Perhaps the Buckeyes learned a lesson or two from their North Carolina loss.
On Saturday it was Ohio State playing the role of nail while the Tar Heels, and 6-foot-11 big man Armando Bacot in particular, represented the hammer. Bacot scored 28 points, almost entirely in the paint, while the Buckeyes gave up more points and rebounds than any opponent had mustered against them in the first nine games.
On Wednesday, the Buckeyes did all the bullying.
Ohio State flexed its collective muscle against an overmatched Maine roster, pouring in 64 points in the lane while the Black Bears only managed 28 points in the paint. The Buckeyes also dominated on the glass, finishing with a 39-27 edge in rebounds as they cruised to a 34-point mauling of Maine at the Schottenstein Center.
The Buckeyes put an exclamation point on a number of opportunities they got near the rim, slamming home 11 dunks in total and eight in the first half. It wasn’t just one player exploiting the advantage, either. Five Buckeyes finished in double-digit scoring figures, five different Ohio State players had at least one dunk and the Buckeyes had their best team field-goal percentage (61.2) and second-highest point total (95) of the season.
“Obviously that's unrealistic just given the given the competition we're going to face. But yeah, I thought our guys were intentional about playing through the paint and then allowing that to create other opportunities for us,” Chris Holtmann said after the win. “I think we've done that for the most part this year, outside of maybe the first half of the Eastern Illinois game where I thought we settled too much.”
In any game that features a strong interior presence from the Buckeyes, it’s a safe bet that Zed Key was the catalyst from the outset. That was true on Wednesday, as Ohio State’s starting center had 10 points by the 13:27 mark of the first half, with six of those coming on dunks. Key finished with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting in 24 minutes, and shot five of Ohio State’s seven free throws on the evening.
Pro tip: don't leave Zed Key alone. @iamzedkey x @OhioStateHoops pic.twitter.com/v37Ubt5kFQ
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) December 22, 2022
But even Key’s backup had a stellar evening. Freshman big man Felix Okpara got into double figures for just the second time all season, putting up 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting with three dunks of his own before the final buzzer. Okpara also had another highlight block to add to his ever-expanding reel as Ohio State kept the Black Bears from getting easy looks in the lane.
“I've kind of embraced my role on the team. So it's become way easier for me, you know,” Okpara said. “I know I'm coming off the bench, I gotta come with great energy. I got to provide, crash the boards, play defense.”
As for the best dunk of the night, Okpara was partial to his own, but also gave some credit to Justice Sueing.
Justice Sueing. That's the tweet. @JusticeSueing x @OhioStateHoops pic.twitter.com/EvyqLpMmLK
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) December 22, 2022
“I would say it's mine. And also I would say Sway (Sueing), Sway had some good dunks,” Okpara said. “I wanted him to windmill the one, but two points is two points. Would've been cool.”
Sueing had three dunks as part of a 15-point performance that saw the sixth-year senior hit seven of his 12 shot attempts. After a somewhat inconsistent start to the season, Sueing seems to have evened out with his past couple performances, combining to score 31 points between Saturday’s overtime defeat to the Tar Heels and Wednesday’s blowout victory.
Steal dunk. @JusticeSueing x @OhioStateHoops pic.twitter.com/EDfwAplLRA
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) December 22, 2022
But the best individual performance of the night was once again put forth by true freshman Brice Sensabaugh, who led Ohio State with 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Sensabaugh also dished seven assists and pulled down seven boards in just 25 minutes of action, and his plus/minus of 34 was the best on the team against Maine.
Scoring inside and out on a game-to-game basis, Sensabaugh’s rapid emergence as a go-to option for the Buckeyes – as shown in crucial late-game situations against both North Carolina and Rutgers – will benefit the Buckeyes moving forward, especially as his confidence continues to grow amid his first year of college basketball.
Dominating a mid-major opponent may not be cause for excessive celebration, but Holtmann did place a level of importance on Wednesday’s contest in a press conference at the beginning of the week. The Buckeye head coach wanted to see how his team would respond to an emotional loss, and Ohio State put forth arguably its cleanest game of the season.
The Buckeyes tied their previous season-low for personal fouls (10), committed their second-fewest turnovers of the year (seven) and finished with three more assists than their season-best through the first nine games.
But most importantly, Ohio State displayed a physical brand of basketball that it will need to draw upon to win tough games once the Big Ten schedule resumes on Jan. 1, even if it did so against a team it was expected to blow out in the first place.
