Thad Matta still isn't quite sure what to make of his young, inexperienced team, but Ohio State's head coach said something Thursday every coach hopes to express.
"We’ve been better every time we’ve taken the floor," Matta said. "Not perfect, but we’ve shown improvement somehow, someway."
| WHO | WHERE | WHEN | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas-Arlington (1-1) | Schottenstein Center | 7 pm. | ESPN3 |
The Buckeyes are 2-0 on the young season with a pair of blowouts over opponents they've overmatched. Ohio State has won those games by an average of 24.5 points and has received contributions from plenty of guys in what's been a nine-man rotation so far.
That will shrink as the season goes along, of course, but right now the unranked Buckeyes have been impressive in their first two games when you consider the number of unknowns entering the season, despite the competition level.
“Just watch a bunch of film, try to correct things that are definitely preventable," junior forward Marc Loving said. "Definitely unforced turnovers but after we got a pretty hefty film session in, definitely those turnovers are correctable. Just not making the same mistakes twice.”
Opponent Breakdown
Texas-Arlington certainly isn't a powerhouse, but the Mavericks are a step up from Ohio State's last opponent, Grambling, which ranked dead last in KenPom's college basketball rankings.
UT-Arlington comes to Columbus with a 1-1 record on the year, winning its season-opener over Fordham (77-72), but falling in its latest contest to Louisiana Tech (80-68). The Mavericks rank 216th overall in KenPom's ratings, which determine the strength of a team if it were to play a game tonight. For comparison, Ohio State currently ranks 38th overall at kenpom.com.
The Mavericks are led by sophomore guard Erick Neal, who averages a team-high 15 points per game along with an additional 4.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds. Sophomore forward Kevin Hervey is UT-Arlington's lone other double-figure scorer, averaging 11 points per game.
In two games so far this season, the Mavericks have attempted a total of 54 3-pointers, but have made just 17. They are shooting only 37.4 percent from the field as a team and are allowing opponents to hit at a 45.5 percent clip.
Despite those numbers, though, Matta expects a different type of game than the previous two Ohio State has seen thus far.
"They’re very athletic, they’ve got guys that can shoot," Matta said of UT-Arlington. "This will probably be the fastest-paced team that we’ve played to this point just in terms of they’ll get it up the floor, they’ll shoot. [Neal] is coming off a huge game Tuesday. They’ve got size, they’re playing a lot of different guys."
Buckeye Breakdown
If there's been one sticking point for the Buckeyes over their first two lopsided victories, it's the number of turnovers. Ohio State has committed 35 so far this season.
The Buckeyes have a pair of freshman point guards running a team full of inexperienced players and Matta attributed a few of those turnovers to his team still trying to figure out exactly how it needs to play together.
“The ones that drive me insane is when the same thing happens twice," Matta said. "Then, we’re not paying attention and we’re not thinking. Grambling was doing a couple things and we had some guys come into the game who didn’t see it and that’s carelessness.”
JaQuan Lyle and A.J. Harris are the pair tasked with running the show. Lyle had an impressive debut, but dealt with a bit of foul trouble in the win over the Tigers on Tuesday. Harris was held scoreless in the Buckeyes' season-opener, but saw a bit more playing time against Grambling and flashed some of his potential in a five-point effort.
"It’s a good experience for me being a freshman now in college," Harris said. "It’s been a great experience me learning everything, good coaching staff, so it’s a learning experience for me.”
Loving has led the way through two games for Ohio State, averaging a team-high 14.5 points per game. Jae'Sean Tate (12.5), Keita Bates-Diop (12.0) and Kam Williams (11.0) — fresh off a 22-point effort against Grambling — are also in double figures for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State is shooting 54.2 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from behind the 3-point line through two games. Again, it's still early and the competition has been far from stellar, so expect those numbers to come down a bit as the season progresses.
How It Plays Out
The Buckeyes have started fast in each of their first two games, something Matta wasn't exactly sure he'd see out of his young group, but certainly something he's been pleased with.
Expect another quick start for Ohio State against the Mavericks. The Buckeyes, again, hold the significant talent advantage and should build themselves a comfortable lead at halftime before coasting in the second half.
Tate and Lyle should bounce back from their underwhelming performances Tuesday against Grambling and lead the way for Ohio State, while Loving and Bates-Diop will look to continue their hot starts.
The Buckeyes shouldn't have much difficulty, but Matta remains cautious on making any guarantees of what he'll get night in and night out from this team.
Still, I don’t know when it’s going to click for me that, ‘Hey, this is going to happen tonight,’ but I’m not there yet,” he said. "It will be, as always, interesting.”
Tim's prediction: Ohio State 76, Texas-Arlington 61
