B1G Game 6: Minnesota Hosts Ohio State (1-15-22)

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Ignatius L Hoops

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MISSLE DEFENSE

The 2020-21 season ended abruptly for Ohio State which finished a respectable 13-7 (9-7 in conference). A self-imposed sanction banned OSU from the post season. During the regular season, a February 5th meeting with Minnesota showcased the Buckeyes at their best.

The Gophers traveled to Columbus to take on the 11th ranked Buckeyes. OSU opened the game with an 11-2 run and took a 25-14 first quarter lead. A 15-2 run opening the second half propelled OSU to a 64-36 advantage with 2:20 remining in the third. From there, the Buckeyes coasted to an 83-59 win. Ohio State’s two starting post players, 6’5” Dorka Juhasz (18 points and 10 rebounds) and 6’3” Aaliyah Patty (14 points and 10 rebounds) outbattled Minnesota’s starting posts: Kadi Sissoko (13 and 5) and Klarke Sconiers (12 and 2). There was also a turnover gap. Ohio State scored 25 points off 27 Minnesota turnovers while the Gophers turned 18 OSU turnovers into only 10 points.

In addition to Juhasz and Patty, the other starters for Ohio State were guards Jacy Sheldon (17 points), Madison Greene 8 points and Braxtin Miller 5 points. For Minnesota, the other starters were Sara Scalia with 12 points, Jasmine Powell 5 points and Alexia Smith 2 points. The victory gave OSU an 8-2 conference record. Then the Buckeyes sort of zombied their good work into a dumpster with a 1-5 finish to the season. Subsequently, in the off-season, their starting lineup was tossed into the same dumpster.

Dorka Juhasz left Columbus to be a teammate of Paige Bueckers at UConn and Aaliyah Patty joined Destiny Pitts at Texas A&M. The transfers left the Buckeyes with three post players: Rebeka Mikulasikova, Gabby Hutcherson and Tanya Beacham. Only Mikulasikova was much of a concern to the opposition. Just as troubling, the starting lineup took another hit in the preseason when guard Madison Greene underwent season ending knee surgery. Two weeks before last season’s Gopher game, Greene had posted 24 points and 7 rebounds in a win over Maryland. That’s three large holes to fill.

So, short of posts, Kevin McGuff added another guard, Taylor Mikesell. As much as McGuff’s Buckeyes love to run up points off turnovers, they love to knock down threes. This season the long-range missile is their defining weapon. And Taylor Mikesell is its prime practitioner hitting at a .488 clip.

The three guards joining Mikesell in the starting lineup are no slouches from distance. Jacy Sheldon hits .431 of her threes, Braxtin Miller .393, and Kateri Poole .333. In Big Ten Play, the Buckeyes are 58-136 (.426) which is first in the Big Ten. As are their 9.7 threes per game average. Through their first 6 games they have held B1G opponents to a .246 average from behind the arc. Minnesota are no slouches from behind the arc either. The Gophers are 4th in conference games at 7.4 per game and third in percentage at (.389). There should be some sizzle a Williams Arena on Saturday.

Ohio State is 4-2 in conference with wins over Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern and Michigan State. The losses to no one’s surprise were to Indiana and Michigan. It’s a solid start that wouldn’t have been likely without help arriving through the portal in the familiar form of 5’11” guard Taylor Mikesell. Mikesell began her career with a two-year stint at Maryland before traveling west for a season with Oregon. The Ohio native, happy to be home, is scoring 18.9 ppg and is as deadly as advertised from the behind the arc. Mikesell knocked down 32 points in the win versus the Illini going 8-14 from three.

Mikesell is part one of a two-part Buckeye scoring punch. Part two is 5’10” guard Jacy Sheldon who was last season’s leading scorer. Sheldon is also averaging 19.7 ppg. In addition to being an excellent three-point shooter, the junior is durable. She started every game last season and has not missed a game during her career. Sheldon is also an effective defender and leads the team with 29 steals. Sheldon netted 33 points against Michigan State.

5’11” guard Braxtin Miller is in in her third season at Ohio State after two seasons at Oklahoma State. Miller started 41-43 games as a Junior and Senior and every game this season. She scored 16 versus Purdue (2-4 from three).

5’8” guard Kateri Poole has settled in at the point. The sophomore started the last five games of her freshman year and has stepped up this year. Poole leads the team in assists with 50 although that’s only two more than Sheldon and four more than Miller. The Buckeyes like to share the ball. Poole suffered a left arm injury in the Northwestern game and did not play against Michigan State.

Finally, there’s 6’4” junior Rebeka Mikulasikova. Mikulasikova is averaging 10.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. She can have her moments. She had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Northwestern. And there are disappointments. Indiana’s post player Mackenzie Holmes went off for 30 points and 7 rebounds. Mikulasikova still fancies herself as three point machine; but she’s only knocks them down at a .233 pace. Still, she’s a threat to hit a couple of threes just through blind luck.

