Buckeyes keep rolling along
Junior Bates-Diop has another rough shooting night.
NEW YORK — It feels like nitpicking of a team that has won seven straight games and 12 of its last 13, but Ohio State’s third road game of the week marked the third tough shooting night for Keita Bates-Diop.
Now with his own specialized page in the team’s official game notes billing him as an “Award Candidate,” the junior forward continued his breakout season with his eighth double-double of the season for the Buckeyes. Bates-Diop scored a game-high 17 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds as Ohio State fended off Minnesota 67-49 Saturday at Madison Square Garden, but it took him some time to get there.
Against the Golden Gophers, Bates-Diop was 7 for 21 (33.3 percent) from the floor and missed all six of his threepoint attempts. It was the third straight game in which he shot worse than 50 percent from the floor. Although the Buckeyes keep winning, Bates-Diop needed 19 shots to score 20 points at Rutgers on Jan. 14, 12 shots to score 10 points at Northwestern on Wednesday and 21 to reach 17 Saturday.
It’s reasonable to expect Bates-Diop’s numbers will dip somewhat as the season progresses, and it’s clear teams are being more physical with him.
“I think he’s getting great attention and activity from the opposition, as to be expected,” OSU coach Chris Holtmann said.
“I just think it’s impossible to expect the kind of efficiency and numbers throughout a season when you’re getting the attention that he’s getting. I didn’t expect it. I’ve got to try to put him in some spots a little bit better hopefully, and he’s got to embrace the physicality that people are attacking him with right now.”
It’s certainly a fair point. In Big Ten wins against Iowa, Michigan State and Maryland, Bates-Diop was 10 for 17, 12 for 21 and 10 for 15, respectively, from the floor. In his last three games, he is 19 for 52 (36.5 percent) overall and only 2 of 16 (12.5 percent) from three.
And yet, at 17-4 overall, Ohio State has already matched its win total from a year ago. The Buckeyes are finding ways to win even if Bates-Diop’s shooting efficiency has slipped recently. They have won their last five games when he has shot worse than 50 percent from the floor after losing the first three of the season.
“I liked our defense,” Minnesota coach Richard Pitino said.
Their contributions weren’t pronounced on the stat sheet, but in the eyes of Holtmann, Ohio State got some lift from a trio of reserves.
Freshman guard Musa Jallow, who still won’t turn 18 for about two more weeks, did not take a shot but had two rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 13 minutes. He was active defensively, using his natural athleticism to deflect passes and frustrate the Minnesota offense.
In 22 minutes, sophomore forward Andre Wesson was 1 of 2 from the floor for two points and added two rebounds, one assist and one steal. After leading the team in scoring at Northwestern three days ago, sophomore center Micah Potter had four points and three rebounds — all on the offensive end — in only nine minutes.
“I thought we had some really good minutes today from our bench,” Holtmann said. “Musa, in particular, I thought he gave us really solid minutes. I thought that Micah gave us some quality. I thought Wesson gave us some really quality minutes. Andre was really important for us in those defensive stretches, Andre and Musa. Maybe as critical as any time all year, those two guys in particular. In order to be good, we’re going to need to continue to get that.”
One other reserve — freshman forward Kyle Young — offered the exclamation point on the game when he stole the ball from Isaiah Washington, pushed it up the court and threw down a two-handed dunk from the left side of the rim for the final points of the night.