COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State hasn’t looked good in its first two basketball games since the program returned from a COVID-19 outbreak. In the battle between rust vs. rest that comes with a long hiatus, rust is winning, which shouldn’t be surprising. It is just dealing with three canceled games; players also weren’t getting valuable practice time. In an 87-79 overtime win at Nebraska on Sunday, that rust is why they only made six of their first 20 shots and why everybody not named Malaki Branham was 17 of 44 (38.6 percent) from the field. Had it not been for Branham’s 35-point night, OSU probably loses. The shooting struggles continued Thursday night at Indiana, missing 20 of their first 30 shots, then made just six more the rest of the game to finish at 31 percent. The efforts of Branham mixed with the Hoosiers’ own struggles (41 percent) let OSU…
Continue Reading: Why Ohio State basketball must quickly shake off the rust and avoid another January slump
