Ohio State (6-3) is headed to Atlanta, Georgia to face the No. 2 Auburn Tigers (8-1) in one of three Holiday Hoopsgiving games on Saturday, December 14.
Holiday Hoopsgiving is a small six-team showing, hosting three games at State Farm Arena: Auburn vs. Ohio State, Florida vs. Arizona State and Grand Canyon vs. Georgia.
Ohio State is entering the “Peach State” dropping two out of its last three games. The Buckeyes were deflated at home by Pittsburgh 91-90 and followed that defeat with a grueling 83-59 loss at Maryland. With its momentum completely squashed, Ohio State was able to fend off Rutgers following the two losses, taking down Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey and the Scarlet Knights 80-66 in Columbus.
The Tigers are the No. 2 team in the country for a reason, beating No. 4 Houston at a neutral site in Texas while also defeating No. 5 Iowa State and No. 12 North Carolina en route to winning the Maui Invitational. These Tigers are fast and scary and it will be a highly elevating challenge for Ohio State to knock them off.
Let’s take a peek at what the Buckeyes will have to do if they want to overrule the ferocious and intimidating Tigers.
Stop Johni Broome
Right off the bat, this is a given.
Broome, standing at 6-foot-10, leads all Auburn scorers, averaging 19.6 points through nine games played. Broome also leads the Tigers on the glass, averaging 11.9 rebounds per game while also leading Auburn in assists per game with 3.6.
Point being, Ohio State will have no choice but to make it an unpleasant experience for Broome, or else things will not go well… at all.
Production from Aaron Bradshaw
Former five-star recruit and Kentucky transfer Aaron Bradshaw played just four games with the Buckeyes before getting investigated for an alleged domestic incident that took place at his off-campus apartment in November. Bradshaw is now back with the team, and this will be his first time playing since the investigation opened.
Before the investigation, Bradshaw was averaging 7.8 points and 4.5 assists.
While standing at 7-foot-1, Bradshaw will play a massive role in closing down Broome, but the Buckeyes will need a near perfect game from him. Bradshaw, one of the most highly touted recruits on Kentucky’s roster last season, only averaged 4.9 points and 3.3 rebounds through 26 games played and ten games started with the Wildcats last year.
This will be a tough battle for Bradshaw individually as his mind may lurk to other places coming in fresh off of the investigation. With this game starring at a neutral site just short of two hours from Auburn, Ala. Bradshaw should expect to hear some noise from the traveling Auburn fans that will surely be in attendance.
But, if Bradshaw can overcome the noise and just focus on hooping and closing down Broome, Ohio State could have a strong shot at beating the Tigers.
Free-Throws
Finally, Auburn is shooting 75% from the charity stripe while Ohio State is shooting 7.4% less, 67.6%.
In a game like this, against a team like this, every little point will matter and play a deciding factor in the end. If Ohio State can get to the rim and flare up its chances of getting fouled, they should be able to tack on extra points from that.
Free-throws play a crucial role in college basketball, especially towards the end of the game when teams foul due to strategy. If Ohio State can be up at this time, it would have a chance at closing out the contest, as long as it sinks its free throws.
This matchup can be viewed on ESPN2 at 1:00 p.m.