And now we interrupt your regularly scheduled Big Ten programming for a non-conference matchup that looks a bit peculiar on paper.
Ohio State gets a brief respite from the conference grind Tuesday, instead taking on an IUPUI program from the Horizon League that has won just one of its 15 games this season. The Buckeyes scheduled the contest to make up for the three games that were canceled due to their COVID-19 pause in December, but the end result may be something that resembles more of a glorified scrimmage.
| WHO | WHERE | WHEN | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| IUPUI (1-14) | Schottenstein Center | 7 p.m. | BTN |
“We wanted games for our guys. We could certainly practice, and that's important, but we just wanted game repetition for our guys. That's kind of the bottom line,” Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann said on 97.1 The Fan Monday. “We had three taken away – and no fault of anybody, just the COVID pause – so we had always intended that if we could add another game, we wanted to do that.”
The only win IUPUI has under its belt this season is against Spalding, a Division III program, while the rest of its games have been losses, and most of them of the blowout variety. The Jaguars have lost six games by at least 20 points so far this season.
Although the Jaguars managed to escape a season-opening game against Butler with just a nine-point loss back in November, Ohio State will be by far the best team IUPUI has taken on to date.
For the Buckeyes, the matchup is a makeup slot on the home schedule and a chance to continue putting wind in its sails after going 3-2 in the two-and-a-half weeks since returning to play at the start of the new year.
What to Watch For
Jaguars have nation’s worst offense
IUPUI ranks dead last in America in at least two offensive categories, and unfortunately for the Jaguars, they aren’t insignificant ones. With an average of 52.2 points per game, IUPUI is averaging fewer points than every other team in the country and has failed to hit the 50-point mark in six of its games this season. The Jaguars also average the fewest field-goal makes (18.9) in the country. By comparison, Ohio State has made that number or fewer on only two occasions this season.
Buckeyes should dominate the glass
Another weak area for the Jaguars is defensive rebounding, where their average of 21.7 per game ranks in the bottom seven in all of Division I college basketball. While the Buckeyes don’t rank among the top teams in the nation when it comes to rebounding the ball, they won’t have to in order to control the glass against a Jaguar team whose starting bigs are barely averaging five rebounds combined. Expect the rebounding margin to be rather lopsided Tuesday, with the Buckeyes on top.
Ohio State’s first blowout win in more than a month
The Buckeyes should not see much resistance in this one as long as they put together even a halfway decent effort at home. That should result in a showcase night for an Ohio State team that could use one. The Buckeyes haven’t had a blowout win since Dec. 11, and for those that are still rounding into form after recovering from COVID-19, this game should be a low-stakes platform to log minutes and get into rhythm.
Three Important Buckeyes
Kyle Young
The Buckeyes miss the offensive production that made Young the team’s third-leading scorer through the first 10 games of the season. Young was averaging 10 points per game before Ohio State’s COVID pause, but his scoring average has tapered off to just 5.8 in his four appearances since returning. Perhaps a game against an opponent like IUPUI is exactly what Young needs to get going, and the same is true for a couple of other Buckeyes.
Justin Ahrens
Without question, Ahrens is the Buckeye starter who has struggled the most on offense over the past six games, even going back to the last contest before Ohio State’s three-week hiatus. In that span, Ahrens has averaged just four points a game on 24 percent shooting from the field and 21 percent shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Ahrens needs a confidence-boosting performance, and a matchup with IUPUI might provide him with exactly that.
Cedric Russell
Holtmann said before the season that Cedric Russell might not start playing his best ball until midway through the year. He also said that Russell was one player in particular that he wished didn’t have to miss three games due to the COVID-19 break, citing that more games would help his level of comfortability in a new system. More minutes against a team like IUPUI might just get the Louisiana transfer into more of a groove after averaging just 2.8 points since the Buckeyes resumed play.
Three Important Jaguars
| Player | Position | Height | Weight | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.J. MAXWELL | G | 6-5 | 200 | 11.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG |
| NATHAN MCCLURE | G | 6-4 | 175 | 4.5 PPG, 4.3 RPG |
| BOSTON STANTON III | G | 6-5 | 190 | 4.7 PPG, 2 RPG |
| JONAH CARRASCO | F | 6-9 | 220 | 3.9 PPG, 3.5 RPG |
| CHUKS ISITUA | F/C | 6-11 | 220 | 3.7 PPG, 2.1 RPG |
B.J. Maxwell
A rare seventh-year player in the college basketball ranks, Maxwell is the Jaguars’ leading scorer at 11.6 points per game despite shooting just 34 percent from the field. The 6-foot-4 guard has scored double-digit points in nine of his 14 appearances this year, and is not shy about getting his shot up.
Azariah Seay
Despite coming off the bench in all but four games for the Jaguars this season, Seay is IUPUI’s leading scorer with an average of 7.3 points per game in just 19.2 minutes. Per 40 minutes, Seay is actually the leading scorer on the team, and the former Alabama State guard has tallied at least 15 points in four of the past six games.
Chuks Isitua
He’s not a regular starter, but 6-foot-11 forward Chuks Isitua will at least give the Buckeyes some size and length to think about with a near 7-foot frame. The freshman averages just 3.7 points and 2.1 boards per game, but he typically only sees the court for just under 15 minutes a night.
How It Plays Out
Line: Ohio State -32.5, O/U: 130.5
One of the nation's very worst teams on paper faces its stiffest task of the season. Oh, and its résumé against all previous opponents has resulted in next to no success. Something tells me this one will be one-way traffic with the Buckeyes coming out on top.
Prediction: Ohio State 87, IUPUI 51
