Scarlet Sunrise: Still reeling, Ohio State starts four freshmen in loss to Boilermakers

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Still reeling, Ohio State starts four freshmen in loss to Boilermakers

Ohio State had started three freshmen four times this season, but head coach Chris Holtmann hadn’t rolled out four first-year players to start a game during the 2022-23 campaign — until Sunday afternoon at Purdue. Guards Bruce Thornton and Roddy Gayle Jr., forward Brice Sensabaugh and center Felix Okpara got the nod, along with sixth-year forward Justice Sueing.

It marked the Buckeyes’ ninth different starting lineup this season. The group helped Ohio State to an 8-2 lead over the No. 3 Boilermakers on the road. It didn’t lead the Buckeyes to a win, however. In fact, Ohio State suffered an 82-55 defeat in Mackey Arena. The 27-point loss went down as its largest margin of defeat this season.

Sensabaugh got back on track after back-to-back games of single-digit scoring outputs. He was tops among all Buckeyes players with 20 points and five rebounds. The other three Ohio State starting freshmen combined for 10 points. Perhaps most notably, Okpara registered only four points and two rebounds in the absence of center Zed Key, who missed the game after re-aggravating his left shoulder sprain at Iowa.

Okpara picked up two fouls in the first 10 minutes of the game, forcing Holtmann to turn to former preferred walk-on and Citadel transfer Owen Spencer in the first half.

Altogether, Ohio State’s starting freshmen combined for 30 points, seven rebounds, four assists, seven fouls and three turnovers. The bunch also shot a combined 12-of-28, or 42.9%, from the field. And, keep in mind, Sensabaugh accounted for eight of those makes.

“I’ve got a lot of thoughts on that,” Holtmann said when asked postgame about his four-freshmen starting five. “But, listen, those guys have competed all year and played a lot of minutes at this point. That’s a tough thing for those guys to do on the road. Top-two or three team in the country. I think that’s a tough thing for those guys. But, again, they helped our start be really good. And minus some foul trouble, I thought those guys did some really good things.”

Foul trouble, size disadvantage doom shorthanded Buckeyes at Purdue

Okpara wasn’t the only Buckeyes first-year player to run into foul trouble Sunday at Purdue.

Despite notching his ninth 20-point game of the season, Sensabaugh was whistled three times in the first half. He registered his third personal with 3:06 remaining in the opening frame and didn’t check in again until the 15:47 mark of the second period. Gayle also was called for two fouls, one of which was on a 3-point attempt from Purdue’s David Jenkins Jr. late in the first half.

But Okpara’s two early fouls made life even more difficult for a Buckeyes team missing Key against National Player of the Year candidate Zach Edey. Ohio State, which committed 13 personals in the opening frame, didn’t have an answer for the 7-foot-4 Boilermakers big man. Or really the entire Purdue front court.

Head coach Matt Painter’s crew outrebounded the Buckeyes, 44-21, and tallied 14 offensive rebounds and 17 second-chance points. Edey, unsurprisingly, was the headliner with 26 points and 11 boards against an undersized and shorthanded Ohio State team.

For the full game story, go here.

Setting realistic spring expectations for Buckeyes transfer additions

Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day was more aggressive in the transfer portal this offseason than Buckeyes fans are accustomed to.

Ohio State added six players from the portal. Some are poised to earn starting jobs for the 2023 opener.

But that doesn’t mean that, in the future, Day will veer away from his emphasis on high school recruiting.

“Just to start throwing guys in like that, it’s a little risky for us,” he said. “Everybody does their business differently, but I want to make sure we keep that solid.”

Still, there’s no question Ohio State’s transfer additions were significant this offseason. Those players are gearing up for their first spring ball with the Buckeyes. Before then, Lettermen Row is looking at the realistic expectations for all of Ohio State’s new transfers.

Check it out here.

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Indiana: 194 days

Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 278 days

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