Ohio State Basketball: Will Buckeyes score 80 against Nittany Lions?

During their four game losing streak the Ohio State Buckeyes failed to score 60 points one time. Against Nebraska they put up 80 to stop the skid.

Is the Ohio State basketball team now out of its scoring slump or was it just a hot shooting night against an overmatched opponent? Whatever the case, scoring 21 more points than in any of the previous four games is a bit of a head scratcher.

Especially with two players who have combined for 17.2 points per game sitting out. Luther Muhammad and Duane Washington Jr. were suspended for Tuesday’s game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

With that being the case certain players stepped up their scoring and / or played more minutes played. Especially two guards who led the scoring.

C.J. Walker scored 18 points after only scoring 24 the previous four games. D.J. Carton had 13 after averaging less than 8 points per game during the losing streak.

The Wesson brothers, Kyle Young and E.J. Liddell also scored in double figures. The only player among these six who played fewer than 25 minutes was the freshman Liddell.

Another player who saw playing time for a change was Justin Ahrens. The sophomore was on the floor for 13 minutes (three  more than the previous four games combined), was 2-3 from the field and scored five points. Why this sharpshooter doesn’t see more playing time with Ohio State’s scoring issues is beyond me.

We will see tomorrow if this is a new and improved Buckeye offense when they take on the Penn State Nittany Lions, maybe. It’s a contest between 2-4 Big Ten teams and when they played earlier this season Ohio State scored 106 points.

It’s not like the Buckeyes have to score 80 points per game with the way they play defense. During their losing stretch, scoring 70 in each game would have resulted in four wins.

Hopefully coach Holtmann and his players have now figured out how to put points on the board and will get on a roll. If that’s the case, Ohio State could make a run for the Big Ten title and make some noise in the postseason.