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Ohio State Men’s Basketball vs Oakland: Game Preview and Prediction
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Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
It is officially college basketball season, and the Buckeyes are back!
We. Are. Back. It is November, meaning the College Football Playoff Rankings are out, and College Basketball is back. It has been a long eight months for Ohio State men’s basketball coaches, players, and fans, as everyone has been ready to put the last season behind them and move on to the 2023-24 season.
It is a different-looking roster for the Buckeyes this season, with freshman phenom Brice Sensabaugh heading to the Utah Jazz as a first-round pick, Wright State transfer Tanner Holden heading back to Wright State, and Justice Sueing, Isaac Likekele, and Sean McNeil all moving onto life after college. Gene Brown also transferred to Georgia Southern.
The Buckeyes bring in a top-10 freshman class nationally and three transfers to the team this season.
Scotty Middleton, Devin Royal, Taison Chatman, and Austin Parks make up the freshman class, while sophomore Evan Mahaffey (Penn State), graduate senior Jamison Battle (Minnesota), and graduate senior Dale Bonner (Baylor) make up the transfer class.
Chatman will be unavailable to start the season due to minor knee surgery that he had done in the fall.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25051608/usa_today_21780362.jpg "Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch")
Brooke LaValley/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Unlike last season, the Buckeyes are coming into this season with an established point guard, something that the importance of truly can’t be overstated.
Sophomore Bruce Thornton has full control of the offense after starting all 35 Buckeye games last season. Thornton averaged 10.6 points per game, 2.7 rebounds per game, and 2.6 assists per game in 30.5 minutes per contest.
Now in his second year as the main ball handler, Thornton will look to take the next step as one of the top point guards in the conference. Roddy Gayle, who was a role player last season, is now going to be the starting shooting guard with Thornton, and they will be trusted by the coaching staff to be the main guys for the Buckeyes on offense.
A transfer from George Washington and Minnesota, Jamison Battle will be relied upon as well to be one of the top scorers for the Buckeyes. Battle struggled a bit last season with consistency, as he dealt with injuries on a bad Minnesota team, but in the 2021-22 season, Battle averaged 17.5 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game and shot the deep ball at an elite level, shooting 37 percent on 7.1 attempts per game. He is a career 35 percent three-point shooter.
After losing Sensabaugh and McNeil, Battle will be key in giving the Buckeyes some much-needed shooting and spacing for Felix Okpara and Zed Key to work in the paint.
In the Buckeye’s exhibition game against Dayton, a 78-70 win, the starting lineup was Bruce Thornton-Roddy Gayle-Evan Mahaffey-Jamison Battle-Felix Okpara, and it seems that will be the case against Oakland. Freshman Scotty Middleton and Devin Royal could see starting minutes down the road, but for now it looks like it will be the Penn State transfer Mahaffey, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 200 pounds.
Oakland has some question marks, with their leading and third-leading scorers from last season, Keaton Harvey and Jalen Moore, both departing. Moore averaged 19.6 points per game, 5.6 assists per game, and 3.8 rebounds per game, and Harvey averaged 11.7 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. They brought in six new transfers and will look to figure out the best way to incorporate these new players into the offense.
Oakland finished 13-19 overall and 11-9 in conference last season as their legendary head coach Greg Kampe returns for his 40th season at the helm.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24436394/usa_today_20001021.jpg "Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch")
Brooke LaValley/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Ohio State should be able to win this game comfortably, but there are enough question marks as the first game of the season and a decent Oakland team with a legendary head coach to make the first half uncomfortable.
In the Buckeyes “secret” scrimmage game against Clemson, Jamison Battle and Devin Royal were not available. They will be back for the opener, with only Chatman not being available.
The main questions about this contest are how the transfers mesh into the rotation, what the highly anticipated backcourt of Roddy Gayle and Bruce Thornton looks like, and how the minutes are split up at center between Felix Okpara and Zed Key.
I expect this one to be close early as both teams figure some things out rotationally, and then after halftime, the talent gap shows, and the Buckeyes pull away and win comfortably.
