To say Ohio State has struggled shooting the basketball since Jan. 5 would be an understatement.
Whether it's from beyond the arc, inside the arc, inside the paint or anywhere in between, the Buckeyes have been inefficient offensively, leading to losses in 11 of their last 12 games. Its struggles at the rim have been particularly profound lately, as Chris Holtmann's squad has progressively gotten worse at making close-range shots over the course of the season.
In November, the Buckeyes shot 80.6% at the rim. That percentage has decreased in every subsequent month since, leading to Ohio State shooting just 46.6% at the rim in four games this month.
| Month | At-The-Rim Percentage |
|---|---|
| November | 80.6% (87/108) |
| December | 68.7% (68/99) |
| January | 61.5% (80/130) |
| February | 46.6% (27/58) |
It's ugly – and even uglier when you see all of that blue (with red being good and blue being bad in the graphs below) in February, especially at the rim.
To put that in perspective, there are four Division I teams – Montana, Davidson, Bradley and Abilene Christian – shooting better from 3-point range in February than Ohio State is at the rim. The Buckeyes are 13th in at-the-rim efficiency in the Big Ten since the start of the new year.
| Team | At-The-Rim Percentage in 2023 |
|---|---|
| Purdue | 148/231 (64.1%) |
| Indiana | 155/235 (66%) |
| Northwestern | 124/192 (64.5%) |
| Illinois | 164/234 (70%) |
| Maryland | 134/215 (62.3%) |
| Iowa | 155/248 (62.5%) |
| Michigan State | 90/160 (56.3%) |
| Rutgers | 139/222 (62.6%) |
| Michigan | 140/204 (68.6%) |
| Wisconsin | 108/181 (59.7%) |
| Penn State | 109/180 (60.6%) |
| Nebraska | 153/231 (66.2%) |
| Ohio State | 107/188 (56.9%) |
| Minnesota | 117/180 (65%) |
There are plenty of factors that can be blamed for this. A big reason is Zed Key's injured shoulder, as the big man hasn't been the same since injuring that shoulder on Jan. 5 against Purdue and being forced to wear a brace ever since.
It also doesn’t help that the Buckeyes are one of the smallest teams in the Big Ten. Ohio State's biggest player in the post, Felix Okpara, is a raw freshman whose offensive game is still developing. Considering Key – who stands 6-foot-8 – is the only player over 6-foot-7 that plays at least 14 minutes a game, the Buckeyes' size certainly doesn't help them at the rim.
Brice Sensabaugh was often able to bail Ohio State's offense out of bad situations earlier in the season, but that hasn't been the case of late. The freshman has made just eight of his 36 shots (22.2%) over his last three games. Sensabaugh is just 1-for-7 at the rim in February.
Ohio State's struggles offensively culminated in its worst offensive output in 27 years this past Sunday, when the Buckeyes shot just 28.3% from the floor in their 62-41 loss to Michigan State.
The Buckeyes have shot the second-most 2-pointers per game (41.9) in the Big Ten through 14 conference games, but they rank dead last in the conference in 2-point shooting percentage (45.3%). Ohio State's ineffectiveness at the rim is a key reason for that.
Time and time again, Chris Holtmann, Jake Diebler and others have stated that Ohio State must find a way to get easier shots, but that still hasn’t happened. As a result, Ohio State has topped just 73 points once in its last 13 games, and is now just 11-14 for the season entering Thursday night’s game at Iowa.
