Where does Ohio State men's basketball stand as it heads to the Emerald Coast Classic?
It’s time to learn a few things about this Ohio State men’s basketball team.
Four games into the season, the Buckeyes have beaten three teams at the mid-major level or lower and taken a loss in their first game against a high-major opponent. With wins against Oakland, Merrimack and Western Michigan and a loss to No. 15 Texas A&M, Ohio State now heads south for the Emerald Coast Classic. A four-team, two-game tournament held in Niceville, Florida, the event will also feature Alabama, Oregon and Santa Clara.
The Buckeyes open with No. 17 Alabama in a game that will be played Friday at 7 p.m. Eastern and televised on CBS Sports Network. Saturday, they will face either Oregon or Santa Clara depending on which teams win their opening games.
The Crimson Tide are the only participant that is ranked in the Associated Press poll. As of Tuesday afternoon, Oregon is No. 35 according to KenPom.com, Ohio State is No. 51 and Santa Clara is No. 105.
Here are a few thoughts on where the Buckeyes stand as they head south to potentially face two high-major programs.
Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle might have all-Big Ten ceilings
They took their lumps as freshman, but sophomore guards Bruce Thornton and Roddy Gayle Jr. are showing signs of taking that next step into consistent, high-level performers.
Thornton (15.3 points per game) and Gayle (14.8) are Ohio State’s leading scorers. They’ve been on the court together for 93:28 this season and Ohio State is plus-34 (169 points scored, 135 allowed) during that time. A true point guard who is playing off the ball some this year, Thornton leads Ohio State in assists (18) and steals (seven) and has only two turnovers. His assist-to-turnover ratio of 9.0 is second-best in the Big Ten as of Monday’s games.
Holtmann has said that he needs Thornton to rebound better (he only has six through four games after averaging 2.7 per game last year), but he’s driven the engine for the Ohio State offense so far. And riding right alongside him has been Gayle, who looks like a threat to record Ohio State’s first triple-double since JaQuan Lyle had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists against Rutgers on Jan. 13, 2016.
Gayle leads the Buckeyes in minutes played (31.6 per game), is two points behind Thornton for the team lead, is second in rebounding at 6.8 per game and also two assists behind Thornton for the team lead. In a losing effort against No. 15 Texas A&M on Nov. 10, Gayle had 9 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Against Western Michigan, he grabbed a career-high eight rebounds.
Both look the part of go-to guards who still have room to grow.
Defense is about to be tested anew
The biggest overhaul of the Buckeyes from last season has come on the defensive end of the court, where new assistant coach Brandon Bailey has been charged with turning a unit that was among the Big Ten’s worst into something resembling resistance.
There are signs that it’s working. Oakland and Texas A&M posted adjusted offensive efficiency ratings of at least 110 points per 100 possessions in the first two games, but Merrimack and Western Michigan were limited to 77.4 and 85.2, respectively, as Ohio State has climbed to No. 71 in adjusted defensive efficiency according to KenPom.com.
Alabama boasts the nation’s top-rated offense and is second in 3-point shooting percentage and effective field goal percentage. The Crimson Tide will test the Buckeyes anew, but the last two games have been trending in the right direction for Ohio State. Being more cohesive and dangerous on that end will go a long way toward determining this team’s ceiling.
Ohio State’s freshmen look like freshmen
Of the five Buckeyes to play in all 35 games last season, three of them were freshmen. Thornton led Ohio State in minutes played and was the only player to start all 35 games while Gayle Jr. and Felix Okpara both appeared in every game.
Their contributions had real impacts on whether Ohio State would win or lose from the first game of the year. This season, that’s not proving to be the case for a four-man freshman class. Austin Parks and Taison Chatman have both dealt with preseason injury setbacks while Scotty Middleton and Devin Royal have both made limited impacts so far.
In the season-opening win against Oakland, Middleton scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 28:10. He became the first Ohio State freshman to pull down at least five offensive rebounds in a season opener since Jared Sullinger in 2010.
Middleton’s playing time has remained consistent. He’ll head to Florida averaging 20.9 minutes per game, fifth-most on the roster, but has scored nine points in his last three games and only grabbed four rebounds. He’s contributing on the defensive end but isn’t expected to shoulder a heavy offensive role just yet. Middleton has an individual plus-minus rating of plus-32, tied for third-most on the roster.
Royal has had a more challenging start. Ohio’s Mr. Basketball in 2023 has played 8.9 minutes per game and is averaging 1.5 points and 2.0 rebounds. Royal has six turnovers but is second on the team with four blocked shots.
Both players figure to see their roles grow and their production to follow suit as the season progresses.
The 6-10, 260-pound Parks made his debut on Nov. 15 against Merrimack and recorded an assist in 2:23 and played for 1:46 against Western Michigan four days later. He has not yet attempted a shot or pulled down a rebound. Chatman is progressing after undergoing a meniscus procedure during the preseason and expected to make his debut by month’s end.
Which lineups are working for Ohio State?
The Buckeyes have used 39 different lineups through the first four games but only two of them have appeared in every game so far. Holtmann has used the same starting lineup of Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle Jr., Evan Mahaffey, Jamison Battle and Felix Okpara, and that lineup has scored 53 points and allowed 52 while playing together for 33:19. The starters had their most playing time together against Texas A&M, totaling 12:59 while being outscored 24-21 in the seven-point loss.
That same lineup with Zed Key in place of Okpara has been more effective in less time. Together, Thornton, Gayle, Mahaffey, Battle and Key have played for 21:10 and are plus-16 (40 points scored, 24 allowed).
Four lineups are plus-10:*Scotty Middleton, Dale Bonner, Battle, Gayle and Key (29 points scored, 19 allowed in 9:57)*Middleton, Gayle, Thornton, Battle and Okpara (11-1, 2:48)*Middleton, Thornton, Bonner, Battle and Key (27-17, 9:50)*Devin Royal, Middleton, Thornton, Bonner and Okpara (10-0 in 2:40 against Western Michigan)
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Transfers still finding their way
Holtmann brought in three transfers with three different priorities this season. Battle was brought in to help shoulder a scoring load, Bonner to provide backcourt depth and a change of pace and Penn State’s Evan Mahaffey with the belief that the sophomore will continually grow into a more impactful player in the coming years.
That is all starting to come to pass. Battle is fourth on the team in scoring at 11.3 points per game and shooting 39.1% (9 for 23) from 3. He has scored between 9-13 points in all four games and started to be more aggressive in hunting his shot while getting acclimated to the team.
Bonner had his most prolific game so far when he scored 11 points buoyed by 3 of 5 shooting from 3 in 21:05 against Western Michigan. He’s averaging 5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists and has an individual plus-minus of plus-16. The game against the Broncos was the first where he didn’t seem too sped up by the pace and where his shot seemed confident.
Mahaffey has made the lightest statistical contribution but has been an important defensive component whose versatility has allowed the Buckeyes to regularly switch whom they’re defending. He’s averaged 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds while playing 20.4 minutes per game.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Where does Ohio State basketball stand entering Emerald Coast Classic?
