Pregame glance: Northwestern

Coming off a huge win over the Purdue Boilermakers, the Buckeye basketball team will face Northwestern this weekend in their attempt to tie the second-best start in school history by earning their 22nd victory on the season without a loss.  The game will be in Evanston, and with a 13-7 record going into the game and 9 games remaining in the Big Ten season for the Wildcats, they will be fighting hard to pick up the big win to bolster their chances of making it to their first-ever NCAA Tournament.

Northwestern started the season in fine form, winning their first eight games before settling into a regular tradeoff between wins and losses.  It could be said that they beat the teams they are supposed to beat while losing the games they are supposed to lose.  All seven of Northwestern’s losses have come in the Big Ten against more highly ranked opponents, with the exception of their first loss, which was against unranked (but still formidable) St. John’s.  This consistency would suggest that the Buckeyes are bound for a guaranteed win on Saturday, but nothing can be taken for granted.

The primary threat for the Buckeyes to control is John Shurna, whose 19 points per game ranks second in the Big Ten currently.  Shurna technically plays the power forward position, but he is very comfortable going outside and can shoot the ball at a very high level of accuracy (over 50% on both field goals and three-pointers).  Shurna is not a “scorer” in the sense that he will frequently take his man off the dribble and drive to the hoop for acrobatic layups, but in the Northwestern offensive scheme he is able to find a way to get open on a regular basis.  The Buckeyes will likely deploy David Lighty to shut down Shurna given Shurna’s height (6’8) and Lighty’s ability to fight through screens.

Interestingly, some Northwestern viewers feel that Shurna puts up his numbers while playing against the Wildcats’ weaker opponents and fails to show up in the marquee matchups.  Certainly Ohio State falls into the latter category with their #1 ranking right now, so a perception of “the real John Shurna” may be established depending on how well the junior forward performs against the Buckeyes.  Then again, after suffering a concussion in Northwestern’s last game, there is the distinct possibility that Shurna will not even make an appearance in the game.

Another player to watch for Northwestern is senior guard Michael Thompson, who is second on the team in scoring at over 14 points per game and leads the team in minutes played.  Thompson seems like the kind of player who commentators would be raving about if he played on a top contending team, as he takes care of the ball, shoots a strong percentage from the field, and plays good defense.  He runs the team well, but perhaps doesn’t have the resources at his disposal to translate his leadership into wins.  It will be interesting to see how Aaron Craft handles Thompson, as the Northwestern point will have a similar focus on controlling the pace of the game and patiently getting his team set up on the offensive end to run their Princeton offense (we may not be in the Big Ten, but we can still do backdoor cuts!).

Northwestern struggled in the paint in their last game against Minnesota, not having an answer for the Minnesota trees down low.  Look for Ohio State to leverage the interior play of Jared Sullinger as usual, and for Sullinger to post another game with outstanding numbers.  Ohio State’s best route to take in this game is to come out very aggressive early and open up a significant lead that will force Northwestern into altering their game plan and playing from behind.  The danger for the Buckeyes in this game is to start the game sluggish, let the Wildcats hang around, and find themselves in another down-to-the-wire contest, this time on the road against a disciplined team.

If the showing against Purdue on the heels of the big win over Illinois is any indication, Thad will have the troops ready to go.  As the enthusiasm builds with the season, Ohio State must continue to find the appropriate balance between being loose and having fun and steeling themselves for each contest in the Big Ten schedule.

Saturday’s game will be played at 6:00pm and can be seen on ESPN2.