guard Eugene Brown III. Instead of a momentum-shifting slam, the pass went into the hands of Minnesota, continuing the cold streak.
The turnovers came in all shapes and sizes, looking a lot like the team before Jan. 13 — the last time the Buckeyes recorded more than 10 turnovers in a game.
Whether it was a misread off a steal by Jamari Wheeler, stepping out of bounds on a fast break, an aggressive drive by Branham where he had the ball poked out, or simple strips by Minnesota forward Jamison Battle and guard Sean Sutherlin, Ohio State’s turnover issues were back, giving up the ball seven times over the course of nine possessions in the first half.
With it, the Golden Gophers took advantage, using a six-and-a-half-minute scoring drought by Ohio State to work their way back, using a 10-0 run to take a lead it would not lose in the first 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes of play, Ohio State needed a spark. It had 23 points, making 11 of its 27 attempts from the field. It had eight turnovers.
The spark ended up coming from an unexpected source.
Wheeler wakes up lethargic offense
Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann has encouraged Jamari Wheeler to be aggressive offensively.
He’s known what the redshirt senior guard could do defensively; it’s why the Buckeyes pursued him in the transfer portal in the first place. But he showed spurts of offensive life in his four years with Penn State too, whether it was from 3 or driving to the lane.
Holtmann needed somebody. It wasn’t E.J. Liddell in the first half, who was one of four players to score four points in the first 20 minutes.
Wheeler stepped up to the plate.
After changing the narrative with his buzzer-beating 3 to start the second half, waking up a lethargic offense that had seeped into the energy of the home crowd, the redshirt senior guard couldn’t miss, making each of his first four shot attempts, including three 3s.
In a role that Liddell usually occupied, where Wheeler went, the Ohio State offense went too, using a 24-7 run to take a 13-point lead in the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the second half.
When Wheeler stepped up, Branham stepped up, making each of his first two attempts from 3. When Wheeler stepped up sophomore Zed Key stepped up, making three of his four attempts from the field after missing two of his three attempts in the first half.
With Wheeler as the leader, Ohio State shot 57.1% from the field in the final 20 minutes, making nine-of-15 attempts from 3-point range.
Ohio State has a field day defensively
Ohio State’s defense woke up after Cedric Russell stepped up in the backcourt.
The Ohio State redshirt senior guard put himself up against Minnesota guard Payton Willis, showing the same aggressiveness he showed Saturday on the road against Michigan. Willis found he had nowhere to go, getting called for a double-dribble and the turnover.
Despite trailing by two at that point, Russell had seemingly set the course for Ohio State’s defense for the remainder of the half.
On the first play out of the media timeout, as the shot clock ticked down, redshirt senior forward Kyle Young forced an errant miss at the buzzer by Willis, regaining possession, continuing a string of seven-straight misses over the course of about four minutes after Minnesota made four of its first six attempts from the floor.
For the rest of the first half, the Golden Gophers made six of its next 24 shots, keeping a lead at half after Ohio State’s offense gave them opportunity after opportunity, recording eight points off eight turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
When Ohio State’s offense woke up in the second half, its defensive success continued too, forcing eight turnovers in the final 20 minutes, while Minnesota made six -of-22 attempts from the field.
The Golden Gophers shot 30.84% from the field in their 25-point loss.
News and notes
Ohio State freshman guard Meechie Johnson Jr. missed his second-straight game after tweaking his ankle against Rutgers. Sophomore guard Eugene Brown III made his second-straight start, scoring four points and four rebounds in 28 minutes.
With a 3-point make in the first half against Minnesota, Young recorded his first shot from deep since Jan. 20 against Purdue. In his past three games, the redshirt senior had missed three attempts from 3, not attempting one against Michigan.
What it means
It means Ohio State can wake up.
It was a group that looked like it went back in time in the first 20 minutes, reverting back to the greatest hits of solid defense, but a struggling offense that turned the ball over constantly.
In the second half, Ohio State turned into the team that looked like it was in contention for a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament.
Which one will prevail? Ohio State has a lot of basketball to play over the course of three weeks. It has a lot of chances to find out what it ends up being.
What’s next
No. 18 Ohio State returns to its home floor Saturday when it takes on Iowa in its rescheduled matchup after travel cancellations and inclement weather postponed the initial matchup Feb. 3. Tip off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Fox.
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