Buckeyes' dearth of size remains major concern following loss to Minnesota

Ohio State’s lack of size has been clear since the beginning of the season.

E.J. Liddell and Kyle Young bring plenty of energy and athleticism to the Buckeyes’ starting frontcourt, but no consistent member of Chris Holtmann’s rotation tops 6-foot-8.

Of the nine Big Ten schools ranked in the latest edition of the AP Top 25, seven start at least one player standing 6-foot-10 or taller. Michigan State and Ohio State are the only two without such size.

Wisconsin has Micah Potter and Nate Reuvers. Illinois has the massive Kofi Cockburn. Iowa has the country’s leading scorer, Luka Garza.

Most wounding of all to Ohio State on Sunday evening was the presence of Liam Robbins, Minnesota’s very own 7-footer. Robbins posted a season-high 27 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and five blocks on an efficient night from the field in his team’s 77-60 win.

It was the junior’s first double-double in a Minnesota uniform and clearly his most dominant game of the young Big Ten slate.

“We knew we were a little undersized guarding him," Ohio State junior guard Duane Washington said. "He played a hell of a game. He made some really, really tough shots. Affected the game in a variety of ways-- credit to him.”

The Drake transfer torched any of Holtmann’s pregame strategizing from the jump, posting seven points and five rebounds in the first five minutes of this game en route to 16 first-half points.

Robbins’ style of play isn’t the smoothest or prettiest, but he was largely unstoppable in the majority of his time on the court.

In the Buckeyes’ first loss this season, Purdue center Trevion Williams found a similar groove on the interior, torching an Ohio State team that had no real answer for his size and vision in the post.

This time around, Robbins had his way on both ends of the court, changing or blocking nearly every Ohio State shot near the basket and piling up fouls on Zed Key, Liddell, and Young seemingly every time he touched the ball.

On a series of three consecutive Minnesota possessions early in the second half, Robbins took a post feed and was quickly fouled going up on the interior.

The Buckeyes had no answer-- as has been the case on more than a few occasions this season.

“He’s an aggressive big. He’s pretty good. He shoots threes, gets to his spots," Liddell said. "Our preparation was to take him out of those spots and we didn’t do that-- I didn’t do that, specifically. He just got to his spots and did a great job today.”

When Ohio State chose to send multiple defenders at the big man, his awareness and gravity in the paint led to open shots on the perimeter for Minnesota. Robbins finished with those four assists and his ability to make quick passes out of the post led to plenty more perimeter looks.

In many scenarios, Robbins’ success wasn’t the result of errors by the Buckeyes. He was simply overwhelming to smaller players, swatting away hopeless shots on the inside and scoring over defenders without hesitation.

“We weren’t physical enough," Washington said. "I don’t know if we knew he was gonna be that physical or not. He played some really good basketball tonight.”

Against a usually-excellent rebounding team, Robbins dominated on both ends, grabbing six offensive rebounds and leading his team to a 41-39 advantage on the glass.

Most importantly, Robbins' interior presence on the defensive end held Ohio State to just 20 points in the paint and 31 percent shooting from the field.

“We’ve gotta finish over size and height better, and we will. I think we will," Holtmann said. "Some of it was we didn’t play smart enough when we did get to the paint, across the board offensively. I’ll take responsibility for that. We just didn’t make good enough paint decisions.”

He was far from the only reason for a Minnesota victory, but without Robbins in the middle, this would have been an entirely different game.

With two matchups each against Illinois and Iowa left on Ohio State’s schedule, the Buckeyes’ lack of size continues to be a major concern going forward.

“Our league’s really good. We’ve got great bigs in our league," Holtmann said. "I think you learn from each experience and we’ve certainly played well against guys that have had similar size.”

In a conference dominated by size and scoring on the interior, Holtmann’s team is facing an uphill battle.