Ohio State basketball survives scare from UMass Lowell

The Ohio State basketball team struggled with UMass Lowell all day but was able to pull out the 74-64 victory.

The Ohio State basketball team destroyed Southern Illinois in their first game on Wednesday. They jumped out to a 22-0 lead and never looked back. They had no such luck today against UMass Lowell. This game was a struggle from the very beginning.

It was an offensive disaster from the Buckeyes. They shot a paltry 37% from the field including a terrible 22% from three. They couldn’t put the ball in the basket. They couldn’t make layups either. It was just an awful offensive effort from everyone involved in today’s game.

That being said, Justice Sueing was once again the best player out there. Sueing had 15 points on 4-9 shooting to go along with 6 rebounds and 3 steals. The 3 steals were key. He is a better defender than people think. He could have a future at the next level because of that ability.

Duane Washington struggled all game long. Even though he had 21 points, it was on 7-17 shooting including a terrible 3-11 from three. Most of his points were from tough shots that were lucky to go in. He needs to shoot better for this team to reach its full potential.

Defensively, I didn’t’ think the Buckeyes were too bad. At the end of the game, UMass Lowell finally started hitting some threes and made the game close. The River Hawks only shot 37% from the field as well. The Buckeyes just have to be better shooting the ball.

Other teams are going to see that Chris Holtmann teams continue to struggle with zone defense. This has become a pattern year after year. You would think they would be smart enough to deal with it by now. This is a problem that could plague them all season.

A win is a win, but the Buckeyes need to be better against good teams, or they’re going to lose a lot of games.