Ohio State Scouting Report

The last time Purdue played Ohio State, the Buckeyes pulled the upset by the score of 73-69 in Columbus. In Jake Diebler's first full season as head coach, he finds himself in a similar position to his predecessor. Ohio State is talented, but are they good?

On the one hand, they have convincingly won over Kentucky and Texas. There are no terrible losses (7-0 in quad 3-4 games), just a lot of losses to good teams. In their last four games, they are 1-3 with all of the games being within 2 points. This team is good enough to beat anyone or lose to anyone in the Big Ten.

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Offense

The Buckeyes run through Bruce Thornton, John Mobley, and Devin Royal in the sets and motions they run. It starts with Thornton, he's a semi-truck of a point guard with great touch and shooting ability. Mobley plays off Thornton well as the freshman brings impressive shooting gravity and secondary playmaking. Royal gives them a post option reminiscent of Trey Kauffman-Renn in style.

For actions, they leverage that trio by running ball screens, dribble handoffs, and wide pin-downs. They struggle when they become stagnant in their movement because of spacing. They cannot space the floor in the front court so they rely heavily on the guards making shots.

Ohio State Actions

Horns Out Empty PnR

Horns Zoom to 77

Floppy (Baseline Runner)

Royal Isolation

Player Profiles

#2 - Bruce Thornton

He is a big, physical guard with great scoring ability in isolation or in the pick and roll. One defender isn't going to stop him, Purdue can be aggressive helping because he is just an okay passer. I expect CJ Cox to get the matchup, with guys like Smith being aggressive to show help.

#0 - John Mobley

Ultra shifty guard who leverages his shooting ability to attack the defense in a variety of ways. He isn't physical off the ball, not setting great screens or fighting for his space which Purdue can use to dampen his off-ball gravity. I would use Fletcher Loyer on Mobley, chasing him and looking to switch screens.

#21 - Devin Royal

As I mentioned earlier, Royal is very similar to Trey Kauffman-Renn in his play style. He heavily favors his right hand and hasn't developed lethal counters to teams overplaying that hand. I want to see Furst on Royal to counter his drives, post ups I expect to see the no-middle post defense that is their staple.

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Buckeye Defense

The fighting Jake Diebler's are defending shots very well, ranking 21st in the country in defensive effective field goal percentage. Despite, Ohio State ranks outside the top 50 in total defensive because they are below average at forcing turnovers and preventing offensive rebounds.

Defensive Concepts - Man to Man

Pick and rolls - They hedge at the level with their center and switch otherwise. I could see them try to Ice Braden Smith.

Post Ups - They trust their post defenders, not looking to send any help. They could double from the second big, but I don't expect that with TKR's passing ability.

Off-Ball - Tight on their man, depending on the bigs as helpers. They aren't active denying passes or in the gaps.

On-Ball - They really want to put pressure on the ball, trying to get underneath ball handlers.

Keys To The Game

1. Ohio States ball pressure will be key to take away the non-Braden Smith guards for Purdue

2. Can Purdue continue to turn opponents overs? Winning the turnover battle is huge for both teams.

3. The frontcourts are similar, which frontcourt will be more efficient?