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Cincinnati and the state of Ohio resumed late Wednesday a latent rivalry in the state, Buckeyes winning 64-56 in the first game of the season for both teams. The 100% Ohio match marked the first participation of these two programs in the regular season since 1920, when the Bearcats opened their fifth and third arena, recently renovated, with a fierce battle.
Here are three takeaways from it.
1. Balance is the key to the Ohio state offensive
Last season, the Ohio State s strongly relied on the Top Ten player of the year, Keita Bates-Diop. A year ago, Bates-Diop, one of the university's most prominent artists, joined the NBA after scoring 19.8 points per game.
So for this season, the state of Ohio must reconfigure its attack with a balanced approach. It seemed to work pretty well for the Buckeyes against Cincinnati on Wednesday. Kaleb Wesson (15 points, seven rebounds) and letting him go to work, the tall man 6 feet 9 inches wide went patiently to work or threw the ball to open the tailors or shooters. At 270 pounds, Wesson is a solid indoor blanket for college basketball and has a strong pass capacity.
The Ohio State attack was then marked by many dignified looks, four players having finished double digit. Lead leader CJ Jackson (13 points) did not have his best game in attack, but he did some key practice in the far right to force Cincinnati's aggressive defense – including a dagger clearance for make it a point game with 30 seconds remaining. First-year player Luther Muhammad, better known for his defensive prowess than for his attack, scored 11 points as he made difficult buckets in the second half. And second-year striker Kyle Young played a key role in the opponent as his ability to hit the attacking glass or foul him was worth 10 points.
Ohio State has no player of choice. Nobody on this list will go for huge score games. But as long as the Buckeyes understand that the offense has to go through Wesson's interior, they have many dangerous add-ons that can charge the opponents' defenses.
2. Cincinnati desperately needs to find an offensive identity
The keystone of Cincinnati's program identity has always been a robust and physical defense. This season will not be different. But the reason why Cincinnati was able to become a team of 30 wins and a No. 2 seed in last year's NCAA tournament was an improved attack with plenty of high-performance options.
Now that Jacob Evans, Gary Clark and Kyle Washington have all evolved, the Cincinnati offense desperately needs to find a new identity. Or, at the very least, a consistent spark plug that can become a player of choice at the end of the clock.
In the first half, Cincinnati shot a very poor 4-29 (13%) on the field and 2 against 12 (16%) of the three-point range, a disjointed half-court fault showing no continuity. . While Cincinnati could argue with Clark and Washington last season, they did not work hard enough to allow new starters Nysier Brooks (seven points) and Tre Scott (eight points).
The second-half offense was no better for the Bearcats, who were constantly giving up their posts in favor of long contested riders and three shots at the start. Cincinnati, a veteran who was playing incorrectly. Sentry Guards Justin Jenifer (five points, five assists) and Cane Broome (five points) fired together Wednesday night at 3-18, with none of the two guards scoring or running. an offense.
Jarron Cumberland (22 points, all in the second period), a solid two-digit complementary and free marker last season, struggled to create his own offense until defender Buckeye harassed him. Cumberland finally started having trouble late in the game, while he was allowed to become the natural catch-and-shoot type option he was to be. Cumberland is not someone who can get caught by the defenders by knocking him down. He ideally needs an installation guy to be at his best.
Cincinnati has shown that his defense and toughness are always there. But the offensive of the team remains a gigantic work in progress. The improvement starts with the upper-class group of the upper class, who has to force the ball more often inside the ball to help set more pace in the half-court offense. This should give Cumberland a much more consistent look on decisive occasions.
3. Ohio State will be an intriguing team in a widely open Big Ten
The Big Ten race seems to be wide open this season as there is no dominant team perceived by 2018-19. Michigan State, Michigan, Indiana and Purdue all have a chance to be in the top 25 teams. However, none of them are overwhelming on paper. Second-tier Big Ten teams (based on pre-season hype) like Maryland, Wisconsin, Iowa and Penn State all have big question marks ahead of the season.
At least we now know that the Ohio State will not be an easy task for any Big Ten team this season.
The Buckeyes have just won the most impressive early season road victory by entering a hostile environment in the state and getting the best punch in Cincinnati when the Bearcats clashed at the end of the second half . This is the type of victory on the road early in the season that should give Ohio State a ton of confidence, because it is a young team playing with many new parts.
Although the Ohio State still has many highs and lows, like any young team, Chris Holtmann remains one of the best coaches in college basketball. This Buckeye team should be ready to play almost every night of the season. It will be fascinating to see what their ceiling might be once they start to feel comfortable playing with each other.
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