The No. 25 Ohio State men’s basketball team (6-2) will face Rutgers (6-2) in Columbus on Thursday. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor
The No. 25 Ohio State men’s basketball team will take on Rutgers at the Schottenstein Center in its first conference matchup of the season.
The Buckeyes (6-2) currently sit No. 7 in the Big Ten Conference, coming off a 96-59 win against St. Francis Red Flashes Saturday. Ohio State last faced off against Rutgers Feb. 9 when the Scarlet Knights snapped the Buckeyes’ four-game winning streak 66-64.
Head coach Chris Holtmann highlighted Rutgers’ improved defense, noting it will be a key factor into how the Buckeyes approach the game.
“I think they’re one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Holtmann said. “It’s always very physical with Steve’s [Pikiell] team.”
Rutgers (6-2) comes off a 63-48 win Saturday against No. 10 Indiana in its first conference matchup of the season. Pikiell has been with the team since 2016 and took Rutgers to the NCAA Tournament last year for the first time since 1991.
Senior guard Cam Spencer leads Rutgers in assists and steals, and junior center Clifford Omoruyi currently leads the Scarlet Knights behind 15.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game and a team-best 14 blocks.
“He’s one of the best bigs in the country,” Holtmann said. “Certainly one of the best bigs in the Big Ten.”
The Scarlet Knights sit at No. 5 in the NCAA in scoring defense, holding teams to an average of 54.1 points per game and a 35.4-percent field goal percentage.
Comparatively, the Buckeyes rank No. 63 in the NCAA in scoring defense, but rank No. 44 in total offense whereas Rutgers does not crack the top 100.
Freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh currently leads the Buckeyes with 14.3 points per game, and said there’s been “constant growth” within the team featuring 10 newcomers among its 14 rostered players.
“I feel like we’ve gotten off to a good start as a team,” Sensabaugh said. “We are a bunch of new people, and we’re gelling. Everybody’s well connected, just allowing the team captains to lead us and all of us getting into roles is going to be important.”
Ohio State cracked the AP Top 25 for the first time this season before its matchup against then-No. 17 Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, remaining at that spot after their 81-72 loss Nov. 30 to the Blue Devils.
Freshman guard Roddy Gayle Jr., averaging around five points per game this season, touched on the Buckeyes’ potential and finding the right mindset for the first Big Ten matchup of the season.
“My mindset is to just play hard, to control what you can control and just give everything you got,” Gayle said.
With the Rutgers matchup being the first Big Ten outing of the season for Ohio State, Holtmann stressed the importance of focusing on the game at hand.
“I just don’t get worked up about anything outside of how we’re performing this time of year because we got a lot of games in front of us,” Holtmann said. “A lot of great Big Ten games that we’re going to play starting on Thursday night and then picking back up in January.”
Ohio State tips off against Rutgers Thursday at the Schottenstein Center at 7 p.m. ESPN2 will broadcast.