Backing up Mikulasikova is 6’1” Graduate Tanya Beacham. Beacham who played three years at Toledo wasn’t that noticeable with last season’s Buckeyes. This season she needs to step up in the 18 plus minutes per game that she’s playing. Beacham has made some contributions with 15 points versus Illinois and 10 versus Northwestern.

The guards are backed up by 5’10” Rikki Harris. Harris is second in steals with 28 and averages almost 7 points and four rebounds a game. Harris started against Michigan State in place of the injured Kateri Poole. Harris, in 36 minutes, scored 9 points (1-2 from three). She also had three steals and 4 rebounds.

It should be fun. Kadi and Rose will be the best posts on the court and Sara’s floater will get a workout. And there will be a vicious battle for the three point line.



OHIO STATE B1G RECORD (4-2):

Wins: @ Purdue 70-53, Illinois 90-69, Northwestern 74-61 and Michigan State 89-83

Losses: Indiana 66-86, @ Michigan 71-90

Taylor Mikesell Last Six Games Big Ten Games:

TeamPtsRebAsstMinFoul
Purdue16105370
Indiana1532381
Michigan2540400
Illinois3232352
Northwestern1356380
Michigan State2552392


Jacy Sheldon Last Six Big Ten Games:

TeamPtsRebAsstMinFoul
Purdue1240372
Indiana2342374
Michigan2625344
Illinois1126261
Northwestern2014392
Michigan State3366391


Probable Starters:

HGTPOSYRPLAYERMINAVGREB
5’11”GSrTaylor Mikesell30.718.93.5
5’10”GJrJacy Sheldon31.519.73.3
5’11”GSrBraxtin Miller27.87.23.5
6’4”GJrRebeka Mikulasikova20.610.96.2
5’5”GSoKateri Poole21.17.13.3


Others:

HGTPOSYRPLAYERMINAVGREB
5’10”GRSoRikki Harris22.96.73.9
5’11”G/FFrTaylor Thierry12.42.83.0
6’1”FGSTanya Beacham17.76.63.9
6’2”FSoGabby Hutcherson10.92.33.5
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Lets be real, a game you have to win if you want to move in the top 5 in the conf and a NCAA bid. We are actually more well rounded then Ohio St., but this team needs to figure out how to get more out of their talent/potential
 

I believe we all know the answer to how to get more out of their talent/ potential. Unfortunately , it's not in the cards for two more years.
 

4 pts and 6 rebounds for Rose in the first half, not bad. Down 1.
 

Where’s the team that played Maryland? Coaching?
 


We need a point guard who can facilitate instead of throwing up awful shots. Powell is 5-15. Scalia is 6-16. You have Winters who is probably the best shooter on the team and she has only taken 7 shots making 4.
 

And why didn’t we try playing any zone?? And why does it feel like our substitution pattern isn’t as good?
 

Can’t help but feel another opportunity lost. For whatever reason this team cannot stop good to elite teams from going on long game changing runs. They can play with a lot of teams but there are certain moments in games when the Gophers are powerless to stop teams and go on a game changing run on their own. I know this team would be nothing w/o Scalia but sometimes her lazy telegraph passes are frustrating and only compounded with her not hustling back on defense. I wish when she does that she would at least foul, it might fire up her team. I agree we need a pg that can facilitate an offense. When the Gophers were making a run at the end of the game there was too much dribbling at the top of the key with time running down and a rush shot at the end.
 

Another problem we have is getting stuck with non-scorers (almost non-shooters) on the court. It makes it too easy for the opposition to make a quick run.

Helgren: 15 minutes, 1-1 from the field
Hubbard: 9 minutes, 0-1
Smith: 5 minutes, 0-2
Mershon: 5 minutes, 0-0

That's 34 minutes with 2 points and 4 shots. Yuck.

We started the game switching on defense which meant, unsurprisingly, that Mikulasikova was getting the ball with a guard defending in the paint. That didn't go well.

We started the second half with everyone short arming some makeable buckets at the rim.

While Kevin McGuff was worked up about the officiating, his biggest annoyance was Scalia getting open for threes.
 



we made no adjustments in this game, straight man and we got burned all night by their PG because we just couldn't keep their PG in front.
I'm trying to figure out what is wrong, we had more talent then Ohio St. the only thing I can come up with is we want to always settle into a half court offense, the couple times we scored in transition it looked good, but I dont think we have a secondary fast break, we want to get it to Jazz in the half court and continually run that high ball screen, that just dosent work with Sissoko. When Ohio St pressed nearly all the game, we could of easily attacked and got our shooters in space, but no we get it to Jazz and start our stagnant offense.
I refuse to believe this team dosen't have the talent to win.
 

Agree but tOSU shot in the 50% from the field while we were in the mid 30%. Sheldon n Mikesell killed us and it was so frustrating to watch them drive down the lane repeatedly to score easy lay ups. We fought back but fell asleep again in the 3rd and couldn't make up the difference. Kevin McGruff bitched about every call and one of the refs spent every time out to listening to him. Not that it caused us to lose the game but he is so annoying. He was even yelling when his team committed obvious traveling or double dribble violations. The gymnastics team from Fargo- Moorhead was fantastic as usual.
 

