What can the Buckeyes improve on as the calendar flips to 2025?
May I interest you in some Friday night hoops, anyone?
The Ohio State men’s basketball team (9-4, 1-1) has appeared to steady the ship after a pair of humbling losses early in the season, winning their last three games including a win over a top-five Kentucky team in the CBS Sports Classic two weeks ago.
The Buckeyes will now run the Big Ten gauntlet — 18 games over the next nine weeks, followed by the Big Ten Tournament (potentially). Ohio State will start the race with a Big Ten record of 1-1, having beat Rutgers at home but were beaten to a pulp on the road at Maryland.
Tonight, they welcome the No. 18 Michigan State Spartans.
Last week, Connor and Justin discussed how confident they were that Ohio State is an NCAA Tournament team, with 0 being no confidence and 10 being completely certain. The most popular answer, with 58% of the vote, was “somewhere between 5 and 9.9.”
Justin’s answer of 5 got 17% of the vote, and Connor got 11% of the vote with 9.9. So… nobody wins.
After 185 weeks:
Connor- 83
Justin- 78
Other- 19
(There have been five ties)
With the calendar flipping over to 2025, we’re each picking one resolution that this Ohio State team can have as we get rolling here in January. These are goals that should be attainable, like any other resolution. So finishing 18-2 in the Big Ten is probably off the table, even if it is mathematically still plausible.
This week’s question: What’s one New Year’s resolution for the Ohio State men’s basketball team?
Connor: Hit your free throws
Reggie Hildred-Imagn Images
Not sure how deep we need to dive into this one, because it’s pretty self-explanatory — Ohio State needs to hit their free throws, starting tonight.
Heading into Friday’s game, Ohio State ranks 14th in the Big Ten in free throw percentage at 69.7%. There are four different players who have attempted 10 or more free throws on this team who are shooting below 70% on the season:
- Aaron Bradshaw 66.7% (12-18)
- Meechie Johnson 50% (7-14)
- Sean Stewart 50% (11-22)
- Evan Mahaffey 38.1% (8-21)
That’s four rotation players who touch the ball pretty often who have been liabilities at the line to this point in the season. Every team tends to have a player or two who is the clear “foul that guy” guy, but right now Ohio State has several of those guys.
It makes end of game situations tougher, and makes it much harder to mount a comeback, because drawing contact near the basket and earning free throws won’t necessarily mean points.
The Buckeyes’ struggles at the free throw line directly cost them the Pitt game a few weeks back, as the Buckeyes went 1-for-2 four different times while in the double bonus over the final few minutes of the game, and 19-for-29 overall.
Pitt hit a three-pointer to win the game at the buzzer, but if Ohio State had hit one extra free throw it would’ve meant another overtime. Or if they’d hit two more free throws, they would’ve won the game.
Ohio State could also stand to get to the line a bit more often. Even after shooting 41 free throws on Sunday against Indiana State, the Buckeyes are still just 10th in the Big Ten in free throw attempts per game (22.1).
The team needs to get into the paint more consistently, draw contact, and hit more free throws — specifically, those four guys listed above.
Justin: Unlock Aaron Bradshaw
Since Aaron Bradshaw returned, the Buckeyes took down No. 4 Kentucky. Before he returned, that big of a win seemed impossible for an Ohio State team that had lost two of its last three games by 25 points or more.
Bradshaw is still getting back into the flow after missing seven games, but Jake Diebler and the coaches have greatly needed his presence in the interior on both sides of the ball.
Bradshaw has averaged 9.2 points and 4.0 rebounds in six games played on the season. However, in his two games back, he scored 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting against Kentucky and 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting against Indiana State. He has been more efficient and has fouled less, and as he gets back and more acclimated to the team again, his minutes will continue to rise.
Bradshaw is a long, athletic 7-footer who can score from all three levels and is a decent shot blocker and rim protector. The two biggest keys for him to take the next step are staying out of foul trouble, something he has struggled with, and becoming a better finisher around the rim.
If he can do that, he can help elevate the Buckeyes to the next level as a team.