After a loss to Virginia on Sunday, Ohio State is still searching for its first win over a ranked team this season.
It won’t have to wait long, however, with No. 24 Wisconsin visiting the Schottenstein Center on Tuesday night for a rematch of a Jan. 31 road matchup that saw the Buckeyes struggle in a 92-82 loss to the Badgers. OSU is also hoping to avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time this season.
“It’s a big-time game and we’re excited about it,” head coach Jake Diebler said on Monday. “This team has shown an ability to respond in a big way, and there’s no reason for me to believe we’re not going to do that.”
Diebler looked at the first time the two teams played and saw what he believes the Buckeyes need to improve on if they want to make this game closer than the last time the two teams matched up.
“Wisconsin’s a good team. They’re obviously playing at a high level right now,” Diebler said. “When you look at our game against them the first time there’s a couple of things that stood out. They way they finished in the paint and the way we finished in the paint was a big difference in the game. We have to be more efficient in the paint and we have to do a better part of protecting the rim. Part of that is making sure they’re not able to get the ball in the paint off their transition offense early.”
This time around, Ohio State will be without one of its top players, however. Sophomore guard John Mobley Jr. injured his hand in the Buckeyes’ win over USC on Feb. 11 and it was revealed that he will be out indefinitely before the loss to Virginia.
Sophomore guard Taison Chatman, who has dealt with multiple injuries of his own over his college career, started in Mobley’s place against the Cavaliers. In 31 minutes of play, he scored four points, had one assist and one rebound.
Diebler said that the way that Chatman had been playing before Mobley was injured earned him the opportunity to start, and he saw some things he liked on Saturday.
“I think he’s earned it. He’s done a good job. It was the most minutes he’s played in a college basketball game against a team that it was clear part of their game plan when they saw (Mobley) was out was to press more,” Diebler said. “Taison showed a lot. He showed an ability to play through some fatigue.”
The Buckeyes are still without Brandon Noel as well, but he doesn’t want those injuries to be a reason they can’t make a late-season run that gets them into their first NCAA Tournament since 2022.
“You see a couple of teams every season, this time of the year, get it going, and we have the ingredients to be one of those teams,” he said. “Cartainly, it’s not ideal being down a couple of important pieces, but you’ve got to have a really tough team and you’ve got to have great chemistry to get on a run this time of year. We’ve got a pathway to do that.”
