When Ohio State takes the floor this afternoon at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, it will be playing its eighth game out of the last 12 on the road. It's certainly a rare occurrence in the heart of a conference schedule.
Still, the Buckeyes have managed to keep their heads above water. They've gone 7-4 during this stretch as they currently battle for one of the top-four spots in the Big Ten. If Ohio State gets one of those, it will receive a double-bye in the Big Ten tournament.
| WHO | WHERE | WHEN | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan (13-13, 6-8) | Crisler Center | 1 p.m. | CBS |
So, in their final road game before finishing the season with three of four in Columbus, the Buckeyes must take on their arch-rival Michigan.
"I think form the standpoint of where we are, this is going to complete four out of five on the road tomorrow and eight of (12) on the road which is a very unique stretch. I don’t know if I’ve ever had that in the Big Ten," Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said Saturday. "Knowing that we are coming home, we’ve got four games left and three of them are at home, we definitely want to be playing our best basketball.”
Opponent Breakdown
Things have been better in recent seasons than they are right now for Michigan.
The Wolverines are reeling. They've lost five straight and have fallen to 13-13 overall and 6-8 in the Big Ten during a season that has seem them decimated by injuries. Michigan's best player, Caris LeVert, hasn't played since Jan. 17 and will miss the rest of the regular season. Its second-best player, Derrick Walton Jr., hasn't played since Jan. 24 and there's no timetable on a return.
As a result, the Wolverines have been short-handed for the majority of the season and it seems to have finally taken its toll on a team that reached the Elite 8 one year ago. But despite all of the fresh faces, Michigan hasn't changed the way it does things much.
Sophomore Zak Irvin (13.5 points per game) and junior Spike Albrecht (6.4 ppg.) have led the way for the Wolverines.
“Very, very similar. The one thing is all those young guys, they’re very, very young, have really, really progressed. The things that they’re doing – the offense is the same, the defense is the same," Matta said. They have certain lineups that they’ll zone with and 1-3-1 with. But everything is pretty status quo. They’ve got a few new wrinkles and that sort of thing, but everything is the same.”
Buckeye Breakdown
Ohio State has had to wait over a week to get back onto the floor after suffering a backbreaking loss last weekend in East Lansing at the hands of Denzel Valentine and Michigan State.
The Buckeyes, now 8-5 in the Big Ten, are currently on the outside looking in at the leagues top-four spots as they're alone in fifth place. Today's game against Michigan marks the beginning of a crucial four-game stretch for Ohio State in which it will likely be favored in each game before closing out the regular season at home against league-leading Wisconsin.
“We think we played hard that game, they just made one more shot than us basically," Ohio State senior point guard Shannon Scott said. "We know we can’t take a step back, though. This league’s going to be tough no matter where we go. We want to play hard the way we played last game, but find a way to win, though.”
In their last time out, the Buckeyes had to find a way to be competitive without freshman phenom D'Angelo Russell playing his best game. Russell was limited to just 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting as the Spartans hounded him all game.
As a result, Ohio State probably got its best performance of the season from Scott, who scored a team-high 15 points while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing out five assists. If Russell has another rough outing against the Wolverines — or against any other team along the way — the Buckeyes will need someone else to fill that scoring void.
“If he’s not scoring the ball somebody else has to find a way to score, basically," Scott said. "He does a great job scoring for us, but there’s going to be nights where if he can’t get shots up because the defense is playing so hard on him, other guys are going to be open. They’ve just got to make their shots.”
How It'll Play Out
It's hard to imagine the long layoff hurting Ohio State being that it had played three games in six days right before. However, the Buckeyes have been a notoriously slow-starting team this season.
Getting up early on the road is always a key. No matter the quality of opponent Ohio State has played on the road this season, it has struggled, for the most part at the beginning of the game.
Back when the schedule was released, this game against Michigan seemed like it would be troublesome for the Buckeyes. But with how this year has gone for the Wolverines, it looks to be anything but. Ohio State has a significant talent advantage over the undermanned Wolverines and has already beaten Michigan once this season.
The Buckeyes have yet to lose back-to-back games this season and with a favorable schedule the rest of the way, this is certainly a game they must have if they want to get that double-bye in the Big Ten tournament.
“Kids are resilient. They don’t think backwards, they only think forwards," Matta said. "We’ve had a tremendous week of practice. I’ve been shocked at just their energy and the kind of fire they’ve had in practice. You hope that tomorrow we take the court and hopefully we’ve got some sharpness to us.”