ESPN BPI: Ohio State 86.3%
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network Plus
Continue reading...
justingolba via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK
It is officially college basketball season, and the Buckeyes are back!
We. Are. Back. It is November, meaning the College Football Playoff Rankings are out, and College Basketball is back. It has been a long eight months for Ohio State men’s basketball coaches, players, and fans, as everyone has been ready to put the last season behind them and move on to the 2023-24 season.
It is a different-looking roster for the Buckeyes this season, with freshman phenom Brice Sensabaugh heading to the Utah Jazz as a first-round pick, Wright State transfer Tanner Holden heading back to Wright State, and Justice Sueing, Isaac Likekele, and Sean McNeil all moving onto life after college. Gene Brown also transferred to Georgia Southern.
The Buckeyes bring in a top-10 freshman class nationally and three transfers to the team this season.
Scotty Middleton, Devin Royal, Taison Chatman, and Austin Parks make up the freshman class, while sophomore Evan Mahaffey (Penn State), graduate senior Jamison Battle (Minnesota), and graduate senior Dale Bonner (Baylor) make up the transfer class.
Chatman will be unavailable to start the season due to minor knee surgery that he had done in the fall.
Preview
Unlike last season, the Buckeyes are coming into this season with an established point guard, something that the importance of truly can’t be overstated.
Sophomore Bruce Thornton has full control of the offense after starting all 35 Buckeye games last season. Thornton averaged 10.6 points per game, 2.7 rebounds per game, and 2.6 assists per game in 30.5 minutes per contest.
Now in his second year as the main ball handler, Thornton will look to take the next step as one of the top point guards in the conference. Roddy Gayle, who was a role player last season, is now going to be the starting shooting guard with Thornton, and they will be trusted by the coaching staff to be the main guys for the Buckeyes on offense.
A transfer from George Washington and Minnesota, Jamison Battle will be relied upon as well to be one of the top scorers for the Buckeyes. Battle struggled a bit last season with consistency, as he dealt with injuries on a bad Minnesota team, but in the 2021-22 season, Battle averaged 17.5 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game and shot the deep ball at an elite level, shooting 37 percent on 7.1 attempts per game. He is a career 35 percent three-point shooter.
After losing Sensabaugh and McNeil, Battle will be key in giving the Buckeyes some much-needed shooting and spacing for Felix Okpara and Zed Key to work in the paint.
In the Buckeye’s exhibition game against Dayton, a 78-70 win, the starting lineup was Bruce Thornton-Roddy Gayle-Evan Mahaffey-Jamison Battle-Felix Okpara, and it seems that will be the case against Oakland. Freshman Scotty Middleton and Devin Royal could see starting minutes down the road, but for now it looks like it will be the Penn State transfer Mahaffey, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 200 pounds.
Oakland has some question marks, with their leading and third-leading scorers from last season, Keaton Harvey and Jalen Moore, both departing. Moore averaged 19.6 points per game, 5.6 assists per game, and 3.8 rebounds per game, and Harvey averaged 11.7 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. They brought in six new transfers and will look to figure out the best way to incorporate these new players into the offense.
Oakland finished 13-19 overall and 11-9 in conference last season as their legendary head coach Greg Kampe returns for his 40th season at the helm.
Prediction
Ohio State should be able to win this game comfortably, but there are enough question marks as the first game of the season and a decent Oakland team with a legendary head coach to make the first half uncomfortable.
In the Buckeyes “secret” scrimmage game against Clemson, Jamison Battle and Devin Royal were not available. They will be back for the opener, with only Chatman not being available.
The main questions about this contest are how the transfers mesh into the rotation, what the highly anticipated backcourt of Roddy Gayle and Bruce Thornton looks like, and how the minutes are split up at center between Felix Okpara and Zed Key.
I expect this one to be close early as both teams figure some things out rotationally, and then after halftime, the talent gap shows, and the Buckeyes pull away and win comfortably.
ESPN BPI: Ohio State 86.3%
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
TV: Big Ten Network Plus
LGHL score prediction: Ohio State 78, Oakland 62
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