17. Ohio State Buckeyes
Had this article been done after the first two weeks of the season, the Buckeyes would’ve definitely been labeled as a “Sell”. They nearly lost to Akron on opening night and struggled against Niagara. Then they got tough news with starting wing and last year’s third-leading scorer Justice Sueing declared out for at least 6-8 weeks with an injury.
After losing to Xavier, it looked as if Ohio State was going to struggle the rest of the way, with games against Duke, Florida, and Wisconsin coming up. Yet thanks to E.J. Liddell playing at an All-American level (20.6 ppg and 7.2 rpg), this team managed to shock the then-No. 1 Blue Devils and also coming off a big home win over the Badgers.
EJ Liddell is Ohio State's 6'7" F
— Ersin Demir (@EDemirNBA) December 1, 2021
Very strong w/a good motor
Good passer w/good court vision
Lacks a quick 1st step and a bit foul prone
Efficient scoring on all 3 levels:
70.4 ATR, 54.8 mid and 40 from three
Early 2nd round on my updated board that's coming up soon! pic.twitter.com/6GzGwapoZY
This is a team that is starting to get better production from the backcourt, which was bad to start out the season. Penn State transfer Jamari Wheeler continues to play well defensively, while freshman Meechie Johnson Jr. and Malaki Branham are starting to get going. And bigs Zed Key and Kyle Young have been tremendous on both ends, both averaging in double figures in scoring.
With Sueing hopefully coming back to add even more firepower, Ohio State looks as if they won’t need the guards to be double-digit scorers to compete in the Big Ten. However, that does pose some concerns once March arrives and Liddell happens to have an off-game. For now, I’ll be on the Buckeyes’ side since they have overachieved in the past two weeks.