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Ohio State basketball: Buckeyes struggle rebounding in loss to UNC

By Jacob Rhymer

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 17: Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels attempts a shot as Justice Sueing #14 and Felix Okpara #34 of the Ohio State Buckeyes defend during the first half of the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden on December 17, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 17: Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels attempts a shot as Justice Sueing #14 and Felix Okpara #34 of the Ohio State Buckeyes defend during the first half of the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden on December 17, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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The Ohio State basketball team picked up their third loss of the season yesterday after blowing a double-digit lead to North Carolina. There were a handful of things that went wrong for the Buckeyes, but one in particular was the poor rebounding effort in the loss to the Tar Heels.

A key coming into this heavyweight bout with the Tar Heels was the need to keep Carolina off the glass, specifically Armando Bacot. The Buckeyes failed in that aspect of the game. Bacot went for 28 points and 15 rebounds on the Buckeyes’ defense, seven of his rebounds were offensive. The Buckeyes as a whole gave up 16 offensive rebounds in the loss on Saturday.

The lack of rebounding against some of the best bigs in college basketball is concerning for Ohio State when they get into Big Ten play. The Buckeyes take on Purdue in their second game of conference play once it starts back up. The Boilermakers are number one in the country and are led by big man Zach Edey, who is playing like the best player in college basketball right now.

Zach Edey isn’t the only skilled center in the Big Ten as it’s loaded with an abundance of highly talented big men. Yesterday would’ve been good practice for Ohio State before entering the gauntlet of centers in conference. It’s obvious now that adjustments have to be made.

The Ohio State basketball team had this same problem a year ago, and the insufficient rebounding efforts have been a reoccurring theme for each team under Chris Holtmann. Zed Key’s height limits him slightly on the boards, and the length of Okpara has been a nice addition, but he can’t get in foul trouble like he did yesterday.

I think it’s mainly a question of this team’s toughness to box someone out and get the rebound. Limiting second-chance opportunities is vital for this Ohio State basketball team if they want to contend in the Big Ten this season.

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The Buckeyes will look to bounce back in their second to last non-conference game on Wednesday when they’re back home to take on Maine. Look for a much-improved rebounding effort by Ohio State in their final preparation for conference play.

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