Ohio State vs. High Point: 2018-19 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

Ohio State looks to head into conference play on a good note with a victory over High Point on Saturday.

TV schedule: Saturday, December 29, 12:00 pm ET. Big Ten Network

Arena: Value City Arena in Coulmbus, Ohio

Coming into the season, Ohio State was faced with many questions that they would have to try to answer. They lost a lot after last season with top players Kieta Bates-Diop, JaeSean Tate and Kam Williams and solid graduate transfer Andrew Dakich all graduating. Many experts and people around college basketball thought they would take a pretty steep step back.

Fast forward to December 28th and the Buckeyes are heading into their final non-conference matchup against the High Point Panthers at 11-1 with wins over UCLA, Creighton, and Cincinnati and are 2-0 in conference play as they defeated Minnesota and Illinois earlier in the month.

This early season success can be traced to a lot of things but the main two are simple. Great defense and Kaleb Wesson. It is imperative when you are not a great offensive team and do not have a scorer like Bates-Diop anymore that defense becomes a priority and Chris Holtmann has made it exactly that.

The Buckeyes are one of the most efficient teams on defense in the country and are allowing just 61.8 points per game through the first 12 games of the season and have won multiple games on the defensive side of the ball. Young guys like Musa Jallow and Luther Muhammad are quickly showing flashes of greatness and making life very difficult for their opponents.

For Kaleb Wesson, he has proven that he is a force to be noticed in the conference and even in the country. Wesson is averaging 16.4 points per game and 7.1 rebounds per game on 54 percent shooting from the floor. He is heading into the new year strong as well, averaging 22.7 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game, including two double-doubles over the past three games. As long as Wesson plays like this and can open up the floor for guys like CJ Jackson, Andre Wesson and Duane Washington, the Buckeyes will be competitive night in and night out.

For the Panthers, they are led by high scoring junior guard Jahaad Proctor, who is third in the Big South in scoring at 22.6 points per game. He also leads the Panthers in assists at 3.5 per game. If they want to keep this game close at all, they have to score the ball often and early and put Ohio State on their heels in the first half. Proctor will have to lead that charge and play at a high rate for the entire game since he is averaging close to 35 minutes played per game.

Prediction – Ohio State 74, High Point 58