Big Ten Basketball: Analyzing each team’s 2021-22 opening night matchup

Akron at Ohio State

The Ohio State Buckeyes begin playing games that matter versus Akron at 6 pm on ESPN2 on opening day, a game that should shed some more light on how much more work the Buckeyes need in order to live up to the No. 12 ranking in the Busting Brackets Preseason Power Rankings. After an 82-46 victory over the University of Indianapolis, the Buckeyes are still in early season form.

Potential warning signs: The Buckeyes need to dominate the paint versus the inexperienced Zips’ frontcourt. Akron provides an interesting obstacle for the Buckeyes as 7’0 Aziz Bandaogo played just 15 minutes last season and 6’10 Sekou Kalle is a freshman, they do have size and that is exactly what Ohio State had problems with last season. If Bandaogo and Kalle have any amount of success it will not bode well for conference play versus Hunter Dickinson and Trevian Williams.

The addition of Joey Brunk coming off the bench will help, but the key will be Zed Key. The 6’8 forward went 5 for 9 from the field while grabbing nine rebounds and blocking four shots, if Key is unable to defend the paint versus the bigger Zips, not only will Head coach Chris Holtmann lose Key as a scoring option as he sits on the bench, but also an option of keeping EJ Liddell at forward.

For continued success: In order to create space on the offensive end for their undersized frontcourt and to allow EJ Liddell to take power forwards off the dribble from the perimeter the Ohio State Buckeyes will need to connect on their three-point attempts. The Buckeyes attempted 34 three-pointers versus the Zips and made eleven, a percentage that will have to increase come conference play.

The responsibility of three-point success will lay with Justin Ahrens, Eugene Brown III, Malaki Branham, and Cedric Russell.  Without a consistent inside scorer, the shots will have to fall from deep.