The Ohio State basketball program got a massive victory over Purdue last weekend. It was the win that they had been searching for all season long. In fact, it has now put them into the projected field of the NCAA Tournament. It has been a tough road for them to get here.
In the offseason, the Buckeyes added a few players from the transfer portal who they were hoping were going to make a big impact. Brandon Noel has done next to nothing because of an injury. Puff Johnson was ineligible for most of the year and didn't even play against the Boilermakers. Christoph Tilly has been the most impactful transfer at the center spot.
Gabe Cupps transferred to the Ohio State Buckeyes after spending his first two seasons of his collegiate career at Indiana. He played high school basketball in the state of Ohio and moved back. His impact has perhaps been the worst of any of the transfers, and one wild stat shows that.
Ohio State basketball player Gabe Cupps has a wild stat about his ineffectiveness
So far this season, Cups has more fouls than he does points with the Buckeyes. He has 44 points in 28 games so far this year. He has committed 46 fouls over that timeframe. Coming off the bench, he has had very little impact. Cupps is averaging fewer points per game than he did as a freshman at IU.
The poor production off the bench has been a story for the Buckeyes this season. Jake Diebler has had to rely on his starters for most of the points scored this year. Only Taison Chatman has been able to be a reliable scorer off the bench so far this year.
Cupps is someone that Diebler uses to give Bruce Thornton some rest at the point guard spot. He can't run the offense, but he doesn't need to. Cupps needs to just play some decent defense, keep the fouls to a minimum, and not turn the ball over.