Focus, discipline, mental toughness, whatever you call it, this Gopher team doesn't have it. Lazy passes at crucial moments, matador defense (Scalia puts all her effort on offense, disappears on defense), not enough ball movement, same old, same old. Scalia and Powell just take turns at the end of games to go one-on-one. Together they took 36 shots, Rose had five. That says it all.
 

Gophers need better defense especially because they have too few players that can play run-and-gun. When they try to play fast pace, they make too many bad passes or dribble-in-traffic mistakes. They also give up too many easy points. Unfortunately, they have some extremes on defense. On one hand, Sissoko tends to get into foul trouble by making poor decisions--she needs to temper her defense because her potential offensive production is needed badly. On the other hand, Scalia needs to play defense stronger. Frequently, she lets players blow by her. When you play 36.41 minutes without committing a foul, you haven't played defense close or hard enough--unless you are super star caliber. Scalia also needs to attack the basket more. If you are an over 90% free throw shooter, you should be feeding at the trough. I sometimes think that Powell should be a shooting guard because she seems conflicted between setting up her teammates or scoring herself. Gophers are close to beating a strong team if they can just fix some problems.
 



BBJones said:
Focus, discipline, mental toughness, whatever you call it, this Gopher team doesn't have it. Lazy passes at crucial moments, matador defense (Scalia puts all her effort on offense, disappears on defense), not enough ball movement, same old, same old. Scalia and Powell just take turns at the end of games to go one-on-one. Together they took 36 shots, Rose had five. That says it all.
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Rose only played 20 min and is a freshman. Baily is in for her Defense. Thats it for posts. I believe we would use Rose more, she just isn't experienced enough right now to rely on consistently, she needs to learn how to kick it out too when it isn't there, that will come. If you want to change the dynamics of where the shots come from, that kid isn't on our roster. Ohio state got 60% of their scoring from 2 kids and won. Scalia and Powell accounted for 53% of the scoring and 54% of the shots taken, so hard to say that is why we lost, that is less then Ohio St..
That post presence is not in next years incoming freshman class. Mallory Heyer is undersized 4, Nia Holloway is a defensive player that I dont think will be polished enough next year to contribute, and then you have Battle and Braun who are guards.
Out issue next year will still be how much can we get out of Kadi and Rose at the 4 and 5.
 

Rickman55 said:
We need a point guard who can facilitate instead of throwing up awful shots. Powell is 5-15. Scalia is 6-16. You have Winters who is probably the best shooter on the team and she has only taken 7 shots making 4.
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Rickman:
This coaching staff is here to support the personal accolades of Powell and Scalia - look at their combined volume of shots compared to the team, it's staggering. It's very difficult for the other players to get into rhythm and contribute when Powell and Scalia do not pass (unless to each other). Stats don't lie. Mershon, Sconiers, and LBK seldom receive post passes from either. Both Strande and Borowicz were great scorers last year and helped offensively, unfortunately they could only contribute when Powell and Scalia were not on the floor - because they would not pass to them - and they were wide open. That is on the coaches, and you cannot win playing that way.
 

MOGopher said:
Rickman:
This coaching staff is here to support the personal accolades of Powell and Scalia - look at their combined volume of shots compared to the team, it's staggering. It's very difficult for the other players to get into rhythm and contribute when Powell and Scalia do not pass (unless to each other). Stats don't lie. Mershon, Sconiers, and LBK seldom receive post passes from either. Both Strande and Borowicz were great scorers last year and helped offensively, unfortunately they could only contribute when Powell and Scalia were not on the floor - because they would not pass to them - and they were wide open. That is on the coaches, and you cannot win playing that way.
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Strange post... your making a case for 5 players in which 4 don't play and the other is a 5th year senior role player.. I'm pretty sure no one on this team is saying "I'm not going to pass it to her". Volume of shots compared to the team isn't really an argument, Caitlyn Clark shot 22 times tonight, Rachel Banham averaged 21 shots a game.
Scalia is averaging 14 shots a game and Powell 12.
Sheldon of Ohio St averages 13 shots a game and Mikesell 14 shots a game..
Volume of shots and who shoots isn't our issue.
 

MNGirlsHoops said:
Strange post... your making a case for 5 players in which 4 don't play and the other is a 5th year senior role player.. I'm pretty sure no one on this team is saying "I'm not going to pass it to her". Volume of shots compared to the team isn't really an argument, Caitlyn Clark shot 22 times tonight, Rachel Banham averaged 21 shots a game.
Scalia is averaging 14 shots a game and Powell 12.
Sheldon of Ohio St averages 13 shots a game and Mikesell 14 shots a game..
Volume of shots and who shoots isn't our issue.
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Rachel Banham never played in an NCAA tournament either…..yet team made it when she was injured. I’m a big Banham fan, as she was the face of the gophers and a Minnesota kids. However I completely agree with the post. This is not team basketball. This is bad shot after bad shot. Yes at times they look like super stars, but the bad shots hurts the team as well. The difference in Clark is she is also getting her team involved a lot.
 

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