Chris Holtmann previews defending Illinois' Terrence Shannon Jr.

Ohio State ended its five-game losing streak this weekend with a 93-77 victory over Iowa. However, there’s no rest for the weary within the Big Ten. Now, the Buckeyes will have to prepare to travel to Champaign and attempt to knock off Illinois and, in order to do so, Chris Holtmann knows his team will have their hands full trying to slow down Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr..

During his press conference on Monday, Holtmann said neutralizing the Texas Tech transfer, who is now the league’s fifth-leading scorer, will be a challenge considering all the different ways he simply gets buckets.

“I think he’s the most athletic player in our league. And I think, certainly, he’s one of the most talented,” said Holtmann. “You look at him…(and there’s) an ability to score at all three levels. An ability to get to the rim, to make threes and make threes behind ball screens. And, at the same time, make in the midrange. He’s a tremendous talent.”

Shannon Jr. has nearly doubled his previous career-high with an average of 18.1 points per game. That’s also almost double what the team’s next leading scorer, Matthew Mayer, averages for Illinois. As a far more impactful piece now than in Lubbock, he is also producing career-bests in rebounding (5.5), assists (3.2), and steals (1.4) while shooting 45.1% from the field and 34% from distance.

To take a player like that out of the flow of the game, Holtmann says it will take a team effort. While he named Isaac Likekele as Shannon’s primary defender on Tuesday evening, Holtmann says all of the Buckeyes will have to have their eyes on #0.

“I think Isaac’s ability to just make those guys work will be important. But it just won’t be on him,” Holtmann said. “It’ll be on a number of those guys.”

The Big Ten waits for no one. Although Ohio State just got off the schneid, they could drop another one if they don’t throw Shannon Jr. off. If they can, they’ll have a solid chance at starting a winning streak after knocking off the Illini.