Ohio State will look to rebound from a tough defeat to North Carolina when the Buckeyes host Maine on Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio.
The Buckeyes (7-3) lost 89-84 in overtime to the Tar Heels on Saturday after North Carolina’s Pete Nance tied the score 79-79 on a fallaway buzzer beater at the end of regulation.
“I want to see how we respond these next couple days from an emotional game,” Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said Monday. “Playing a good team. Maybe I’ll have a better answer then on kind of where we’re at before Christmas.
“They (Maine) won on the road against (Boston College). They had a tie game at Nebraska, and Nebraska almost beat Purdue at home. They’re a good team, and their NET ranking is actually extremely high.”
Maine (6-5) won 69-64 at BC on Nov. 14 after losing 79-66 at Nebraska on Nov. 7.
The Black Bears had won two straight before an 87-55 loss at Akron on Monday. Kellen Tynes and Kristians Feierbergs led the Black Bears with 10 points each.
Still, under first-year coach Chris Markwood, Maine has equaled its win total of last season (6-23).
“I think having a new group of guys, everyone has bought into what Coach Markwood has brought to us,” freshman guard Jaden Clayton told TV station WFVX. “I think that, especially with the whole connection with the group, off the court we’re really close and I think that’s been missing. Especially from talking to the guys from last year, they weren’t as close as we are this year.”
Tynes leads the Black Bears in scoring with 14.6 points per game. Gedi Juozapaitis is second (13.2).
Brice Sensabaugh tops the Buckeyes with 14.9 points per game, which is 10th in the country in scoring among freshmen.
Ohio State sophomore wing Gene Brown III may make his season debut after being out with a concussion.
“Gene’s getting healthier,” Holtmann said. “We expect to see (Gene) on the floor here relatively soon.”
–Field Level Media