With the benefit of hindsight, Ohio State’s entire season leading up to this season-closing stretch feels like a precursor.
All of the Buckeyes’ ambitions, primarily for the NCAA Tournament, are going to be decided by how they handle their final nine games as they straddle the bubble line for the Big Dance. And it all starts with a rematch against their greatest rival that also happens to be one of the best teams in the nation this year, No. 3 Michigan.
Coach Jake Diebler, a native Ohioan and Buckeye through and through, knows the weight of Sunday’s game in the Schottenstein Center. Those on his team who didn’t enter with an understanding have learned post-haste.
“I think this rivalry is so well-known across the country that when guys join our program, they know that this game feels different,” Diebler said. “And until you get to experience it, maybe you can't fully appreciate it, but you certainly appreciate it to a great extent because it’s the best rivalry in all of college athletics. And, I'm biased, but arguably one of the best rivalries in all sports. So I think there's an understanding. And then once you're in it, once you're in the trenches of it, you get it, you pick it up real quick.”
“Once you're in it, once you're in the trenches of it, you get it, you pick it up real quick.”– Jake Diebler on players learning the meaning of the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry
The Wolverines pulled away from Ohio State down the stretch of a 74-62 defense of their home Crisler Center on Jan. 23. But a win before a friendly Schottenstein Center crowd could vault the Buckeyes from the bubbliest of bubble teams to one with some breathing room, thanks to what would be an elite signature victory.
It’s also the second game of five during just a 12-day window for Ohio State, with two against top-20 teams.
“We're in the middle of a significant stretch with the amount of games, five games we have in such a tight window,” Diebler said. “This might be the first time I can remember being a part of that. But we're just taking it one day at a time and one game at a time. Certainly, this game here being the second time we’ve played them and it being a rivalry game, feels some type of way. But this group has done a great job preparing and focusing on the task at hand, and all our attention is obviously on the team up north right now.”
Ohio State stayed in lockstep with Michigan for 32 minutes in their first meeting.
The Buckeyes took a three-point lead into halftime and stretched it to six at the start of the second half. They kept trading punches through the first few media timeouts, holding a 52-51 lead with eight minutes to play. Then, Michigan launched a 21-6 run to quickly ice Ohio State out through the late-January cold.
There’s been a lot of film review in the aftermath of that game and the run-up to Sunday’s dedicated to what went wrong in those eight minutes. Depth definitely played a role: Michigan has nine players who average 15 minutes per game, while Ohio State has just six that are healthy, with forward Brandon Noel still out with a foot injury. Three Buckeyes (Thornton, John Mobley Jr. and Devin Royal) played at least 34 minutes at Michigan, while no Wolverine surpassed 31 minutes. Michigan also collected 12 offensive rebounds throughout the contest, and Ohio State had four turnovers in the final four minutes.
“We looked at the things that we can control that we need to do better in that stretch,” Diebler said. “Taking care of the ball, we drove into traffic a couple of times during that stretch. We gave up some transition buckets because of our turnovers. And then I think offensive rebounds was critical the entire game, was certainly critical in that stretch, giving up offensive rebounds.”
Michigan’s size and depth have generally been a problem for almost every team it’s faced. Starting center Aday Mara checks in at 7-foot-3, while forwards Yaxel Lendeborg and Morez Johnson Jr. are 6-foot-9. All three men average at least seven rebounds per game, with Mara No. 2 in the country at 2.8 blocks per game. He had four blocks his first game vs. the Buckeyes. Lendeborg and Johnson are the team’s leading scorers at 14.3 and 13.7 points per game.
“Their size is different,” Diebler said. “There's other big teams in our league, but they're just at a different level of size than most everybody we played all year. I think their depth is another thing. You look at who they're bringing in off their bench, they’ve got great depth as well. So those two things are – there aren't very many teams, really, in the country who can roll out with that level of size and depth.”
Ohio State’s previous pairing with Michigan was also one of the worst games of the season for the Buckeyes’ brightest star, four-time captain Bruce Thornton. He recently became just the sixth player in team history to reach 1,900 career points, but shot a meager 3-of-11 with 10 points and as many turnovers as assists, with two of each, on Jan. 23.
“He's going to continue to operate at a high level,” Diebler said. “His approach never wavers. Doesn't matter what we have going on, who we're playing. And I think he always – it's why he's such a special player – he always brings his best. Every single game, every single opponent. Certainly has been at Ohio State for, now in his fourth year and understands what this game means. But I just want him to go out, be aggressive and be himself.”
Jake Diebler knows the opportunity a massive rivalry win could bring to Ohio State. Photo credit: Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch via Imagn Images
The second rivalry tilt isn’t a must-win in terms of the NCAA Tournament for Ohio State, which still plays four more Quad 1 games and three more against ranked opponents before the season closes. But the task at hand is to seize a season-defining win over the team the Buckeyes want to beat more than any other.
“With our schedule and the way our schedule is built, you have so many big-game opportunities that you can't look too far behind. You can't look too far ahead,” Diebler said. “I think you just, you got to be in the moment and give all your energy, all your focus, all your effort on what's going on and preparing well. And that's what this group has done. This group has prepared well, they've been committed to that process. There's no reason to change that approach right now. Certainly, it's not to minimize the opportunity that's in front of us. We know that. But you look at our schedule, we got a lot of opportunities remaining.”
A shocker could mean everything. And with the weekend timing, Diebler is eager to have a rare raucous Schottenstein Center crowd behind his boys in what Ohio State is promoting as a “Scarlet the Schott” game.
“Give us a home court advantage,” Diebler said. “Help us create a great atmosphere that we can benefit from. And let's do this together. I think that's the biggest thing. Our guys are going to play really hard. They're going to play really tough. And let's all work together to create a great home court advantage tomorrow. And wear scarlet.”
