Originally Posted by
DavidBenAkiva
The Duke Blue Devils take their winning ways to Columbus, Ohio for the annual ACC/B1G Challenge. This year, they face off against the Buckeyes of Ohio State. This will be the first true road game for the Blue Devils and last game before the annual finals break.
Ohio State is a study in contrasts. They are experienced and deep up front with a mostly young backcourt that is still figuring things out. Overall, it is a team that can really score the ball but struggles to defend. The engine behind the offense is do-it-all 6'7" JR PF E.J. Liddell. He leads the team in minutes, scoring (22.5 pts/gm), and blocks (3.8); and is second in rebounds (6.2) and assists (2.2). For good measure, he's hitting a career-best 40.9% of his 3-pointers on 3.7 attempts per game and better than 60% of his shots inside the arc. Liddell is a mostly below-the-rim player that plays an all-around game. He's comfortable playing out of either the low or high post and has developed his jumper to the point that it is a real weapon. Still, he's undersized at just 6'7" but has long arms and a keen understanding of angels. He relies on step-backs and fadeaways to get his shot off against taller players. There are few better forwards in the country.
The other big men for Ohio State include a number of rugged types, including 6'8" 5th-year SR F/C Kyle Young and 6'8" SO F/C Zed Key. Both have a few skills to operate with their backs to the basket, although Young has the more all-around game while Key is much more willing to operate close to the basket. Young comes off the bench and is second in scoring for the Buckeyes right now at 9.6 pts/game. He has the better jumper and made more than 40% of his 3-attempts last season, although on low volume. This year, the shots are not falling as often. Key can and will take a mid-range jumper and hits those at a high rate. Neither is much of a shot blocking presence. They are both serviceable high-major centers but nothing to write home about. Former Butler and Indiana 6'11" 6-th year SR C Joey Brunk is also in the frontcourt mix. He missed all of last season with a medical redshirt and is playing his way back into game shape. He has started each of the past two games for Ohio State, in fact, although only averaging 6.5 minutes per contest.
The backcourt has been the big issue for Ohio State this year. Last season, they relied on the shot-making heroics of Duane Washington, Jr. to provide balance to the high-octane offense. When his shots were falling, tOSU was capable of scoring on anyone. Washington left the team for the NBA Draft. Head Coach Chris Holtmann turned to the transfer portal and the high school ranks to fill out the backcourt this year with mixed results so far. The starting PG is the 5th-year Penn State transfer Jamari Wheeler. While slight of build at just 6'1" and 170 lbs, Wheeler was an All-B1G defensive team member each of the past two seasons. While Wheeler has a good-looking jumper, he is just not wired for scoring the ball and is averaging 5.0 pts/gm on the young season. The Buckeyes have been searching for consistent scoring from a pair of young guards, including 6'2" SO Meechie Johnson and 6'5" FR Malaki Branham. Both are talented and have shown flashes of potential but have not yet demonstrated anything resembling consistency. Johnson started the first game of the year but has come off the bench since. He is a good shooter and made a clutch 3 to help beat Seton Hall earlier this week. Against Florida, he was a no-show, scoring just 2 points on 1-7 shooting to go along with 3 TOs and 2 asts in 22 minutes. Johnson has been more of a dedicated shooter for Ohio State this year, rarely venturing into the restricted area with the ball. Branham, the Columbus native, has been starting in place of Johnson and has been ok so far. He's much more of a slasher to the rim and provides a more complete all-around game. Super Senior Jimmy Sotos, the former Bucknell player, is the reserve guard. He is in his second year for Ohio State and has mostly settled in for taking 3's when given the opportunity.
The SF position is currently occupied by 6'6" SR Justin Ahrens, a dedicated gunner. Ahrens has been starting in place of injured F Justice Sueing. Ahrens is a lot like Joey Baker, a player that provides shooting and not a whole lot else. Both play hard, I suppose. Ahrens is much more of an extreme player, having attempted (and missed) one FG attempt inside the arc on the season. SO Eugene Brown is getting a few spot minutes as a reserve SF as well with limited impact.
This Ohio State team has one stud, a very solid group of frontcourt players, and an ongoing search for backcourt production. After staring the season ranked and aspirations of competing in the B1G, the Buckeyes struggled to start the year against Akron, winning by 1. They steadily improved but have dropped 2 out of the last 3 against high-major competition. All were close games with the losses to Xavier and Florida by a combined 8 points. The Buckeyes score efficiently, mostly due to Liddell's excellence and good 3-point shooting. They play a slow pace of play and are getting absolutely killed on the offensive glass. The frontcourt should struggle against Duke's size and length. Outside of Joey Brunk, they don't have the size to compete with Williams on the glass. So long as the Banchero-Liddell matchup is a wash, Duke will have advantages at every other position. Duke is also playing efficiently in the halfcourt as the season progresses and are now 5th in the nation in offensive TO%. While Jamari Wheeler is a good defender and Malachi Branham has done a good job generating a few steals per game, OSU has not been able to force turnovers very often. Duke has valued the basketball this season and has used that to take down Kentucky and Gonzaga. The Duke backcourt, in particular Wendell Moore, has a serious advantage in this matchup.
KenPom and T-Rank view this as a relative toss-up given that the game is in Columbus. Still, Duke should be the #1 or #2 team on Tuesday night and favored against a team that has struggled since making a last-minute bucket to get past Akron. Still, it will be a home game and everyone gets up to play Duke. After a big win over Gonzaga late Friday night, will the Blue Devils be ready to face a fully hostile crowd for the first time?