A difference of more than 15 points per game is staggering in almost any basketball statistic.
Through 27 games this campaign, Ohio State allowed 75.9 points per contest. During their four-game winning streak to close the regular season, the Buckeyes allowed 59.5.
Yes, their opponents have something to do with that. Rutgers and Michigan, two of the four victories in the stretch, entered Sunday ranked 340th and 202nd in points per 100 possessions nationally. But even they were held to their third- and sixth-lowest point totals of the season by OSU.
"We've tried to be a little more aggressive within the system that we have in," Diebler said on Friday. "Be a little more active, try to turn teams over a little bit more, which has helped fuel us on the other side. And then rebounding."
Entering the Big Ten Tournament fighting to get back on the NCAA Tournament bubble and playing as red-hot as their scarlet jerseys, defense has been perhaps the top difference-maker for the Buckeyes late this season.
“We've tried to be a little more aggressive within the system that we have in. Be a little more active, try to turn teams over a little bit more, which has helped fuel us on the other side.”– Jake Diebler on Ohio State's defensive improvement
It all started at Michigan State.
To snap its program-worst 17-game road losing streak, Ohio State had to make a 12-point second-half comeback against the Spartans. In assembling that comeback capped by a Dale Bonner buzzer-beater, the Buckeyes held Michigan State to 25 points in the second half as MSU shot 0-of-7 from three.
“In order to win moving forward, we have to be consistent in that area (of half-court defense),” Diebler said on Feb. 28. “So we talked a lot about that post-Minnesota in film, in practice, and our guys deserve a ton of credit for making the adjustment."
Nebraska found the most success against Ohio State during the winning streak on the offensive end, grabbing 69 points. Still, even in that victory, the Buckeyes held the Huskers to 34% shooting in the final 20 minutes.
The defense has fueled transition offense as well.
A 22-2 advantage in fast break points off a season-high 14 steals against Michigan fueled a dominant 84-61 win for Ohio State over its archrival on March 3. Before Diebler took over, the Buckeyes averaged a meager 5.8 fast break points per game, 333rd in college basketball. In the six games since, they've averaged 12.3, with 15 more against Rutgers on Sunday.
“It makes our offense a lot easier when we get transition buckets,” senior guard Dale Bonner said after the Michigan win. “I would say we don’t have to work as hard (on offense) when we get stops on defense. Just all buy in as a collective, it makes our jobs easy.”
Ohio State has averaged 12.5 takeaways during its winning streak. In the 27 games prior, it averaged 9.6.
All of it culminated in a dominant defensive showing against the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers managed just 51 points in total and 23 in the second half, shooting 27.3% for the game and 23.1% in the final 20 minutes. On average, Rutgers made a shot from the field just once every 3:20 in the second period.
"I felt like our attention to detail on the defensive side was really good," Diebler said after the win. "Offensively, we didn't let our offense affect our defense. There were times we went, it felt like, a handful of minutes without scoring, but it didn't affect how hard we were guarding and how connected we were on that other side."
“I felt like our attention to detail on the defensive side was really good.”– Jake Diebler on his team's defense at Rutgers
Among the defenders who stood out the most to Diebler against Rutgers was center Felix Okpara. The big man, who is now on a 38-game streak with at least one block, racked up three rejections and eight rebounds. He added 10 points on the opposite end.
"I thought he was really good on both sides," Diebler said. "He's an anchor defensively, his ability to make up for mistakes or drives is really important. But he's communicating at a high level, and I think offensively, he's a threat."
Now, Ohio State needs to carry its defensive intensity forward into the Big Ten Tournament. The 10th-seeded Buckeyes are slated to play No. 7 seed Iowa in the second round. Iowa has one of the highest-scoring offenses in the nation, ranking 13th nationally with 83.8 points per game and 24th with 115.4 points per 100 possessions.
"Finishing plays, you're seeing an aggressiveness that guys are playing with defensively and we have to continue to do that," Diebler said on Friday.
Ohio State vs. Iowa will tip off at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Minneapolis and will be televised on Big Ten Network.
