Ohio State basketball: Brice Sensabaugh providing a huge spark for the Buckeyes
By Jacob Rhymer
The Ohio State basketball team is leaving the islands of Hawaii after finishing 2-1 in three games at the Maui Invitational. We learned a lot about this Buckeye basketball team as they were tested for the first time this season while in Maui. There are a handful of takeaways from Ohio State’s recent games, but one consistent bright spot has been the production of Chris Holtmann’s bench early in the season.
Through six games of this young Ohio State basketball season, we have seen a massive increase in production from the bench from a season ago. This Buckeye basketball team is much deeper than what they were last year and the depth helped them tremendously in their three games in Maui. The biggest spark that has come from the bench is the play of freshman forward, Brice Sensabaugh.
Sensabaugh has been a main contributor to the scoring as he leads the team at 15.8 points per game so far this season. The freshman has already seen his role increase for how well he can score. The win over Texas Tech was the first game this season that he wasn’t the leading scorer or the second-leading scorer.
Sensabaugh creates a tough matchup for teams when he comes in off the bench. What makes him so difficult to guard is he can do just about anything on the basketball court. Sensabaugh has the offensive skillset to score on all three levels, and he helps spread the floor with the ability to take and make threes consistently.
While in Maui, Sensabaugh shined for the Ohio State basketball team off the bench. He averaged 14.7 points per game while shooting a very efficient 56% from the field. The freshman went for 17 points against San Diego State and Cincinnati, plus he chipped in 10 points in the win over Texas Tech. Holtmann called Sensabaugh’s number down the stretch a few times in these close games to make a play and he didn’t shy away from the opportunity.
It was a big question mark coming into the season whether or not some of these freshmen would step in right away and make an impact. Sensabaugh has made the biggest impact among the freshman so far because of the energy he brings off the bench.
It’s a huge bonus for this Ohio State basketball team to have a true scoring threat like Sensabaugh come off the bench. If Sensabaugh can continue to provide a spark for this team, it’s going to help the Buckeyes in a big way once they get into Big Ten play.
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Sensabaugh and the Ohio State basketball team’s tough schedule continues when they get back to the mainland. You’ll see them back in action on November 30th when the Buckeyes travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on the Duke Blue Devils in a rematch of last season’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge.