The Hoosiers welcome the Buckeyes to Bloomington and we welcome our friends in the SB Nation blogosphere.
With Indiana set to take on Ohio State on Thursday evening, we (metaphorically) sat down with our friends from Land-Grant Holy Land.
It’s a huge game for an Indiana program looking to finish the season strong and solidify its case for the postseason. Ohio State is once again one of the top teams in the conference and a tough test.
We have some answers over on their site and their Thomas Costello answered some of our questions here. His answers are below:
Q: Checking in on Cotie McMahon. How has the Buckeyes’ star developed over the years and has she become more dangerous of a matchup with time?
McMahon’s been known as a dynamo inside the paint since jumping onto the scene two seasons ago. The junior still does that, but not nearly as much as previous seasons because now she can shoot. McMahon worked on deep shooting over the last year, but didn’t use it too effectively in games. Over the summer, the forward played with USA Basketball’s youth 3×3 team, expanding her game to include not only taking on players one-on-one, but taking advantage of space on the court and hitting midrange or deep shots.
Where McMahon will shoot the most is in the midrange. McMahon will back up defenders and then hit turnaround jumpers where she looks in total control. Now, every so often one won’t hit close to the rim but more often than not McMahon is converting the chances on a tough to guard shot.
In addition, McMahon is now the vocal leader of the Buckeyes after getting to play a backseat in overall responsibility to Jacy Sheldon. The few dedicated people in Ohio State media who cover this team love McMahon because she’s always been known to speak her mind without much of a filter, and that’s the same way she leads. If the team isn’t doing well defensively, she’ll say it after the game. If things aren’t going well during the game, McMahon will morph into the forward of previous seasons and do anything she can to get to the basket and try to earn a whistle on the way.
Q: What else does Ohio State rely on offensively?
Jaloni Cambridge is what the Buckeyes rely on the most. The No. 1 point guard in 2024 is as-advertised, using her quickness to read defenses, expose gaps and go to the basket. Cambridge doesn’t do it like McMahon, aka like a car driving through a wall. No, Cambridge uses finesse and also has the ability to stop midway through a run to pull up and knock down a midrange shot or find an outlet pass to McMahon or one of the other three on the court with her at the same time.
Lately, Ohio State also relies on someone off the bench to contribute with big moments. In the last two games, the Buckeyes used first year players to push the team to wins. Against Minnesota, freshman Ava Watson scored 16 points from deep on 4-of-4 shooting after scoring six total points in the last seven games combined. Then, on Monday against Iowa, redshirt sophomore transfer guard Kennedy Cambridge (Jaloni’s older sister) came in and scored a single game career high 16 points herself. Kennedy Cambridge is more known for defense, playing like a combination of former Buckeye Rikki Harris’ grit and Celeste Taylor’s defensive timing to force turnovers.
The problem is, if either McMahon or Jaloni Cambridge has an off game, the Buckeyes are in trouble. The margin for error with this side is thin.
Q: I have to ask: the Buckeye press. Is it still as menacing as ever?
It is but it’s not always turning into easy baskets like it has in the past. Take the Buckeyes’ trip to California as a good example. Ohio State lost to UCLA and USC by double figures in each contest, but forced 23 turnovers in each game but shot 29.4 percent in each game.
The turnovers aren’t like previous years where there were four people capable of efficiently turning those steals into baskets. Ohio State brought in two transfers in the offseason in former Oregon shooting guard Chance Gray and Kentucky forward Ajae Petty. In the last five games, Gray averages 8.6 points on 13 percent shooting from beyond the arc while Petty averages 5.2 points in 19 minutes per game over the same stretch.
Q: Ohio State finds itself in the odd position of being a great team in a conference with two absolutely elite ones. How has the Buckeyes’ season gone this year?
I don’t agree with the Buckeyes’ No. 8 ranking in the AP poll. The team has the ability to be great but I think their current status is slightly inflated thanks in part to a downright ugly non-conference schedule. The lone marquee opponent scheduled was the Stanford Cardinal, who started the year unranked, hit the top-25 once and now sit at 13-12 on the season. The NCAA tournament committee ranked Ohio State at No. 14, and they sit in roughly the same area of the NET rankings. That’s probably more accurate of a placement for the team.
The best way I can describe this team is that they aren’t a team that can take a day off. Ohio State thought they could against the Penn State Nittany Lions and they lost, giving Penn State their only conference win all season, so far (let’s be honest a second one may never come for the Nittany Lions).
Ohio State played great against UCLA in the first three quarters, and were tied with the Bruins in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but fell apart late. The Buckeyes are still trying to figure things out, but have a strong core in McMahon, Jaloni Cambridge and future starters in Watson, Kennedy Cambridge name that isn’t too well known in center Elsa Lemmilä.
Lemmilä is a 6-foot-6 center who has come on strong lately. McGuff is leaning on the Finnish big late in games, choosing her for her length and how she plays the fundamentals of basketball so well. McMahon said the freshman makes reads not usually done by someone in their first year and McGuff is surprised at how calming of a force she is on the court.
If the pieces Ohio State has now can play to their potential, they could surprise the big teams in the Big Ten Tournament and possibly beyond.
Q: What are Ohio State’s postseason projections?
With all that last stuff said about surprising teams, I don’t think it will happen this year. I see Ohio State hosting the first two rounds of the tournament, as a four seed, but not making it to the Sweet Sixteen. However, if they did squeak into the Sweet Sixteen, I wouldn’t be overly surprised. This team hasn’t hit its peak yet, and if it does at the right time, and some luck falls their way, it could be an interesting postseason for the Buckeyes.