Take a glance up and down Ohio State's roster and you'll find 10 of its 13 players are listed at 6-foot-5 or taller.
Jae'Sean Tate is not one of those 10, but that doesn't really matter. Because even though he stands just 6-foot-4, Tate plays just as big — if not bigger than — any of the other Buckeyes.
"Jae'Sean played like he was 7-foot-5 tonight down there around the basket," Ohio State head coach Thad Matta said following Sunday's 82-70 win over Indiana.
Matta said it in a joking manner, but it also rang true.
Against the Hoosiers — a team that because of injuries doesn't play a big guy — the Buckeyes were able to use their small-ball lineup with Tate doing most of the damage from the inside.
Ohio State's trio of bigs played a combined six minutes, while Tate logged 35. He scored a career-high 20 points, grabbed six rebounds and made 9 of his 10 attempts from the floor.
"Just to bring energy and rebound," Tate said when asked of his role following the win over the Hoosiers before he was reminded he scored 20 points. "Honestly, with (Shannon Scott and D'Angelo Russell) I was just finishing the baskets. They fed it to me, it was spoon fed. Without my point guards it wouldn’t have been possible.”
But that's just been the kind of freshman season it's been so far for Tate. He somewhat flies under the radar.
Russell (deservedly) gets most of the headlines, but Tate's impact on this year's team has been almost as vital. He brings a certain energy and toughness to the floor for the Buckeyes.
“Coming in the summer, it was difficult just trying to figure out where you fit in and trying to execute your role," Tate said. "Throughout the course of the season I’ve began to feel more comfortable and it’s just been taking off from there. Every game I feel like I’m improving as a college basketball player.”
So much that Matta recently moved Tate into Ohio State's starting lineup. After coming off the bench and providing a spark for the first 19 games of the season, Tate earned his first start against Northwestern on Thursday.
With the way he plays despite his lack of size, it will be hard to take him out.
"I also think this with Jae’Sean is Jae’Sean, the one thing I've learned about Jae'Sean in the short time he's been here, Jae'Sean's going to do whatever he can to help us win," Matta said. "He is a winner."
The Buckeyes seem like they have an added spark to them and it's allowed them to pick up back-to-back wins for the first time in nearly a month. It kind of feels like a possible turning point in Ohio State's season.
“I think we are starting to find our roles, hit our strides as coach would say," Tate said. "We were up and down throughout the season and I think these two wins in a row — that’s all we kept talking about is how important it was to just get two wins in a row.”
On Thursday against No. 16 Maryland, Tate and the Buckeyes are hoping to turn those two wins in a row into three.
