As you read this, the Ohio State men’s basketball team (2-1) is probably on the court for an afternoon shootaround at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Connecticut.
The Buckeyes take on the fourth-ranked Connecticut Huskies tonight at 7:30 p.m., in the front end of a two-year home-and-home series. The Huskies will travel to Columbus next season to face Ohio State at the Schottenstein Center.
According to KenPom, this will be Ohio State’s second-toughest game on their schedule — the king of college basketball
analytics has given the Buckeyes just a 22% chance to win tonight against Dan Hurley’s squad.
The Huskies are 3-0 this season, with two 40+ point victories over Wagner and Gardner-Webb (both of whom are sub-300 in KenPom) as well as an 85-77 neutral site win over Michigan.
Ohio State, on the other hand, opened the season with a 94-83 loss to No. 25 BYU. The Buckeyes gave up 60 points to the Cougars in the second half of that game, and overall it was one of the worst defensive performances from an Ohio State team in several years.
The Buckeyes then won non-conference games against Youngstown State and Marshall, although neither was a walk in the park. Ohio State began the year ranked 18th in KenPom’s rankings, and now sits at No. 34.
Last week, Connor and Justin tried not to be too doom and gloom about the season-opening loss to BYU, so they tried to each list one positive and one negative from the game.
For positives, Connor said it was good to see Ohio State get off to a fast start, and Justin said Ohio State’s centers outperformed expectations. For negatives, Connor said Ohio State did not guard the ball well enough without fouling, and Justin said the Buckeyes three-point shooting was abysmal.
The Buckeyes are clearly the underdog in tonight’s game, with KenPom giving them a 22% chance to win, ESPN’s BPI giving them a 14.3% chance to win, and the betting line (via DraftKings) is currently favoring UConn by 10.5 points.
The Huskies are also giving up just 54 points per game this season so far, so the Buckeyes leaving Connecticut with a win would be an upset in pretty much every sense of the word.
For this week’s debate, each of the guys is picking one player they think needs to have a great game for the Buckeyes to pull off a stunner out east:
This week’s question: Who needs to have a great game for Ohio State to upset No. 4 UConn?
Connor: Justin Pippen
If Ohio State doesn’t figure out how to guard the ball and put up some kind of resistance to opposing teams’ guards, they’re going to get run out of the building before halftime on Friday night.
We’ve already seen BYU’s Rob Wright pop for 35 points and Marshall’s Noah Otshudi score 27 against the Buckeyes, which means Braylon Mullins and Silas Demary probably watched film this week on the Buckeyes, who are starving to get a chance to do the same.
Jake Diebler recruited Justin Pippen this summer to be a point-of-attack, lead dog defender who could also chip in 10-ish points per game as the third or fourth option offensively. Instead, Last season, Pippen was fifth in the ACC with a 3.5% steal percentage and was top-100 nationally.
He’d built a reputation at Cal as a very tough, physical defender, but so far he’s not been that for the Buckeyes.
In 2021, Jamari Wheeler transferred to Ohio State after being an all-Big Ten Defensive Team member for two straight seasons, but he just didn’t look the same during his one season in Columbus and did not receive the honor in his final collegiate season at Ohio State. So far, that’s what it’s looking like for Pippen, although it’s only been three games.
Pippen isn’t “quite there” yet, according to the junior guard. After Ohio State’s win over Marshall, he said that he is still trying to mesh what Ohio State is trying to do defensively with how he defends best, and he doesn’t feel that he’s quite there yet.
Ohio State’s defense, especially from its guards, has been brutal so far this season. When the guards are unable to contain an opponent on the perimeter, they’re either chasing from behind or leaving it to the big guys to pick up their slack, which rarely ends well.
The guards, Pippen and Mobley in particular, need to do better as the first line of defense on Friday night.
Justin: Anthony Thompson
If Ohio State wants to win this game, it is time for the five-star freshman to do his thing. Anthony Thompson has the talent to be a difference-maker, and the Buckeyes will need his shooting and rebounding in this game.
Thompson is only averaging 5.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game so far, but he is coming off his best game this season, recording 11 points and six rebounds against Marshall. However, 10 of those points came in the first half, and he only played five minutes in the second half.
In the postgame press conference, head coach Jake Diebler chalked that up to playing a three-guard lineup of Justin Pippen, Jimmie Williams, and John Mobley with Amare Bynum and a center. He also said that the solid half for Thompson “relieved some pressure” off him and that “his confidence has not wavered one bit.”
Thompson shot the ball well against Marshall and showcased why he was such a highly ranked prospect with his shooting ability, his length, and his rebounding ability. If he can give the Buckeyes 14 to 18 points in this game, it will help relieve some scoring pressure on Mobley and Bynum.
