Keyshawn Woods doesn't need any introduction to rivalries. He played at Wake Forest for two seasons in the same state the houses the famed Duke-North Carolina rivalry, which is arguably the fiercest in college basketball.
A couple months ago, he found himself on the field at Ohio Stadium to witness the most heralded college football rivalry first-hand.
| Who | Where | When | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 5 Michigan (19-1, 8-1) | Crisler Center (Ann Arbor) | 9 p.m. | ESPN2 |
“I understood how big it was, but being at that football game, you really understand because you really understand that Ohio State and Michigan don't like each other,” Woods said. “You know how serious it is for both ends. So this game is serious for us to get this win.”
Basketball is different. The animosity doesn't extend as far, and the history isn't as deep. Chris Holtmann doesn't spend the entire year running drills specifically designed around the Wolverines. But the rivalry remains, and the Buckeyes on the court find themselves in the same position the team at the Horseshoe was in: as underdogs.
Ohio State will take on No. 5 Michigan on the road inside the Crisler Center at 9 p.m. Tuesday with hopes to hand the Wolverines their second loss of the season.
“Obviously, I think it's no secret we're playing an elite team that I think has had a special season and has a chance to have another really special season,” Holtmann said. “They've got great versatility. Obviously John (Beilein) is a tremendous coach.”
While Ohio State recently had a five-game losing streak snapped with a win at Nebraska this week, Michigan snapped its 17-game winning steak with a loss to Wisconsin 10 days ago.
Since then, the Wolverines have beat both Minnesota and Indiana. The Buckeyes expect a raucous crowd.
"It's going to be a great environment. We know that going in," Woods said. "Even though I haven't played there, the only time I've ever seen them, I've seen them on TV. I can compare it to me going to play North Carolina, me going to play Duke. Going into an environment like that, you have to be prepared for the fans, and you've got to be prepared to take the fans out of the game. So in order to do that, we have to execute our game plan and stick to what we know what we are good at and take them out of their game plan."
Opponent Preview
Ohio State averages 74.3 points per game this season, but only one of Michigan's 20 opponents this season have scored more than 74 points. South Carolina reached 78 points, but the Wolverines put up a season-high 89 points to dispose of the Gamecocks.
Michigan allows just 56.2 points per game, the second-fewest in the country, behind just Virginia. Opponents have hit 39.4 percent of their fields goals and 29.7 percent of their 3-point attempts. The Wolverines also average a plus-3.3 rebounding margin. KenPom ranks Michigan as having the top adjusted defensive efficiency in the country. There simply aren't many holes in Beilein's defense that teams have found.
“Great individual defenders," Holtmann said. "They've got a great system, but any elite defensive team, you're going to look and you're going to find great individual, versatile defenders. Look at them. (Zavier) Simpson's as good as an on-ball defender as I can remember seeing in college basketball both in his ability to be disruptive and his physicality. (Jon) Teske's an elite ball-screen defender. Those guys, they've got really good length. (Charles) Matthews is a very good defender, and (Jordan) Poole and those other guys give them blanket versatility.”
Offensively, no player averages more points than Ignas Brazdeikis, a 6-foot-7, 215-pound freshman who put up 15.2 points per game, hitting 46.4 percent of his shots and 35.8 percent of his 3-pointers.
Both Matthews and Poole also average double-digit points. Poole is a threat from deep, hitting 42 percent of his triples and averaging five 3-points attempts per game.
“They have an outstanding blend of kind of some returning guys, guys like Poole and Matthews and Teske and obviously Simpson,” Holtmann said. “Those four guys won a lot and played in a lot of games that have been very important, and then you add some depth and obviously a freshman in Brazdeikis who can create some real matchup issues. Obviously a great challenge.”
Ohio State Preview
After one of Ohio State's losses during it five-game skid, Holtmann needed to console his 8-year-old daughter, Nora. He admits he didn't handle what he called the hardest stretch of his coaching career very well, and Nora was "very concerned" about him. She saw how animated her father had become on the sideline and needed to be assured that everything would be all right.
So when he got home after one of the five losses, his wife, Lori, told him he needed to go upstairs and talk to Nora.
“So I had to wake her up and tell her that, hey, daddy's going to be OK. We're going to keep fighting at this thing and working at it and trying to figure out how I can do better and put our guys in better position,” Holtmann said. “Some coaches, when they go through a stretch like that, they will just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. For me, I get a little more introspective, and that probably created some concern in her mind.”
The five-game skid, which included losses to Michigan State, Iowa, Rutgers, Maryland and Purdue, finally ended on Saturday.
Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports.
In order to beat the Cornhuskers, the Buckeyes made an in-game adjustment to go away from their man-to-man defense in favor of a zone defense, and Holtmann added some press defense at times. He would prefer not to be making such drastic changes in the middle of games multiple months into the season, but that's what happens when a team drops five in a row.
“You're just searching,” Holtmann said. “I don't think you're just throwing stuff up against the wall and seeing what sticks because I don't think that's a healthy place to put your team in. I'm sure there are 1,000s of Monday morning quarterbacks that probably have their ideas, but we tried to have just a specific idea. In a perfect idea, would I want to be changing these thing this much at this point in the season? No. I'd want to be really kind of tweaking some things and figuring out how to get better in some of those areas that we need to get better in. If you said, 'Hey, if you had your druthers, what would you do?' That would be my preference. Not quite this. But we're adjusting both to some injuries and the situations in front of us.”
Though small ball with Andre Wesson at center has worked well the past two games, Holtmann said the team had spent a week and a half practicing playing a lineup featuring more height and length before Kyle Young's injury foiled the plan. Instead, the Buckeyes fell into the smaller lineup, which has worked and will likely see some time Tuesday night against Michigan.
How It Plays Out
Michigan's defense is good. Really good. In order to penetrate it, the Buckeyes need big games from both Kaleb Wesson and shooters surrounding him. They've gotten away with playing a small lineup, but that could prove difficult versus the Wolverines. Ohio State needs to play an inside-out game with Wesson and surrounding wings and guards in order to have a chance. Recent results make that look difficult.
Having lost less than two weeks ago, the Wolverines look more fallible than they did earlier in the season, and they also beat Minnesota by just two points a week ago. Given the defensive prowess, Ohio State's difficult month of January and the home-court advantage, Michigan is a worthy nine-point favorite. But the Buckeyes can keep it close, and they might have a shot to win down the stretch if players find their shots.
Prediction: Michigan 70, Ohio State 65
