Ohio State senior Aaron Craft is a calculated individual — he once solved a Rubik’s Cube in just more than a minute and is one of the best point guards in the NCAA.
He and No. 10 Ohio State will look to puzzle the Bobcats (1-0) when they visit Value City Arena for the first time since 1994 on Tuesday.
Ohio won that meeting by 11 points behind the double-double efforts of Gary Trent, whose No. 20 jersey hangs in The Convo’s rafters. Jeff Boals, his running mate and current Buckeyes assistant coach, scored 14 points and grabbed eight boards in the game.
Boals said he follows his alma mater intently and has been impressed with what he’s seen.
“The thing you realize from this year’s team is they have a lot of upperclassmen … all who have played in big games,” he said. “They’ve played in the big games, they’ve won NCAA Tournament games and obviously with the three kids from central Ohio coming back it will be even more to it.”
Historically, Ohio has not fared well against Ohio State. The Bobcats have won only four of 19 all-time meetings with the Buckeyes.
Ohio State (1-0) pummeled Morgan State on Saturday 89-50. Five Buckeyes scored 10 or more points in the contest.
The Buckeyes return four starters this year, including Craft, who is the Buckeyes’ all-time steals leader and has enough on-court accolades to easily fill a résumé.
“He has a great nose for the ball,” Christian said. “He has a high basketball IQ — everything you want. He’s a winner. He’s proven it every day he’s out there. He’s probably right now the best winner in college basketball.”
Nick Kellogg said the Bobcats plan to trump the Buckeyes’ collection of ball screens, transitions and other plays by giving them a host of different defensive looks. Kellogg, an Ohio senior guard, scored 16 points during Ohio’s 75-64 win against Northern Iowa on Saturday and was named the Mid-American Conference East player of the week Monday.
Ohio junior guard Stevie Taylor, who finished with 10 points and eight assists Saturday, said it’s important for him, Kellogg and redshirt senior forward Jon Smith to remain focused, despite hailing from the Columbus area.
“We all have family members coming,” Taylor said. “We all (live) right down the street, so we’ve been going to Ohio State games since we were younger. It’s a big game especially at the beginning of the season. We’ve got a long year, and we’ve got to play hard.”
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