Sam Thompson sat down at the table for his post-game press conference fully aware of what he was going to be asked about first.
The question was going to be in regards to Ohio State's switch to a man-to-man defense with just over four minutes remaining in the first half of Saturday's game against Illinois. The Buckeyes had spent the game's first 16 minutes — and the majority of their season, really — playing a 2-3 zone.
"Y’all don’t have any offensive questions?" Thompson jokingly asked back to a reporter who posed the opening question.
The decision for the switch, which Thompson later added was made by head coach Thad Matta and not at the request of the players, certainly paid off.
After a steal and dunk by Illinois' Malcolm Hill put the Illini ahead 34-26, Matta called a timeout and made the change. The result? A 10-3 run to close the first half and a second half that included the 20th-ranked Buckeyes outscoring Illinois by 17 to earn a comfortable 77-61 victory.
"They shot us out of it to be honest with you," Matta said of the reason for the switch. "It wasn't like they were shooting 21-footers either, they were shooting from 24 feet and they were going in. That was the biggest thing. They just literally shot us out of it."
Matta wasn't wrong, either.
The Illini opened the game torching the nets from behind the 3-point line making 8 of their first 14 attempts from downtown. But after the change was made, the Illini's shooting percentage plummeted as they made just 1 of their final 10 attempts from downtown.
"I think there was some excitement," Thompson said. "Like we said, the seniors have been playing man a long time, a lot of the younger guys have played man all throughout high school and what not, it’s something that they are comfortable with. I think we got a little bit excited.”
The Buckeyes certainly responded well to the change as their huge second half was also a big reason for the blowout win. Trailing 44-41 early in the second half, Ohio State used a 21-2 run to catapult ahead and didn't look back.
In that span, freshman guard D'Angelo Russell scored eight of his game-high 22 points and the Buckeyes' defensed forced eight Illinois turnovers.
"My role on the team is create for others and make shots and do whatever coach needs me to do," Russell said. "Throughout the previous games coach has been big on me on making shots and taking the right shots. I know if I miss on or air ball on one I have to get through it. No matter if it’s early in the game or late in the game I have to take shots.”
The win for the Buckeyes was huge as they couldn't afford to fall to 0-2 in Big Ten play. Not if they want to have any shot at upsetting Wisconsin to win the conference title.
The switch to zone changed the momentum of this game, but are the Buckeyes better off playing it for the rest of the way?
"We could be," Matta said.
Whether or not they will actually keep playing it remains to be seen.
