Ohio State sophomore forward Kyle Young (25) attempts to catch a pass during the second half of the game against Syracuse on Nov. 29. Ohio State lost 72-62. Credit: Amal Saeed | Assistant Photo Editor
After leaving Chicago with a 80-66 win against UCLA, the highest opponent in terms of KenPom rankings it had faced since Dec. 2, No. 13 Ohio State has continued its early season roll.
The Buckeyes have wins in 11 of their first 12 games, not allowing an opponent to score more than 70 points in all but two games this season, one of which was a 10-point loss to Syracuse.
Ohio State will wrap up its non-conference schedule Saturday when the Buckeyes take on High Point in their final game of 2018.
Projected Starters
No. 13 Ohio State (11-1, 2-0 Big Ten)
G — C.J. Jackson — Senior, 13.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.9 apg
G — Luther Muhammad — Freshman, 8.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.3 apg
F — Kyle Young — Sophomore, 7.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.2 apg
F — Andre Wesson — Junior, 7.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.5 apg
F — Kaleb Wesson — Sophomore, 16.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 1.5 apg
High Point (6-6)
G — Jahaad Proctor — Junior, 22.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.5 apg
G — Brandonn Kamga — Junior, 15.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.5 apg
G — Curtis Holland III — Freshman, 7.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.4 apg
F — Jordan Whitehead — Redshirt senior, 6.3 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 0.8 apg
F — Ricky Madison — Senior, 5.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 1.6 apg
Playing in the Big South, the same conference as Gardner-Webb, the head coaching job Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann held from 2010-13, High Point has won six of 12 games it has played this season and is the No. 235 team in the country according to KenPom.
The Panthers, winners of three of the past four games, are near the bottom of the Big South in scoring offense, averaging 68.2 points per game and shooting 45.4 percent from the field as a team. Unlike many of the opponents Ohio State has faced recently, High Point does not have an affinity for the 3, averaging 5.4 3-point makes per game, the worst in the conference, while shooting 31.7 percent from deep.
High Point has two main scorers that average double-digit point totals per game. Junior guard Jahaad Proctor leads the team, averaging 22.3 points per game, No. 3 in the conference, while shooting 51.3 percent from the field. He also leads the team with 42 assists.
Junior guard Brandonn Kamga also averages 15.3 points per game and leads the team with 11 blocks, but has only made 24-of-44 attempts from the free-throw line.
After facing UCLA 7-foot-1 freshman center Moses Brown in his last game, Ohio State sophomore forward and leading rebounder Kaleb Wesson will have to likely match up with 6-foot-7, 214-pound senior forward Ricky Madison, averaging a team-leading 7.3 boards per game for a team that averages 35.1 rebounds per game and are No. 3 in the Big South with a plus-3.4 rebounding margin.
Ohio State will take on High Point in its final non-conference game in the Schottenstein Center at noon on Saturday.
