Scarlet and Game
Fansided

Ohio State basketball: How can the Buckeyes win the Big Ten Tournament?

By Jacob Rhymer

EAST LANSING, MI - MARCH 04: Justice Sueing #14 of the Ohio State Buckeyes drives baseline against Joey Hauser #10 of the Michigan State Spartans during the second half at Breslin Center on March 4, 2023 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
EAST LANSING, MI - MARCH 04: Justice Sueing #14 of the Ohio State Buckeyes drives baseline against Joey Hauser #10 of the Michigan State Spartans during the second half at Breslin Center on March 4, 2023 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

It’s officially conference tournament week for the Ohio State basketball team. Expectations aren’t high after how the regular season has gone for the Buckeye basketball team. However, it is March and anything can happen.

The Ohio State basketball team has no shot at making the NCAA Tournament this season unless they go on to miraculously win the Big Ten Tournament. With nothing to play for, the Buckeyes are going to be playing carefree. So why not try to run the table and be a bid-stealer into the NCAA Tournament?

Here are the keys for the Ohio State basketball team to win the Big Ten Tournament this week.

The freshmen have to play well for the Ohio State basketball team to have a shot to win the Big Ten Tournament. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-USA TODAY Sports
The freshmen have to play well for the Ohio State basketball team to have a shot to win the Big Ten Tournament. Mandatory Credit: Dale Young-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Ohio State basketball needs to have intense perimeter defense

The Ohio State basketball team has had its struggles on the defensive end all season long. It’s been better as of late as they’ve been giving up a little over 65 points per game in the last three games. However, they will have to increase the intensity level on the defensive end of the floor if they want to go on a run.

The defense needs to be better on all areas of the floor, but specifically, the most attention needs to be on the perimeter. Games played in the month of March are mainly won because of the guard play. The Big Ten weighs heavily on the elite bigs in the country that are among the best in the country. However, there are a couple of teams that have had consistent guard play all season long, and those teams are Michigan State and Northwestern.

The Buckeyes will face a team that has decent guard play in their first game of the Big Ten Tournament in Wisconsin. The Badgers’ backcourt is headed by Chucky Hepburn and Conner Essegian, both of which lead Wisconsin in points per game.

Those two guards gave the Buckeyes problems back in early February. Essegian led with 17 points and Hepburn followed with 15 points in their victory over Ohio State. If the Ohio State basketball team wants to be around Indianapolis for a few days, their main priority must be to slow down Wisconsin’s backcourt.

The second key is now for Ohio State’s backcourt as they will need Bruce Thornton to keep playing at a high level.

Home/Ohio State Basketball