The Buckeyes have gone cold from distance and can’t buy a rebound.
There is still time to correct course, but it seems the wheels have quickly come off the Ohio State men’s basketball team’s bid for an NCAA Tournament berth. The Buckeyes have lost five of their last seven games over a stretch that included a key road win over Purdue and a closer-than-the-score-indicated road loss at Illinois.
Several factors are at play, including the flu making an unwelcome appearance in the locker room, which has sidelined Aaron Bradshaw for two games and seemed to greatly impact John Mobley Jr.’s performace at UCLA on Sunday (3-of-10 from the floor, including a missed layup, and 2-of-7 from three-point range). But illness isn’t the only problem.
Let’s take a look under the hood.
Triple… Threat?
Ohio State has been successful from distance this season, which has helped the team’s offense throughout 2024-25. The last time the team won, the Buckeyes were on fire, hitting 11-of-18 triples (61%) against the Washington Huskies. That includes an absurd 8-for-12 in the first half (66.7%).
However, the team has gone ice cold since then, which has contributed to the team’s three-straight losses. Against Michigan, Ohio State connected on a respectable 9-of-25 attempts (36%), but Micah Parrish hit only 1-of-6 attempts, so one of the team’s more dependable options was… less dependable in an eventual three-point loss to the Big Ten leaders at the time.
Things got much worse against Northwestern. Ohio State was bad from everywhere, but the Buckeyes made only 4-of-21 attempts (19%) from outside the arc against a struggling Wildcats team. Sunday was nearly as bad, with Ohio State shooting just 22% on 6-of-27 shooting from distance. Parrish again hit only 1-of-6 attempts, with Mobley making just 2-of-7 and Ques Glover missing both of his two wide-open looks.
The Buckeyes aren’t typically going to dominate opponents in the paint, so until the team starts hitting shots from distance again, the beatings may continue.
Broken Glass
Some of the team’s trouble on the glass during the current three-game losing streak is attributable to Bradshaw’s absence and Sean Stewart picking up early fouls, but the Buckeyes have been particularly poor in the rebounding department during this skid.
Michigan held a commanding 46-31 rebounding advantage over Ohio State, including a 19-12 edge in offensive boards. The latter helped the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes in second-chance points, 21-12, which is a great Rush album, but a terrible discrepancy in a game decided by one possession.
Northwestern out-rebounded Ohio State 36-27 (13-10 on the offensive glass) and outscored the Buckeyes 11-5 in second-chance points, but that was minor compared to everything else Ohio State did wrong in that game.
UCLA feasted on the glass as well, out-rebounding Ohio State 45-34, which included a slim 15-13 edge on the offensive end. That narrow margin in offensive rebounds helped the Buckeyes slightly outscore the Bruins in second-chance points, 18-14.
When shots aren’t falling, it hurts even more when a team has so many one-and-done possessions as the Buckeyes have had during this stretch.
Poison Paint
The inside game has been abysmal over these last three games. The Buckeyes were wallopped on points in the paint against Michigan. The Wolverines outscored Ohio State 46-34 inside in their 86-83 win on Feb. 16. Northwestern finished with a 40-22 advantage in points in the paint.
Ohio State managed to finish level with UCLA on points in the paint (24-24), but it was the near-misses that were killer in what was mostly a close game. Numerous putback attempts were missed and the Buckeyes struggled with the handle in traffic down low in the key, so the potential was there to finish with the advantage in that category.
There are a number of areas the Buckeyes must improve if they are going to make one more run at an NCAA berth. The three above would do for starters.