This week’s question: How many Ohio State players will record a 30-point game this season?
Connor: Four
Maybe four guys scoring 30 feels like a reach, but it really isn’t. Two seasons ago, Ohio State had three players – Bruce Thornton, Devin Royal, and Micah Parrish – record at least one game with 30 points, and a then-freshman John Mobley was not too far behind with six different games of at least 20 points.
This year’s team may not have a single player who averages 20 points per game, like Thornton from last year, but it has several players who are capable of scoring 20 or even 30 points on any given night. All it takes is a big first half, the team choosing to feed the hot hand, and maybe some end of game free throws to make it happen.
Right off the top, it feels like a surefire thing that Mobley will break his record of 28 points at some point this season and get to 30. He scored 28 two separate times last season, and fans should expect the now-junior guard to continue to improve with another year under his belt.
It will be tougher for Amare Bynum to get 30 points in a game with the way the offensive production will likely be spread out on this team, but let’s go ahead and pencil him in as the second guy to do it. They’re not the exact same players, but I think the Bynum – E.J. Liddell comparisons are fair to make when looking at the freshman to sophomore year jump.
As a sophomore, Liddell had eight 20-point performances, with his season-high being 26 points. It does not feel unreasonable to think that at some point this year, Bynum surpasses that and gets 30.
Anthony Thompson is the third player I think will put up a 30-point game, and if he does it, I expect it to be sometime during the non-conference. The freshman can absolutely shoot it, and will probably put together a game early in the season where he knocks down five or six three-pointers.
That volume of threes is the way to put up crooked numbers, so it wouldn’t shock me if Thompson goes bananas in the non-conference one time against a Mississippi Valley State or someone of that sort.
Finally, I think at some point during the season, Justin Pippen will put up a 30-point game. I expect him to average a number much closer to 10 points per game than 30, but Pippen likes to attack the basket, draw fouls, and – even if he’s not super efficient – he loves to shoot the ball.
Pippen had three games last year where he scored at least 20 points, and as Ohio State’s point guard he’s also going to have the ball in his hands down the stretch, and could be shooting some free throws at the end of games.
Justin: Two
30 points is not an easy number to come by, and this team has a lot of mouths to feed when it comes to offensive output, so I don’t think this will happen often. But I do think it will happen.
First of all, the five-star freshman Anthony Thompson is too elite of a scorer and a shooter to not have at least one game where he goes off and puts up a crooked number of points.
Similar to Malaki Branham as a freshman, I would not be shocked if there are some games where he struggles, especially early on, but he will go off in the games where he finds his rhythm early.
Also, John Mobley will be looking to get 30 points this season. He scored 28 twice last season, and that remains his career high. He also had two games in which he scored 26 points and one game with 25 points. He will get 30.
I think Amare Bynum, Jimmie Williams, and Justin Pippen will have games where they score 20 and maybe even 25, but not quite 30.
I am going with two players.
