Busting Brackets
Fansided

March Madness: Profile of the 2018 Ohio State Buckeyes

By Daniel Benjamin

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Kam Williams
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 02: Kam Williams /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 02: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts in the first half against the Penn State Nittany Lions during quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 02: Head coach Chris Holtmann of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts in the first half against the Penn State Nittany Lions during quarterfinals of the Big Ten Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /

The lowdown on the Buckeyes

The expectations were really low for the Buckeyes heading into the 2017-18 campaign and for good reason. The Buckeyes went 17-15 in 2016-17, including 7-11 in Big Ten play. To make matters worse, the Buckeyes lost to Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The victory was Rutgers first ever in the Big Ten Tournament.

This past offseason was tumultuous for Ohio State. The Buckeyes knew that second-leading scorer Marc Loving didn’t have any eligibility left.  But the team also lost starting point guard JaQuan Lyle, who quit the team on April 11, and 7-foot center Trevor Thompson left a year early for the NBA draft. Then on June 5, the Buckeyes fired head coach Thad Matta.

Matta compiled a 337-123 record in 13 seasons. The Buckeyes made 11 postseason appearances under Matta, which included two Final Four appearances and one runner-up finish. Matta also led the Buckeyes to at least a share of five regular-season titles and four conference tournament crowns.

After reportedly considering several candidates, the Buckeyes selected Butler coach Chris Holtmann as their next man just four days after parting ways with Matta. And Holtmann has proven that he is the man to turn the Buckeyes back into a national contender. Holtmann was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year, making it the third COY Award of his career.

Record: 24-8, 15-3 in Big Ten

The Buckeyes’ 24 victories are their most in the regular season since 2011-12. The 2011-12 campaign was also the last time that they earned at least 15 conference tallies. The Buckeyes did finish second in the conference, like they did this year, in 2012-13.

Ohio St. was excellent at home finishing with a 16-2 record this year. The Buckeyes also were 6-2 in true road games. The Buckeyes were 2-3 against ranked teams. They had the Big Ten’s fourth highest scoring margin at 9.1 points a game.

Ohio St. went 17-5 in games decided by 10 points or more. On the other hand, the Buckeyes were 2-3 in games decided by three or fewer points.

Big Wins:  Michigan and Michigan State at home; Purdue on the road

Bad losses: Penn State (three times)

Statistical Rankings

Offensive: Scoring: 75.8 (115th), Assists: 14.8 (99th), Rebounds:36.7 (107th), Assist-to-Turnover Ratio: 1.25 (T61st), 3pt %: 35.3% (156th)

Defensive: Scoring: 66.7 (T42nd), Field Goal Defense: 41.5% (50th), 3Pt Defense %: 34.6% (T159), Defensive Rebounds : 26.1 (57th), Turnovers Forced: 12.2 (T249th)

*Note: All stats from NCAA.com

Home/Ohio State Buckeyes