Ohio State Basketball: Bucks stop slide, Muhammad has breakout game
One of the nice surprises on this year’s Ohio State basketball team has been the play of Luther Muhammad. Today the freshman took his game to a new level.
Luther Muhammad has been a key contributor for Chris Holtmann’s Ohio State basketball team this season with a fine overall game and content playing terrific defense. That’s unusual for a first year player who was a top recruit in high school. With his performance in today’s 70-61 victory over Nebraska, the freshman proved he could be a force on offense as well.
The way he tallied those points was most impressive.
He was more aggressive than usual taking the ball to the paint. He was 7-12 from the field and 3-4 from three-point range with a couple of those long shots coming at the end of the shot clock. He was also 7-8 from the free throw line and made 5 of 6 down the stretch when they were needed the most.
This young man could very well develop into a star.
Now about the win.
In the beginning it appeared once again the Buckeyes would have problems going against a bigger team. They struggled on offense and the Cornhuskers were getting easy shots on the other end.
Midway through the first half things changed.
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After a timeout coach Holtmann went with a small lineup and had his players line up in a zone defense, which he used later in the game, and then went back to man to man. Possibly he was just wanting to set up the correct matchups, but whatever the case Ohio State basically shut down the Nebraska offense the rest of the half and took a 29-24 lead into the break.
The Cornhuskers scored the first five points of the second half and coach Holtmann called a timeout to right the ship. From that point forward it was a different game.
The Buckeyes battled for every loose ball and rebound and got the lion’s share of them. And with Muhammad and others making key shots down the stretch they pulled away late for the win.
In addition to Muhammad’s fine performance, Andre Wesson and C.J. Jackson scored 10 points each. Keyshawn Woods came out of his slump to add 9, and while Kaleb Wesson only scored 7 points he pulled down 11 rebounds.
The only two Cornhuskers in double figures were James Palmer who scored 19 points and Glynn Watson who added 18. It should be noted that Watson got hot at the end and made things very interesting. That guy is a terrific player and hard to stop.
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Now it’s on to face Michigan Tuesday and it will be difficult for Ohio State to pull out a win in Ann Arbor. But at least the Buckeyes will have a little momentum when they go up against the one loss Wolverines.