Ohio State Looking For A Strong Response Against USC Coming Off Big Loss To Michigan

Coming off a 21-point home loss to Michigan on Sunday, Ohio State’s men’s basketball team is looking to bounce back and get back on the right side of the bubble with a win over USC on Wednesday.

In ESPN’s Bracketology that updates every Tuesday, the Buckeyes were listed as the first team out after having been projected to narrowly make the tournament for much of the season.

While they haven’t been able to put together a stretch this season that has proven they should be a tournament team, the Buckeyes also haven’t had a bad stretch that has knocked them out of contention. With a 15-8 overall record and a 7-6 mark in the Big Ten, they still haven’t lost two games in a row.

“This pattern that we’ve shown at times this season has spoken to our ability to respond,” head coach Jake Diebler said on Tuesday. “There’s no question we need to do that (against USC).”

But of those teams OSU has had to come back against after a loss to beat, the Trojans present the biggest threat they have seen to this point to hand them a second straight loss. Rated No. 48 in the country by KenPom, the Trojans are just six spots behind where the Buckeyes currently rank after the big loss to the Wolverines dropped OSU down from No. 37 in the country.

But another thing Ohio State has going for it in this contest is that USC is coming to them. Of their six losses this season, three have been when the Trojans had to travel east for a game. Those have also been against good teams — Iowa, No. 2 Michigan and No. 12 Michigan State — but it could be that the 2,000-plus miles that USC had to travel to get to the Schottenstein Center make it so they get off to a slow start.

But even though the two teams are fairly close when it comes to the efficiency metrics, it’s still a game that the Buckeyes are “supposed to” win. Betting sites have them favored by more than five points, and in games they are favored, the Buckeyes have been very good this season.

Areas where Diebler thinks his team needs to execute in this game are rebounding and not committing turnovers, which are areas the head coach believes Ohio State has been lacking in recent games.

“Some of our issues that we worked to address in recruiting and we’ve worked really hard at in practice have come up again here at times,” he said. “Rebounding and turnovers have been an issue for us at times.

“You don’t want to overgeneralize, but I think those are two areas that we have to fight to be better every single day because we know those areas have a potential to hurt us.”

Now that it’s mid February, players who are dealing with injuries are to the point where they will need to get on the court soon if they want to be ready for a run to the postseason. In his radio show appearance on Monday, Diebler said that he still believes senior forward Brandon Noel can make it back this year.

Noel has been out for weeks with a foot injury, and he’s still wearing a boot but he’s finally able to walk on it, which is a good sign for him.

New addition, senior forward Puff Johnson was also held out of the last two games with an injury of his own. Diebler said that Johnson was going to practice on Tuesday, and he would be a game-time decision against USC. The depth Johnson provides off the bench would likely be useful against the Trojans.

USC has played in and won some close games this season, showing that, if needed, it can come through with the clock winding down and the game on the line. In one-possession games, the Trojans hold a 7-1 record this year, with their only loss coming against the Hawkeyes on Jan. 28, 73-72.

The Buckeyes haven’t played in as many of those games, but hold a 2-3 record in them with losses to Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Nebraska by a total of five combined points.

If it comes down to that, Diebler feels like the Buckeyes can come through against the Trojans despite the success they have had to this point.

“We’re constantly reviewing end-of-game packages and scenarios and playing out end-of-game situations,” Diebler said. “They’ve got a ton of experience in those this year and have had some success in those situations. We’ve got some experience and have had some success in those situations as well.

“We haven’t shied away from the watching and learning. We also show film when there’s things that happen around college basketball and there’s a scenario that plays out. We’ll take the time to watch it so we can learn from other games as well. It’s something you have to keep in the forefront of your mind because, in those moments, you can’t overthink.”