After handing Maryland an 82-67 beatdown at home last weekend, Chris Holtmann's basketball Buckeyes currently stand at 7-3 in Big Ten play, two games back of league-leader Illinois (10-2) with 10 games left in regular season conference action.
Sunday's win over the Terps moved Ohio State to a perfect 4-0 at home against conference foes and now a tough week of road contests looms with a date at Rutgers tomorrow night followed by a Saturday early-evening banger against Michigan in Ann Arbor.
After those two matchups, Ohio State will have played eight of its 12 league games on the road this season thanks to postponed home dates with Nebraska and Iowa due to COVID-19 and inclement weather. Once this week is in the books however, the Buckeyes will play six of their final eight regular season Big Ten games in the friendly confines of Value City Arena (assuming the Nebraska and Iowa games are rescheduled).
With the Buckeyes lurking behind first place Illinois and on the heels of Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan State, bagging these two roadies before all those upcoming home games would keep Holtmann's squad in the thick of the race. But as any seasoned Big Ten basketball fan knows, winning on the road in conference play is always a tall task.
Ohio State stands 3-3 in league roadies so far this season with wins over bottom-feeders Penn State, Minnesota and Nebraska. Its three losses have come against teams in the top-half of the conference standings in Indiana (lost by 16), Wisconsin (lost by 10) and Purdue (lost by 3).
| METRIC | HOME (4-0) | AWAY (3-3) |
|---|---|---|
| ADJ OFF EFF | 120.2 | 116.6 |
| ADJ DEF EFF | 93.4 | 100 |
| EFF FG% | 56.8 | 53.1 |
| EFF FG% DEF | 46.5 | 50.1 |
| TOV% | 15.9 | 16.8 |
| TOV% DEF | 14.4 | 13.3 |
| 2PT FG% | 56.9 | 55.2 |
| 2PT FG% DEF | 45.8 | 49.4 |
| 3PT FG% | 37.8 | 33.7 |
| 3PT FG% DEF | 31.7 | 34.5 |
| FT% | 75.3 | 78.9 |
| PPP OFF | 1.148 | 1.092 |
| PPP DEF | 0.978 | 1.087 |
Like most teams, Ohio State's home and away statistical splits in conference games help illustrate how tough it is to win on the road in the Big Ten.
The chart to the right shows Ohio State fares better in virtually every statistical metric at home versus the road against conference opponents, with some variances more pronounced than others.
Certainly offensive and defensive efficiency and field goal shooting percentages stick out, leading in part to worse points per possession offense and defense away from Value City Arena.
Within the team's home/away splits, I found it interesting how its two most important scorers - E.J. Liddell and Malaki Branham - showed up at home and on the road through 10 league contests.
Liddell has been unreal at home against Big Ten foes, averaging 26.3 points on a blistering 62.2% from the floor. In six conference roadies however, he's averaging a more-human 16 points on just 40.3% shooting. That said, over his last three outings away from the Schott, he performed more like you'd expect, pouring in 20.3 points on 52.4% from the field.
Branham's splits are wild in that my guess coming into the season would've been he'd be more comfortable on his home floor as a true freshman but he's struggling against Big Ten opponents in Value City Arena so far, averaging 10 points on 31% shooting. On the road? He's been much better averaging 16.7 points per contest on 54.1% from the floor. Even if you throw out his 35-point effort at Nebraska, he's still averaging 13 points on 49.1% in the other five conference roadies.
Not to say Ohio State is a two-man team but receiving solid output from Liddell and Branham on the road would likely go a long way toward Holtmann's hopes of snagging two wins this week.
And if the Buckeyes want to stay within arm's reach of league-leading Illinois, they'll have to win at least one, if not both.
First up, tomorrow night, is a Rutgers team with a stout 5-1 home record against league opponents featuring a win over Purdue and last Saturday's 84-63 thrashing of Michigan State. Six Scarlet Knights reached double figures against Tom Izzo's squad as Rutgers outscored Sparty 44-25 in the second half.
Liddell has been unreal at home against Big Ten foes, averaging 26.3 points on a blistering 62.2% from the floor. In six LEAGUE roadies however, he's averaging a more-human 16 points on just 40.3% shooting.
Ohio State's defense will need to come up big against a Rutgers offense capable of catching fire behind guys like Ron Harper Jr. (17.1 ppg in B1G) and Geo Baker (12.2 ppg in B1G). For what it's worth, Holtmann is 2-1 at Jersey Mike's Arena during his Ohio State tenure.
Following the Rutgers clash, Ohio State heads to Ann Arbor where the Wolverines sport a 3-1 home record in league action though the wins have come against weak squads in Maryland, Northwestern and Nebraska. Michigan's lone home B1G loss came way back on December 11 against Minnesota.
The Buckeyes might catch Michigan at just the right time however as the Wolverines will cap a four games in eight days stretch against the Buckeyes with two of those coming against an elite Purdue squad sitting just one game back of the Illini. (Purdue hosts Illinois tonight at 9 p.m. on ESPN, btw.)
Holtmann hasn't fared quite as well in Crisler Arena, with Ohio State going 1-2 during his four-plus seasons guiding the Buckeyes.
With 10 games to play, the reality is a bad week won't mathematically sink the Buckeyes' regular season conference title hopes but if we're being real, this week presents a significant opportunity to record a couple road victories and remain in the hunt.
