The Ohio State basketball team had a real shot to get a resume-boosting win on Sunday afternoon. With Michigan coming in, the Buckeyes could have gotten a win against the top team in the Big Ten. It looked like they were going to be able to do it in some stretches, too.
Instead, the Buckeyes ultimately fell to TTUN by three. The single biggest reason for the loss is how poorly the Buckeyes rebounded the ball. They allowed TTUN to have 19 offensive rebounds, which allowed them to win this game. Had Ohio State rebounded the ball better, they would have won this game.
The transfers that they brought in this year to help their rebounding have been bad. Aaron Bradshaw, who transferred in from Kentucky and is a former five-star recruit, had just a single rebound. He fouled out in just 11 minutes of play. The team simply needs better play from him.
The Ohio State basketball team has a massive rebounding problem
Sean Stewart is the other transfer big man that they brought in. He did have ten rebounds in this game, but he averages just 5.8 rebounds per game. They need some more from him if the Ohio State Buckeyes want to win enough games to make the NCAA Tournament.
Quite frankly, this is the biggest problem that the Buckeyes have with the team. That, and poor free-throw shooting. They were just 18-27 from the free-throw line on Sunday. On the season, Ohio State shoots just 74.3% from the free-throw line.
If Ohio State doesn't get better play from their bigs, they are going to be in big trouble. They probably need to win out to guarantee themselves a shot in the NCAA Tournament. They might be able to survive one more loss, but they don't want to risk it.
Jake Diebler better have his team working on boxing out in the next few practices because this is a massive problem that needs to be fixed. It's a shame they don't have the personnel to make changes. That needs to be his first priority in the offseason.