Following a four game losing streak dropping Ohio State's record to 2-4, the specter of D'Angelo Russell's departure loomed large over a group of players struggling to find their way.
The lack of a go-to guy down the stretch fueled by inexperience and yet to be defined roles led to countless empty offensive possessions late in games and despite legit size along the baseline, the Buckeyes were outrebounded in all four losses.
Eleven days later, Thad Matta's team bottomed out in a 75-55 spanking at the hands of Connecticut but just as it appeared Ohio State's season was on the brink guys finally started to step up, believe in each other and share the workload as individual roles came into focus.
Now, the Buckeyes are sporting a seven-game win streak ahead of this afternoon's clash on the road against Indiana and the offensive and defensive balance – as opposed to having one guy such as Russell do all the heavy lifting – has sparked the team's resurgence.
Illustrating the balanced contributions from this year's group, five different Buckeyes have led the team in scoring through the first 16 games. Marc Loving has done it five times, or 31% of the games, Jae'Sean Tate is next with four instances (25%) followed by Keita Bates-Diop (three times) and JaQuan Lyle and Kam Williams at twice each.
The community scoring responsibility is even more impressive during the current seven-game winning streak with five different guys leading the team paced by Loving and Bates-Diop with two instances apiece.
The obvious upside to sharing responsibility is being able to overcome nights when someone doesn't have it going offensively or is in foul trouble. Loving, the team's leading scorer (14.9 ppg), for example, failed to reach double figures three times during the seven game winning streak but each time a teammate stepped up.
Tate went for 17 and Bates-Diop 14 while Loving missed nine of 12 shots in a 13-point win over Northern Illinois. Two games later against Mercer, Loving scored a season low four points but the trio of Tate, Bates-Diop and Lyle picked him up scoring a combined 43 points on 50% shooting from the field in a 20-point win.
Most recently, at Northwestern, the team's second-leading scorer, Bates-Diop (12.1 ppg) found himself in early foul trouble and ended up posting a donut (0/3 FGA) in just 13 minutes of action. On cue, Williams came off the bench and blew up for 21 points on 8/13 from the floor including 5/9 from downtown to lead the Buckeyes past the Wildcats.
A similar story is unfolding on the backboards. As with scoring, five different guys have led the team in rebounding in at least one game through the first 16 outings.
During the seven-game win streak Bates-Diop has led or tied for the team lead in rebounding five times. Trevor Thompson is next with four such outings followed by Tate with a pair and Loving once.
A sign the work on the glass is truly a group effort, Tate (6.6), Bates-Diop (6.2) and Loving (6.0) are all averaging over six rips per night with Thompson checking in at 5.1.
For perspective, the point guard led Ohio State in rebounding last year (5.7). Tate was the only other guy averaging even five boards per game. The team's two centers, Amir Williams (4.7) and Trey McDonald (2.6) combined to pull down 7.3 rebounds per night.
The collective approach to hitting the glass has allowed the team to overcome foul trouble especially when it strikes the true centers, Thompson and Daniel Giddens.
As the schedule stiffens in the coming weeks we'll learn a lot more about the makeup of this team but the fact so many guys are legit factors in key areas such as scoring and rebounding – especially when you factor in the team's youth – should have fans excited for the future.
