Before Ohio State can set its sights on its premier matchup against defending national champion North Carolina on Saturday, the Buckeyes have one more test to pass.
| Who | Where | When | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Citadel (5-6) | Value City Arena | 7 p.m. | BTN |
The Citadel comes to Columbus on Tuesday with a 5-6 record, with only two of those wins coming against Div. I opponents. The Bulldogs have struggled to play consistent defense this season, allowing 100 points on three separate occasions, including a 39-point loss to Virginia Tech in which The Citadel allowed the Hokies to drop 132 points on Nov. 12.
The Bulldogs rank 350th out of 351 teams in points allowed per game, surrendering 97.6 points per contest. The Citadel enters the game against Ohio State off of a 110-66 win over Point University, an NAIA school based in Georgia.
Opponent Breakdown
The Citadel is a military school, which in turn, features a smaller roster in terms of height. The Bulldogs feature four players standing 6-foot-1 or shorter and their tallest player, forward Rob Johnson, stands 6-foot-8 and 190 pounds.
Johnson leads the Bulldogs in the paint, grabbing 4.5 rebounds per game and leads the team in blocked shots with eight this season. He also averages 5.2 points per contest off the bench for The Citadel.
Guard Tariq Simmons leads the scoring charge for The Citadel, scoring 13.5 points per game in five starts, playing in all 11 games this season. He is joined in the Bulldog backcourt by Matt Frierson, who is shooting the ball at a 41 percent clip from three-point range off the bench this season.
Guard Kaelon Harris is also a threat from behind the arc, shooting 41 percent from long range and 45 percent from the floor in 10 starts this year.
The Bulldogs use primarily a 10-man rotation, but all but two of the players on their roster have appeared in every game this season. The Citadel has struggled to find consistent offense this season and struggles at the free throw line, shooting under 70 percent as a team from the charity stripe.
Buckeye Breakdown
Ohio State has won four games in a row and is looking to take a five-game winning streak into its showdown against the Tar Heels on Saturday afternoon in New Orleans.
The Buckeyes are hopeful that they will have their full complement of players when they take on The Citadel, as they did against Appalachian State, if only for a brief while.
Micah Potter and Kyle Young are both slowly working their way back from ankle injuries and both earned time against the Mountaineers, albeit limited. Potter played just one minute, and did not record a stat in the win, while Young played 13 minutes and scored two points against Appalachian State.
Chris Holtmann said after the win that he wanted to ease them both into game action instead of giving them normal, rotational minutes.
"Micah did say his ankle was feeling as good as its felt, and I would expect that he will play more Tuesday," Holtmann said Saturday after the win over Appalachian State. "Kyle played a little more than I had anticipated because Kaleb (Wesson) got into a little foul trouble."
After being in and out of the starting lineup through the first month of the season, senior guard Kam Williams has quietly put together solid performances in each of Ohio State's last two wins.
In victories over William & Mary and Appalachian State, Williams has scored in double digits both times and has shot the ball at a 57.1 clip. While he has only attempted seven long-range shots in that span, he has also gotten to the free throw line eight times, making six attempts.
Williams has also shown willingness to drive the ball into the lane more often, and has been more aggressive with his shot, a good sign for Ohio State's offense.
How It Plays Out
The Citadel has played teams from the NAIA, NCAA Div. III and the NCCAA during its regular season, and checks in as the 316th ranked team in the country out of 351 teams in Ken Pomeroy's advanced statistical ranking system.
It would come as a shock if Ohio State didn't win by at least 20, let alone lose to the Bulldogs on Tuesday night, in its final tune-up before facing the Tar Heels. Expect an easy win for the Scarlet and Gray on Tuesday in the Schottenstein Center.
Prediction: Ohio State 95, The Citadel 65
