The Buckeyes travel to the Lone Star State tonight with their undefeated record on the line.
Tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET, the No. 21 Ohio State Buckeyes (2-0) will fly down to College Station to face the No. 23 Texas A&M Aggies (2-1) in the second leg of a two-year home-and-home series that began last season.
Last November, Buzz Williams’ team came to Columbus and beat the Buckeyes 73-66. They bullied the Buckeyes on the glass, and after the game Williams said that rebounding is, “woven into everything” A&M does.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated which Buckeye had the best performance in Ohio State’s win over Texas. Connor picked sophomore Devin Royal, while Justin went with graduate senior Micah Parrish. Just barely, Justin won with 30% of the vote. 28% picked Royal, while 25% of readers picked Bruce Thornton, and the remaining 17% went with John Mobley Jr.
After 178 weeks:
Connor- 81
Justin- 74
Other- 18
(There have been five ties)
Land-Grant Holy Land also published a full game preview this morning, but this time we’ll focus on a few individual players that Connor and Justin think will be the difference in tonight’s game.
The Buckeyes are trying to even this home-and-home series between the programs, but to do so they will need to squeak out a win in College Station at Reed Arena, where the Aggies went 10-5 last season. Ohio State was 2-1 in true road games under Jake Diebler last season.
This week’s question: One Ohio State player and one Texas A&M player to watch tonight?
Justin: Micah Parrish / Henry Coleman
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
All of the press and previews for this game will focus on Bruce Thornton and Meechie Johnson against Zhuric Phelps and Wade Taylor, and for good reason. The backcourt matchup is going to be fun to watch.
However, two other players — Henry Coleman for Texas A&M and Micah Parrish for Ohio State — I think will be the X-factors in this one.
Micah Parrish, a transfer from San Diego State, is averaging double figures early on, tallying 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. He has been one of the top-scoring options for the Buckeyes early on and one of their top defenders. He will be tasked with slowing down the wings on Texas A&M and helping facilitate the offense with Thornton.
The Texas A&M front court is formidable. Henry Coleman averages 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, while Pharrel Payne averages 9.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Last year, the Buckeyes hosted the then-ranked No. 15 Aggies for the second game of the season, with Texas A&M coming out on top 73-66. For the Aggies, Tyrece Radford and Wade Taylor had 21 points each, but Coleman was arguably the MVP of the game, as he recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Both of these players are key to each team’s success, and will need to play well to help the production of their respective backcourts.
Connor: Meechie Johnson / Pharrel Payne
Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
Ohio State has won each of its first two games rather comfortably, and Meechie Johnson did not play particularly well in either of them.
Is that a good thing? Of course, because it shows that the Buckeyes are capable of winning without firing on all cylinders. But still, Johnson’s final chapter of his college career has started off rather unceremoniously, with a combined eight turnovers in those first two games.
Poor shot selection plagued Johnson in the first game. He hoisted up a couple three-pointers that probably did not need to be taken, and finished the game 2-of-7 from distance. He finished with six points, and had more turnovers than made baskets.
Against Youngstown State Johnson hit three of his five three-point tries, but also turned the ball over a whopping five times — something he only did one time all of last season at South Carolina.
He’ll need to step up tonight against the Aggies. Not only will Jake Diebler need his senior guard to tighten up the handle and not give A&M free possessions, he will also need Meechie to defend at a high level. A&M boasts a few good guards, namely Wade Taylor — who will soon be the all-time leading scorer in Texas A&M history — and Zhuric Phelps.
Payne — a transfer center from Minnesota — will be a crucial player for the Aggies against Ohio State. While the star-studded matchups will be Bruce Thornton and Johnson against Taylor and Phelps, the battle in the trenches could win up being the difference.
Last season, Coleman out-worked Zed Key and Felix Okpara both scoring and rebounding the basketball. Neither of those guys are still with the program, but Coleman is still with Texas A&M, as is Payne.
Payne is a 6-foot-9, 250-pound center who scored 15 points in A&M’s season-opening loss to UCF, but in two games since has combined for just 12 points. Aaron Bradshaw and Sean Stewart both dealt with foul trouble in Ohio State’s win over Texas, so it will be worth keeping an eye on tonight to see if those two can stay in the game and away from the bench with foul trouble.
Payne won’t stretch the floor at all, and also won’t be too eager to move with Stewart or Bradshaw if they try to stretch the floor themselves. But through two games, neither Stewart not Bradshaw have had to guard as talented or large of a post player as Payne. If they pick up first-half fouls, A&M could really put the Buckeyes in a difficult spot.