Ohio State Basketball: 3 takeaways from first loss of season at Purdue

No. 20 Ohio State Basketball lost its first game of the season at Purdue. Here are my 3 takeaways from the Buckeyes’ first Big Ten game of the season.

Ohio State Basketball took their 5-0 record on the road for their first Big Ten game of the season. They headed into one of the toughest places to play in College Basketball in Mackey Arena to face the 4-2 Purdue Boilermakers. The No. 20 Buckeyes dropped their first game of the 2020-21 campaign 67-60. Here are my three takeaways on the Ohio State side from the game.

No. 1: They Need E.J. Liddell

The 6’7, 240lbs Sophomore was out of the lineup again for the Buckeyes with Mono. There is no telling when he’ll return to the lineup. He is Ohio State’s leading scorer and leading rebounder. It was never more apparent how bad they need him in the lineup as they finished with just 60 total points and were out-rebounded 36-30.

At times the Buckeyes on the floor struggled to score and needed that go-to player that can consistently put the ball in the basket to keep droughts from lasting too long. That is normally something Liddell provides and without him they will continue to struggle to put up points against good basketball teams.

No. 2: Movement – Man and Ball

Ohio State did their best work without Liddell when everyone was constantly cutting and moving without the ball. At the same time they were moving the ball around through the flow of that same offense and that kept them in the game. They fell behind the most when they stood around, went stagnant, and tried to play one-on-one basketball and that was their death sentence for the game.

Without Liddell in the lineup and not having another guy on the roster who can just go get you a bucket at any time when things get quiet, Ohio State needs to keep running those sets with everyone moving and the ball not staying in one place too long. When they did those things, the Buckeyes stayed within a possession or two. Once that type of offense went away is when Purdue was able to get the lead to double digits and ultimately run out the clock for the victory.

No. 3: Backside Defensive Help

When you give up only a total of 67 points on the road that is normally a really good thing. The Ohio State defense on the outside was good, as they limited a good three-point shooting team to just 30% from beyond the arc. The problems tonight occurred on the backside when the ball was in the paint and the double team went to the other block.

The rotation on the other side was too slow and the Purdue men left open were not covered in time to prevent easy layups. The Boilermakers had well over 10 layups off of plays just like that. Trevion Williams from Purdue made Magic Johnson type passes on the block to give his teammates easy buckets as he finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.

Ohio State’s first order of business to work on before their next game should be on that backside defense and have quicker rotations when sending double teams to the other block and hedge cut-throughs to the basket a lot better.

Winning at Purdue is never an easy task when it comes to Big Ten basketball. After starting the season 5-0 and breaking that Top 25 barrier, this game will be a big learning game for the team as they go back to watch the film. If they can identify and work on some of these things, it might be one of those losses that help build the Buckeyes into something better.

If Liddell remains out for an extended period of time the Buckeyes will need someone to take that place as the offensive Alpha who can get them a bucket when things get dry. Ohio States next game is scheduled for this Saturday the 19th against UCLA at the CBS Sports Classic in Cleveland, Ohio.