They have not been good on the road, like most Big Ten teams.
But they do have Zed Key, the best name in college basketball.
But they do have Zed Key, the best name in college basketball.
Don’t Sleep on OSU
- Thread starter Hungry Jack
- Start date
Amen. Can’t sleep on anyone when you’re us but they are a very athletic team which always scares me. Thornton is a dude, Battle can really shoot it and they have good bigs. We gotta be ready to go with the Illinois style effort from the jump.
Of OSU's 9-man rotation, 5 of them are 4-star recruits. The rest is Zed Key and 3 transfers who were 3-stars or zero-stars.
Bruce Thornton is their best player, averaging 15.9 points, 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game in conference play. He takes the most shots on the team but is also 5th in the conference at assist rate. He plays ~34mpg, and his backup is one of the no-star transfers who provides decent passing but none of the scoring.
Roddy Gayle is the shooting guard, who has the pedigree on paper but can't seem to put it together against good competition. He's an excellent free throw shooter, but thus far has been a terrible 3-point shooter. Plays 33mpg seemingly out of necessity, but doesn't really do anything great.
Evan Mahaffey starts at SF, he transferred from PSU last year after playing sparingly, though did play 20 minutes against us in one game, scoring 1 point, getting 5 boards and 1 block. Mahaffey is generally their 5th option offensively and is not a 3-point threat, but has been their best defender this year, with 4.4 boards, 0.9 blocks and 1.1 steals in 25mpg.
Jamison Battle is their 2nd-best player, who spent the last two seasons at Minnesota and has dominated us in all 3 games he's played, though the Gophers only went 1-2. He's scored 21, 20 and 20 against us. Seemingly fully healthy this year, he's having the best season of his 5-year career while playing the fewest mpg (30). He is lights-out deadly from 3, shooting 45.5% on the season including 52% in conference play. In the first 5 conference games, he averaged 19.2 points per game, but in the last 3 only 9 ppg. He also adds 6.2 rebounds per game in conference. Hopefully Brooks can shut him down.
Felix Opara is the starting center, another 4-star recruit. He is not one to look for his own shot, though he is fairly efficient when he does shoot. He's their best rebounder and shot blocker by far, averages over 3 offensive rebounds per game alone, and 8.5 boards along with 3.1(!) blocks per game in conference play. He's been very effective in shutting down many of the Big Ten centers he's faced, but was torched by Dawson Garcia early this season and by Rienk Mast last game. We'll need Big Matt to find a way to get past him.
Zed Key lost his starting spot last year to Opara, but is still a solid rebounder, shot blocker, and draws a lot of fouls, where he now shoots 73% from the line, having improved each season. In two games last year against us he averaged 9.5 points and 10.5 boards in 28mpg. He's only averaging 15mpg in conference this year, so likely won't have the same impact.
Lastly, OSU's 2 4-star freshmen wings. Scotty Middleton plays more than Devin Royal, and has displayed some long-range ability on a couple shots per game, but has struggled recently as freshmen tend to do. Royal has barely played in conference, but made the most of his few minutes in two games last week.
Despite their 3-5 record, OSU has played the easiest schedule in conference play so far, having played 6 games against the 5 worst teams in conference, while losing at home to Wisconsin and getting smoked at Nebraska. Again, this one is a MUST WIN.
Bruce Thornton is their best player, averaging 15.9 points, 5.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game in conference play. He takes the most shots on the team but is also 5th in the conference at assist rate. He plays ~34mpg, and his backup is one of the no-star transfers who provides decent passing but none of the scoring.
Roddy Gayle is the shooting guard, who has the pedigree on paper but can't seem to put it together against good competition. He's an excellent free throw shooter, but thus far has been a terrible 3-point shooter. Plays 33mpg seemingly out of necessity, but doesn't really do anything great.
Evan Mahaffey starts at SF, he transferred from PSU last year after playing sparingly, though did play 20 minutes against us in one game, scoring 1 point, getting 5 boards and 1 block. Mahaffey is generally their 5th option offensively and is not a 3-point threat, but has been their best defender this year, with 4.4 boards, 0.9 blocks and 1.1 steals in 25mpg.
Jamison Battle is their 2nd-best player, who spent the last two seasons at Minnesota and has dominated us in all 3 games he's played, though the Gophers only went 1-2. He's scored 21, 20 and 20 against us. Seemingly fully healthy this year, he's having the best season of his 5-year career while playing the fewest mpg (30). He is lights-out deadly from 3, shooting 45.5% on the season including 52% in conference play. In the first 5 conference games, he averaged 19.2 points per game, but in the last 3 only 9 ppg. He also adds 6.2 rebounds per game in conference. Hopefully Brooks can shut him down.
Felix Opara is the starting center, another 4-star recruit. He is not one to look for his own shot, though he is fairly efficient when he does shoot. He's their best rebounder and shot blocker by far, averages over 3 offensive rebounds per game alone, and 8.5 boards along with 3.1(!) blocks per game in conference play. He's been very effective in shutting down many of the Big Ten centers he's faced, but was torched by Dawson Garcia early this season and by Rienk Mast last game. We'll need Big Matt to find a way to get past him.
