2022 Ohio State University
Their were a lot of questions coming into this season for the Ohio State Buckeyes on the hardwood. A very young team with a severe lack of college experience, but after Week 1 of the season, they have at least answered a few of those questions, including the biggest one of them all: Can they win basketball games? The answer to that, at least through Week 1, is yes they can, and they can do it well.
The men's basketball team competed in two friendly exhibition games against Robert Morris and Charleston Southern on Monday and Wednesday of the week starting November 6th.
Their game against Robert Morris was shaky to start, but they were able to pull away in the second half for a 38-point victory to open the season. RMU hung around in the first half, only trailing by 14 points to the Buckeyes, as they were only able to score 25 points in total in the second half compared to Ohio State's near 49-point explosion. This was the first time this group had the chance to play together in a real game, and they scored 91-points in total.
Many media outlets and Twitter fans were highly critical of the performance against a lesser opponent, but for such a young team, this game showed fans there may be a bright future ahead for this team. Justice Sueing took the player of the game with 20 points, three steals and a block. The team as a whole shot 47.6% from 3-point land in their opening game.
Game two against Charleston Southern was a much better show for Buckeye fans in attendance or watching it on Big Ten Plus (B1G+), as the Buckeyes jumped out to a 20-plusmpoint lead and never looked back. The team shared the sugar well, as all but one player scored. With a big 24-point lead at the half, the Buckeyes did pull their starters for the most part, limiting their minutes in the second half and giving the reserves some time to play as well. In total, 12 of the 14 men on the roster were able to play in Thursday's game against the Buccaneers. Zed Key was the star performer in game two, pulling in his second double-double in as many games, and he led the team in points on Thursday. He also earned that double-double in just one half of play. In total, he put up 17 points and pulled down 13 rebounds and was named player of the game.
Player of the Week: Zed Key
He has two double-doubles so far on the year and leads the team in rebounds and is second in scoring by just one point to Justice Sueing. If the Buckeyes are going to compete in the center focused Big Ten, he is going to have to be the focal point of this teams interior. If he can keep the same intensity on the boards we saw through the first two games, then the Buckeyes stand a chance.
Upcoming Schedule
11/16: vs Eastern Illinois, 7 p.m., BTN
11/21 - 11/23: Maui Invitational Tournament, ESPN & ESPN2
11/30: at No. 7 Duke, 7:15 p.m., ESPN
39th Annual Maui Invitational Bracket
Women's Basketball
The women of Ohio State were ranked Top 25 going into the season, and after one game this week will soon find themselves inside of the Top 10. On Tuesday, the 14th ranked Buckeyes took on the 5th ranked Tennessee Volunteers and pulled off the biggest upset of the early season 87-75. Their defense also forced 29 turnovers in that game on their way to the biggest opening game upset since 2008 when No. 3 Maryland lost to unranked TCU. This was the first time since then an AP Top 5 team lost to a team outside of the Top 5 on opening day.
The historic victory should push them inside of the Top 10 in this weeks rankings. The player of the game went to Taylor Mikesell for offensive production, with a team high 25 points. Honorable mentions should go to Jacy Sheldon for her 14 points, seven assists and an outstanding eight steals.
Upcoming Schedule
11/13: at Boston College, 4 p.m., ACCN
11/17: at Ohio, 7 p.m.
11/20: vs McNeese, 1 p.m.
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