Scarlet and Game
Fansided

Ohio State seeks bounce-back performance, consistency against Indiana

By Willie Lutz

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 20: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes goes over plays from the sideline in the second half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during their game at Madison Square Garden on January 20, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 20: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes goes over plays from the sideline in the second half against the Minnesota Golden Gophers during their game at Madison Square Garden on January 20, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Buckeyes have a very good chance to establish consistency against a middling member of the Big Ten.

It’s been five full days since the Ohio State Buckeyes basketball team took the floor for competitive action. Last time out, Penn State drilled a buzzer-beater to undo the Buckeyes perfect record in the Big Ten. The loss dropped the Buckeyes four spots in the AP Top 25 poll, down to No. 17.

Now, the 12-10 (5-5) Indiana Hoosiers will arrive in Columbus, giving Ohio State a chance to get back to winning. The Hoosiers are 0-5 against Top 25 opponents this season and are losers of 3 of their last 4.

However, Indiana might have an added bounce in their step. Over the weekend, the Hoosiers gave No. 3 Purdue quite a run, despite ultimately losing 74-67.

In their loss to Purdue, leading scorer Juwan Morgan scored 24 points in his third-straight twenty-plus-point outing. The junior forward averages 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest. Not only can Morgan score, he can do it effectively, shooting 51.2-percent from the floor and 45.5-percent from three.

More from Scarlet and Game

While Morgan is a huge part of the Indiana attack, he’ll get the dreaded Keita Bates-Diop defensive experience. Bates-Diop continues to emerge as not only one of the country’s elite overall players but as one of the top defenders in the country.

However, where the Buckeyes can use Bates-Diop more than ever is on the offensive side of the floor. While the forward continues to post twenty-plus point outings, they’ve been coming later in games. While he was brilliant down the stretch against Penn State, Ohio State needs more consistency from the forward.

Overall, tonight needs to be a more consistently played game from the Buckeyes. In last week’s loss, Penn State exposed the offensive inefficiency of an Ohio State team prone to ugly scoring droughts. Additionally, Ohio State’s bench scored just 5 of the team’s 79 points in the loss.

Next: Urban Meyer’s Zone 6 wish-list filled

Tonight, Ohio State needs to seek an overall spell of consistency. Starting off games flat finally came back to bite against the Nittany Lions. Against the Hoosiers, Chris Holtmann should show his team can play a better 40 minutes of basketball.

Home/Ohio State Basketball