Muhammad, Ohio State Hoping to Find Their Groove
The final verdict on Luther Muhammad's sophomore season remains up for deliberation, but neither his nor Ohio State's prospects are as promising as they once were.
Muhammad will take the floor Wednesday against Rutgers (7 p.m., Big Ten Network) if his injured shoulders allow.
If he's out there, it's even money whether he'll be wearing a brace and which shoulder it will be on.
He started OSU's win at Michigan last week with a protective device on his right shoulder, wore that until halftime, then injured his left shoulder while driving to the basket with around five minutes left and didn't return.
That prompted Muhammad to wear the brace on his left shoulder Sunday at Wisconsin in a 70-57 loss where he had one of his most efficient offensive performances in weeks.
Muhammad made three of his four shot attempts, including 1-of-2 from three-point range, hit two free throws and scored nine points in 29 minutes.
"It was bothering me (at Michigan) because you have to adjust the strength you're using to shoot," Muhammad said. "I took it off at halftime. They didn't tell me to, I just said, 'I'm not wearing it,' so I took it off.
"When I wear it on the left side, it's a little better because it's not on my shooting (shoulder). I'd rather wear it on my left than my right."
The nine points he scored at Wisconsin is Muhammad's highest total since getting 10 in a Dec. 29 loss to West Virginia that began a precipitous drop in his shooting percentage.
Muhammad made 16-of-33 triple attempts before the WVU game. Wisconsin was the first time in any of the nine game since that he's made half his tries, a stretch during which he's gone 5-for-32.
Perhaps not coincidentally, that loss to the Mountaineers is exactly where OSU's fortunes turned south, plummeting from once-beaten and No. 2 in the nation to their current 15-8 record overall and 5-7 mark in the Big Ten.
Muhammad has also been battling occasional back spasms lately, so in that sense his fortunes serve as a further metaphor for a team that continually seems to discover new Achilles Heels virtually every time it suits up.
Earlier in the season, OSU seemingly had outgrown the gridlock that gripped it last year whenever center Kaleb Wesson encountered foul trouble.
It even left him on the pine at crunch time because things were going so well without him in a recent win at Northwestern.
But Sunday at Wisconsin, the Buckeyes allowed a 16-0 spurt to close a 23-5 nightmare over the first half's final eight minutes that began once Wesson went to the bench with two personals.
"He gives us something that no one else does, with an ability to get fouled, with teams game-planning and scheming for him, which opens up things for other people," OSU coach Chris Holtmann said. "That's clear. There were some correctable errors that we have to do a better job coaching and playing, for sure."
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