Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann watches the team from the sidelines during the Ohio State-Morehead State game on Dec. 2. Ohio State won 77-44. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
After dropping a second conference game in three tries, the Buckeyes return home to take on a struggling Nebraska squad.
No. 25 Ohio State (7-2, 1-2) plays host to Nebraska (4-5, 0-2) Wednesday at the Schottenstein Center. Despite a close loss to Northwestern, head coach Chris Holtmann commended his team’s ability to bounce back and their ability to show resilience throughout the season.
Now with conference play in full swing, Holtmann said the Buckeyes will deal with their fair share of adversity.
“You don’t have to be a Big Ten guru to look around the league and figure out that every team is going to go through tough losses — that’s part of being in a league that has nine teams in the top 25 and the overall depth that it has,” Holtmann said Tuesday. “This group’s been a really mature group, as I’ve said — not going to be the only adversity we’ll see.”
One player that will not be part of the bounceback effort against the Cornhuskers is redshirt junior guard Musa Jallow, who will miss the matchup due to COVID-19 contact tracing.
Holtmann said he is not concerned about other players missing time, but emphasized the need to fill the void left by Jallow.
“You don’t want any young man to miss games — not only for themselves but for the team — and certainly given the way he’s played,” Holtmann said. “We’ll have to adjust and move forward and guys will need to be ready to step up.”
On the other side, Nebraska enters the game seeking its first conference win of the season — dropping games to Wisconsin and Michigan.
Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg said that it is important for his team to collect a conference win in order to build confidence and that they will have to pass a physical test against Ohio State in order to do so.
“This will be the most physical team we’ve played against all year,” Hoiberg said Tuesday. “They battle you, they fight you through, they pressure, they’re going to war through screens, so we’re going to have to handle that.”
The Cornhuskers are led by junior guard Teddy Allen who enters the game averaging 18.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
Sophomore guard Dalano Banton has also provided a lift for Nebraska. The 6-foot-9 guard has supplied the Cornhuskers with a per game average of 14.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
Banton and Allen have connected on 45.7 percent and 44.0 percent of their field goal attempts, respectively.
“You look at their starting lineup, they have great size across the board,” Holtmann said. “I’ve always really respected the way Fred’s groups have played and shared the ball and moved it. And defensively, they really have done a good job this year making it difficult for teams in a lot of ways.”
Although Nebraska has received efficient production from two of its top players, the Buckeyes have seen a dropoff in the performance of three of their most vital contributors.
Redshirt senior guard CJ Walker enters the game averaging 10 points per game but shooting below 33 percent from the field on the season.
Walker’s backcourt running mate is junior guard Duane Washington Jr. who has had similar struggles from the field. Washington has put up 14.4 points per game to the tune of 34.8-percent shooting from the field.
“Kaleb (Wesson), obviously, created a lot of openings for them last year given the amount of attention he got and space that he provided outside the line — both he and Andre (Wesson) created tremendous space and opportunities for those guys,” Holtmann said, “I think that continues to be an adjustment for those guys, because we really don’t have that right now.”
Redshirt junior forward Justice Sueing has also struggled to replicate his nonconference efficiency.
In Big Ten action, Sueing has averaged 7.3 points per game on 36.4-percent shooting.
Despite the dropoff from his string of four double-digit scoring efforts to begin the season, Holtmann said it will take time for the California transfer to adjust to Big Ten play.
“I don’t look at this like other people do or people on the outside or fans. I think we all understood this was going to be — especially when we got into Big Ten play — a real adjustment period for him,” Holtmann said. “There’s an adjustment that has to happen and it’s on him to continue to adjust and grow, and it’s on us to help him get to that point.”
Holtmann said that despite an unusual year, he has not been surprised by anything his team has done and points to the group’s resilience in games as a positive thus far.
Continuing to express that the team is a work in progress, Holtmann and his Buckeyes will take the next step in their maturation when they host Nebraska Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
