Brice Sensabaugh, Ohio State's freshmen assume key roles in opening win
Justice Sueing’s night was mostly over when things got a little weird.
With Ohio State comfortably ahead of Robert Morris 60-37 with 12:39 to play in Monday’s season opener, coach Chris Holtmann made three substitutions. He replaced third-year center Zed Key, Oklahoma State transfer Isaac Likekele and West Virginia transfer Sean McNeil with freshmen.
When Roddy Gayle, Felix Okpara and Bruce Thornton walked onto the court, they joined a lineup that also featured fellow freshman Brice Sensabaugh and Wright State transfer Tanner Holden. Just like that, the Ohio State lineup consisted of four freshmen and a player making his program debut.
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“It’s different,” Sueing said following the 91-53 win. “These past couple years it’s been our main core of guys, E.J. (Liddell), KY (Kyle Young). Seeing them out there, it’s a little bit weird but we’re all really comfortable with each other. We mesh well together for a reason.
“When you’re a part of an Ohio State basketball team, it’s not by mistake. You’re a special kind of guy and a special type of player.”
What that means for the Buckeyes when the level of competition ramps up remains to be seen, but on this night the rebuilt roster showed promise. Holtmann deployed a nine-man rotation until the final five minutes of the game when redshirt freshman Kalen Etzler, freshman Bowen Hardman and then walk-ons Colby Baumann and Owen Spencer all saw action.
Of the 13 players to play for the Buckeyes, 11 of them were making their program debuts. Without third-year wing Gene Brown III, who missed the game while in concussion protocol, Holtmann has no choice but to play lineups with newcomers outnumbering players with prior Ohio State experience.
The hope is to minimize the amount of time the four freshmen who are expected to be significant contributors this season – Gayle, Okpara, Sensabaugh and Thornton – are all on the court together.
“I am going to try to limit having four of them on the floor,” Holtmann said. “I don’t think it’s fair to them right now. I know they’d be like, ‘Coach, we’re good,’ but some of it is they don’t know what they don’t know. We are going to try to keep it to two or three guys at a time.”
That lineup with Holden and the four freshmen was together for 2:41 and was outscored 7-5. It was the only time the Buckeyes had those four freshmen on the court together. Sensabaugh was the most prolific with a 17-point effort, nine of which came in the final 4:22.
“Brice is playing through some stuff,” Holtmann said. “He had some moments there defensively, some errors, but the kid’s an incredible kid. Really talented. Wants to learn. Really pleased with his approach. It was good to see him get in a little bit of a rhythm late.”
Brice Sensabaugh almost has double-double in Ohio State debut
Of the four, Thornton was the only starter. His 23:58 of playing time was the most among Ohio State’s first-year players and he finished with 3 points on 1-of-4 shooting and had four assists, two rebounds and two turnovers. In addition to his late scoring burst, Sensabaugh came one rebound short of a double-double while drawing five fouls and committing three turnovers in 17:31. Gayle had 7 points, three assists and three rebounds with one turnover in 14:26.
Ohio State spent 19:47 of the game with just one freshman on the court and was plus-24 (51 points scored, 27 allowed). Thornton was the primary solo contributor here, logging 16:16 of that action. The Buckeyes played with two freshmen for 10:45, scoring 21 points and allowing 15 (plus-6) and with three freshmen for 3:08 while going plus-6 (seven points scored, one allowed).
Key said he advised the freshmen before the game to keep it simple.
“You’re still going to go out there and bounce a basketball,” he said. “Go out there and play. The game will come to you. Don’t try to rush the game.”
Those four freshmen combined for 31 of Ohio State’s 91 points (34.1%) and six of the team’s 14 turnovers (42.9%).
“They’re going to show glimpses of what they’ve shown of really good play, and they’re going to have head-scratching moments,” Holtmann said. “They’re freshmen. It’s to be expected. Some will have more head-scratching moments than others and we’ll have to coach that and bring them along.”
The Buckeyes used one other lineup with four freshmen that didn’t include Thornton. Hardman, the final scholarship player to see action, was on the court with Gayle, Okpara and Sensabaugh for 1:06 and outscored Robert Morris 5-0.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State basketball freshmen take on key roles in season opener