Zed Key lost his starting spot last year to Opara, but is still a solid rebounder, shot blocker, and draws a lot of fouls, where he now shoots 73% from the line, having improved each season. In two games last year against us he averaged 9.5 points and 10.5 boards in 28mpg. He's only averaging 15mpg in conference this year, so likely won't have the same impact.
Lastly, OSU's 2 4-star freshmen wings. Scotty Middleton plays more than Devin Royal, and has displayed some long-range ability on a couple shots per game, but has struggled recently as freshmen tend to do. Royal has barely played in conference, but made the most of his few minutes in two games last week.
Despite their 3-5 record, OSU has played the easiest schedule in conference play so far, having played 6 games against the 5 worst teams in conference, while losing at home to Wisconsin and getting smoked at Nebraska. Again, this one is a MUST WIN.
I suspect this is one of the better matchups for NU thus far. Matt won't have to exert a lot of energy defending a center (Okpara or Key) who represents a significant offensive threat, especially from the outside. He can probably spend more time in the paint.
Thornton is tough, but we have survived battling some of the best guards in the conference: Young, Walker, Clary, Shannon, Domask).
I imagine Ty and Brooks will spend a fair amount of time guarding Battle. Even if Battle and Thornton get to eat a bit, I like our chances.
Thornton is tough, but we have survived battling some of the best guards in the conference: Young, Walker, Clary, Shannon, Domask).
I imagine Ty and Brooks will spend a fair amount of time guarding Battle. Even if Battle and Thornton get to eat a bit, I like our chances.
Cats will really have to work on when to double and when not to avoid giving up lots of open threes. Even the kid who has sucked so far will probably do well enough if he's alone on the line enough.
I couldn’t go to sleep for an hour and a half after I got home from the game but you are on another level lol
I wonder if we don’t see a lot of doubles Ala Illinois and just play them straight up…
I expect we’ll try it and see how it plays. The double is just such a part of the routine, tho, I think they’ll sucker us a few times for that wide open three at the top or the side.
And I just watched on my laptop. If I'd been at the game I probably would've had to make a stop at the hospital on the way home.
Sorry @Hungry Jack, but I will probably fall asleep on the couch while watching the OSU game. Middle age has hit me hard. I hope the Cats win either way.
I'm with you, Eastbay. Cats played well, but that was an uninspired OSU team.
But how many times have you played an uninspired team and just mercilessly drove them into the dust? That’s why this game was significant.
Why doesn't Collins play his subs when they are up 30 with 5 minutes to go? Aren’t they entitled to more than a 1 minute cameo. Is it a redshirt issue or does he just not care about them?
The part that always bugs me - though I know it's "sportsmanship" - is that Clayton had the ball with the shot clock winding down and was clearly told not to shoot at all. And yeah, maybe that's rubbing it in, but it would really be awesome if a scrub at least shot the ball rather than hurting NU's great turnover margin number. What's the worst that can happen? That Clayton would get a couple of points?
It's not quite the same as downing the ball at the end at the one-yard-lines when you have a safe lead. First, there's a much higher chance of a fluke injury trying to run up the football score. Second, in a game like last night, you have someone who rarely gets to shoot getting an opportunity, and the fans will love it. You think Gus Hurlbut would like to score in a Big Ten game? Multiply that by 100 and that's how much the fans want him to score. I can still remember Tony Ling, who made four field goals in 19 games when I was at NU. Third, there is literally a clock that forces a turnover if you don't shoot. No one could say you're running up the score if you try to beat that clock, even if it's just one half-hearted shot.
It's not quite the same as downing the ball at the end at the one-yard-lines when you have a safe lead. First, there's a much higher chance of a fluke injury trying to run up the football score. Second, in a game like last night, you have someone who rarely gets to shoot getting an opportunity, and the fans will love it. You think Gus Hurlbut would like to score in a Big Ten game? Multiply that by 100 and that's how much the fans want him to score. I can still remember Tony Ling, who made four field goals in 19 games when I was at NU. Third, there is literally a clock that forces a turnover if you don't shoot. No one could say you're running up the score if you try to beat that clock, even if it's just one half-hearted shot.
It’s one of my few minor issues with Collins. No one loses if he empties his bench after the last TV timeout. It would be just 3 more mins for Gus and Mullins. Barkley is going to RS, Strauss is not dressed and looks like Blake Smith won’t play this year (RS?).
For the record: I fell asleep at the start of the OSU game, and woke up to see our team winning soundly.
I look forward to more regular season sleep victories before our real season kicks off in March.
I look forward to more regular season sleep victories before our real season kicks off in March.
It was Ohio State so any reason not to try to score more is a bad one. We should have jacked up a 3 at the end. And only because we couldn’t go for 4.
