Ohio State cruised to a 74-63 win over Marquette on Tuesday night in a game that wasn’t quite that close. It doesn’t take long to see that Thad Matta’s team is clearly a different team stylistically than last year’s unit, as the Buckeyes played differently on both the defensive and offensive ends of the floor. With an abundance of shooters at its disposal, Ohio State got out in transition and shot the ball very well from the perimeter (53.3% from three). The defense was also a much different look from the Aaron Craft-led pressure man-to-man of the past several years. Here are some other quick observations from the win.
- Shannon Scott Looks Comfortable as the Primary Ball-handler: The senior has started off passing the ball on fire, as he’s hit double figures in assists in both Ohio State games — good for an astonishing 56.0 percent assist rate. Against Marquette, the Buckeyes showed tremendous spacing all night, making things very easy for Scott to simply pick his options to find the open man. Without having to share the point guard spot this season, he finally looks like he’s free to be himself out there. He’s never been a knock-down shooter, but he’s quick and can get to the basket. He and Craft were great together defensively, but they weren’t the best offensive options on the other end of the floor. Now with only one point guard to direct things, there is room for a shooter like D’Angelo Russell or Kam Williams for Scott to find on his drive-and-kicks.
- Different Offensive and Defensive Looks: Matta’s squad played man-to-man almost exclusively last season, but on Tuesday it employed what was called by the announcers a “Syracuse zone” for pretty much the whole contest. They also picked Marquette’s guards up full-court, employing soft pressure before sliding back into a 2-3 look. Using this scheme, the Buckeyes were able to force 16 turnovers, with Scott and newcomer Russell applying great pressure to Marquette’s point guards. However, the back line of the zone left far too many gaps for Steve Taylor Jr. to easily slide into the middle for layups. The Marquette junior forward scored 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting, and he did so without needing to work too hard for good shots. This will have to be something that Matta cleans up should he decide to stick with a zone as the team’s primary defense.
- The Forgotten Man: After missing all of last season with mononucleosis, redshirt freshman Kam Williams showed on Tuesday that he can provide offense off the bench. He was the 58th-ranked player in the Class of 2013, per ESPN, a designation that was actually higher than the more heralded Marc Loving. Williams got somewhat lost in the shuffle of talent entering from this year’s freshman class, but he showed that he has the potential to become a viable long-range option who can also get past his man for mid-range looks. Should Russell or Scott ever get into early foul trouble, it looks as though the Buckeyes will have the necessary depth at the guard spots to play one of those two at the point, with Williams capable of coming in and knocking down shots from the shooting guard position.