Ohio State basketball: First half of season takeaways

The Ohio State basketball team wrapped up the first half of the regular season with their final non-conference game. After a tightly contested first half, they soundly beat Alabama A&M 90-59 with a much improved defensive effort in the second half. With the non-conference games finished, it’s time to set the sites on Big Ten play.

The Buckeyes have had an exceptional start to their season with eight non-conference wins and three losses. They’ve exceeded expectations through the first half of the season by beating some quality teams, and have lost close games to teams that are going to make the NCAA Tournament and are expected to make a run in March. Two of the losses include two of college basketball’s most prestigious Blue Bloods in Duke and North Carolina.

A major positive to take away from the first half of the season is that this Ohio State basketball team is going to be a tough out in the Big Ten because of the way they competed against solid teams in non-conference. The weapons on offense have made this Buckeye offense very explosive, but their defense still needs some improvement for the difficult Big Ten schedule ahead.

The offense for Ohio State has been empowered by a freshman duo who have been thriving in their first season at Ohio State. Brice Sensabaugh has gotten all of the attention for how efficiently he has been scoring the ball.

Chris Holtmann has turned to the freshman a couple of times already this season to get a timely basket late in games. Bruce Thornton is the second freshman that has done a brilliant job orchestrating the Ohio State offense. He’s become the floor general the Buckeyes have been missing for so many years.

Even though there is a handful of positives to take away from the first half of the regular season, there are a few concerns with this Ohio State basketball team that needs improving on for Big Ten play. The area that needs most attention is the Buckeyes toughness on the defensive end.

According to KenPom, the Buckeyes rank third in the country in offensive efficiency. On the other end of the floor, however, they rank 77th in defensive efficiency. They’ve had their struggles on the boards again this season, the rebounding has to be better in conference play with the elite bigs they will face.

The Big Ten is the deepest conference in college basketball. There isn’t an opponent in the Big Ten that isn’t going to challenge Ohio State. I think the Buckeyes’ non-conference schedule has prepared them enough to be in the position to succeed in the gauntlet of the Big Ten conference.

The Ohio State basketball team resumes Big Ten play today at Northwestern at 7:30 P.M. on Big Ten Network. The Buckeyes will look to move to 2-0 in the Big Ten, as you may remember their thrilling win over Rutgers for their first conference win a few weeks ago.