Previewing Ohio State basketball’s season-opener vs. Akron

The Ohio State basketball team had a bitter ending to last season after impressing for most of the year, earning a two seed in March Madness. This season, Chris Holtmann and the Buckeyes are back with a deep roster consisting of returning leaders like E.J. Liddell and young Bucks looking to establish themselves as key contributors.

OSU tips off the year against the Akron Zips Tuesday evening at 6 PM EST. Akron will be a good season-opening challenge that will directly confront the Buckeyes’ defense, especially the perimeter defense.

Ahead of Tuesday’s matchup, the Scarlet and Gray are tabbed as 16.5-point favorites according to WynnBET. Holtmann will need to have the Buckeyes ready as the Zips come to town, this will not be an easy warm-up contest to kick off the season.

Previewing Ohio State basketball’s matchup with Akron

Akron is a squad that is capable of scoring in bunches, proven by averaging over 76 points last season with their lead scorer Loren Cristian Jackson adding 22.3 points per game.

OSU’s defense was not anywhere close to past Holtmann-led teams that excelled on the defensive end. Rather, the Bucks had their March Madness dreams crushed partially thanks to poor perimeter defense.

The Zips were a high volume three-point shooting team last season attempting over 28 threes per game (12th). In addition, they had decent efficiency from the outside draining over nine shots from beyond the arc per contest (22nd).

Akron’s Bryan Trimble Jr. leads the three-point assault after he shot nearly 40% from three in the 2020-21 season. The Zips’ lead-scorer Cristian Jackson even won a postseason three-point contest.

If the perimeter defense does not show up, this will be Oral Roberts all over again for OSU. Akron’s backcourt of Cristian Jackson and Trimble is formidable and must be accounted for Tuesday night.

This is where the impact of the transfer portal addition Jamari Wheeler comes in. Wheeler is a defensive specialist and is fully capable of limiting any offensive gifted guard. His presence is expected to be a game-changer for Ohio State’s defense—facing Akron is the perfect opportunity for OSU to show the defense will be better.

Another area where the Zips could present some issues is in the frontcourt. Akron has a lengthy forward in Ali Ali at 6’8″ and freshman 7’0″ center in Aziz Bandaogo. Unlike most MAC teams, Akron actually has good length and size. That presents a tough task for the undersized Buckeye frontcourt.

However, Ohio State could finally have a serviceable 7’0″ center in Joey Brunk from Indiana. Brunk has the chance to see extended minutes if Akron deploys their size. The Buckeyes will need to be physical and rebound well in the season-opener.

Three-point shooting will be another key for OSU so they can stretch Akron’s defense if their length becomes a problem. That can certainly happen with Justin Ahrens, Cedric Russell, Meechie Johnson, and Justice Sueing.

Mentioning Sueing, his status for the season-opener is up in the air as of Monday afternoon after he missed last week’s exhibition game. Also, Kyle Young could be out as well as he continues to deal with an illness.

Ohio State has enough talent on their roster to blitz Akron and come away with a smooth sailing win. On the other hand, if the Bucks come into the game asleep it will be a dangerous season-opener. The Zips should not be taken lightly; they could be a good mid-major squad in college basketball this season.

There will be plenty to watch for in Ohio State basketball’s season-opener: who starts, which players off the bench get the most playing time, and is the defense improved. The Buckeyes better be ready to play and must impress if they want to beat Akron in a convincing fashion.