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Ohio State Basketball: More of the same as Buckeyes lose 5th straight

By Charlie Lockhart

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts in the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions during quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts in the second half against the Penn State Nittany Lions during quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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The Ohio State basketball team lost to the Purdue Boilermakers at home 79-67. The Buckeyes have now lost five consecutive Big Ten games.

The Purdue Boilermakers went on a long run in the first half and the Ohio State basketball team struggled on offense at times with Kaleb Wesson on the bench in foul trouble. Does that sound familiar?

That has been the norm during the Buckeyes’ five game losing streak, just change the name of the team that goes on the run.

Ohio State got out of the box quickly and led 17-8 when C.J. Jackson’s made two free throws with about 11 minutes left in the first half. Then the wheels fell off the Buckeye offense.

The Boilermakers went on a 22-1 run during the next seven minutes to take a 30-18 and held serve the rest of the first half. Ohio State closed the gap to 39-29 going into the break when Andre Wesson hit a shot from past half court as time ran out.

Purdue extended the lead early in the second half but Ohio State battled back to make it a 58-56 game at around the 10 minute mark. The Buckeyes stayed in touch from that point until there were about four minutes left but couldn’t quite close the gap. The Boilermakers pulled away late to win 79-67.

As usual Ohio State was the smaller team and only having Kaleb Wesson on the floor for 16 minutes didn’t help the situation. Even when he was in the game he didn’t provide much offense as he only scored 6 points.

In fact, if it wasn’t for older brother Andre the Buckeyes wouldn’t have even been in the game. The junior hit 9 of 10 field goals, was 4-5 from behind the arc and scored 22 points.

The other two Buckeyes in double figures were Musa Jallow (12) and Luther Muhammad (10). Purdue was led by Player of the Year candidate Carsen Edwards who scored 27 points, Ryan Cline (13) and Trevion Williams (10).

Now for my quick takes:

As most of you probably know 6-8 forward Kyle Young is out for a few weeks with an injury and I knew that would be a big blow to the team. I was wondering if 6-9 freshman Jaedon LeDee might pick up some of the slack with Young out. I don’t think that will be the case.

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LeDee didn’t score a point or get a rebound, picked up a foul and committed a turnover in his five minutes of playing time. The freshman has shown potential at times this season but he is a project and looks to be a year away from being a significant contributor.

Sophomore Musa Jallow (31 minutes) and freshman Justin Ahrens (17) saw more playing time than usual and I hope they will be on the floor often from here on out. Jallow was 2-4 from beyond the arc and Ahrens 2-5.

The Buckeyes need offense, and especially outside shooting, so what could it hurt to let these young guns fire away.

Last but not least Kaleb Wesson must stop getting into foul trouble. Too many of his fouls are unnecessary ones.

Next. Predicting the Buckeyes' depth chart next season. dark

Hopefully Ohio State can get things straightened out against Nebraska on Saturday. The Cornhuskers are 13-6 on the season but are on a two game losing streak of their own.

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