Three Keys for Ohio State Basketball vs. Wisconsin Without John Mobley Jr.

Ohio State hosts Wisconsin tonight at 8:30 p.m. in their second matchup of the season.

In their last meeting, the Buckeyes fell 92-82, but things will look different this time around with a new starting lineup and a lot on the line.

Here are the three keys to success.

Adjusting without John Mobley Jr.

Mobley is out indefinitely with a hand injury, which adds a huge gap in Ohio State’s offense and playmaking.

The last time the Buckeyes faced Wisconsin, Mobley was somewhat limited with only nine points and an assist. He was uncharacteristically 1-8 from three, but his impact goes beyond just scoring. The gravity he creates on the court when he’s moving through screens has been crucial for Ohio State’s offense, and has given them another option to create opportunities for Bruce Thornton.

Sixth man Taison Chatman stepped up against the Badgers, finishing with his career high 14 points. He’ll have an opportunity for even more significant minutes tonight in the starting lineup.

“It’s next man up,” head coach Jake Diebler said. “I think Taison can provide some of those elements, that’s going to be important for us. Tilly has been a playmaker for us, and done it at a really high level at times this season. He’s got to get back to that. We need Devin to be able to do some of that as well.”

Scoring in the paint

The last time out, Ohio State had 30 points in the paint and Wisconsin had 42. Diebler sees this as a major area of emphasis tonight.

“We’ve got to be more efficient in the paint this game and we got to do a better job protecting the rim,” Diebler said. “And part of that is making sure they’re not able to get the ball in the paint off their transition offense early.”

He noted that Wisconsin’s point guard Nick Boyd is really dynamic in transition, so taking care of the ball becomes a critical key to success for the Buckeyes, as the Badgers scored 16 points off turnovers in their last matchup.

Strong looks out of timeouts and late game situations

In what could be another close game down the stretch, the Buckeyes need to execute out of the timeouts better when there’s a chance for plays to be drawn up.

Although Diebler thinks his team has done this at a high level for the majority of the season, he said in their last game—a 70-66 loss against Virginia—they weren’t good enough in those moments.

Diebler emphasized that without Mobley, it was even tougher to adjust to those plays down the stretch, but the team has watched film to identify exactly what went wrong.

If Ohio State can adjust without Mobley, control the paint and execute late, the Buckeyes give themselves a real chance to flip the script in round two.