COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jake Diebler was nervous.

Given the circumstances of what was coming Sunday night, there may have been a bit more nervousness than usual. But the game of basketball really means too much to him to not be nervous before every game.

Diebler was charged to be the main guy, the head coach, something he has never done before.

Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann and assistant coach Ryan Pedon were not there to help during game time, though multiple phone calls and Zooms with the pair as they navigate health and safety protocol made Diebler feel confident heading into Sunday’s game against Northwestern.

But Diebler knew he still needed some help. He texted E.J. Liddell.

The Ohio State junior forward and the team’s leading scorer was not in a good spot offensively. He admittedly was still trying to get his legs back under him after a three-week pause due to COVID-19 cases in the program, leading to struggling offensive performances against Nebraska and Indiana.

Liddell needed a good night, desperately, hearing the doubt from outside the program after his previous two performances.

Diebler’s message was just that; a challenge: be “on it.”

When Liddell entered Value City Arena for the first home game in about a month, the acting head coach told him something to remember: “Make us look good on the bench.”

When the ball was tipped Sunday, Diebler’s nervousness left. It was a game, the game he grew up loving, just being forced to be a bit more of a vocal part of it.

The game started like it normally would for Liddell too, getting the ball down low and getting immediately swarmed by multiple Northwestern defenders, something he shimmied off enough to get a fadeaway jumper off.

The ball swished through the net. Liddell was on it.

He was getting open look after open look from outside, draining each one with ease, just responding to the open window in Northwestern’s ball-screen coverage.

“He was ready. His shots were good shots,” Diebler said. “You really didn’t see him take any where you were like, ‘I wouldn’t take that unless you were really on fire.’ They were really good shots.”

Liddell was just playing like he normally would: aggressively, confidently, taking advantage of what the Wildcats’ defense was giving him and converting, transitioning back to defense to make a stop.

But over the course of the first five minutes of Sunday’s game against Northwestern, neither the forward nor the acting head coach realized how “on it” Liddell actually was.

After his opening score, Liddell hit five 3-pointers in a row, scoring 17 points in the first five minutes of play.

“I was just doing what I normally do. I didn’t know I hit five in a row though, that’s crazy,” Liddell said. “I was just doing what I know how to do.”

From the other bench, all Chris Collins saw was miscommunication.

Whether it was through pick-and-pop plays between Liddell and redshirt senior guard Jamari Wheeler or losing the junior forward as redshirt senior Kyle Young crashed the paint, giving Liddell an open look, the Northwestern head coach saw a defense that wasn’t prepared for what Liddell could do, even though he said the Wildcats did make him work for his scores later in the game.

“We didn’t start the game with the defensive presence that we needed in order to play a player of that caliber,” Collins admitted.

With Diebler near the bench standing in the place Holtmann usually stands, with a similar stance to the one Holtmann uses, he watched Liddell have a career night, scoring 34 points with a career-high 12 field goals on 20 attempts while adding five blocks.

“He works very, very hard. He puts himself, leading up to this season and through the season, he’s put himself in a position to have games, really, really good, high-level games,” Diebler said. “His work has stayed as consistent, if not more over the last week-and-a-half. He’s earned this. He earned this for sure.”

Diebler’s relationship with Liddell didn’t change Sunday, just like his relationship with the team didn’t change Sunday.

He’s always viewed himself as a leader, describing it as God-given, developing the camaraderie and connectedness of teams that he strived for when he was a college player.

That’s all basketball is to Diebler: a tool to build relationships, to build connections with people, something he’s been able to do with the players on Ohio State’s roster even before he took Holtmann’s spot.

“The relationships I have been able to build with the guys on our team here, just tried to keep those the same tonight,” Diebler said. “Didn’t really try to do anything different, didn’t try to do anything crazy. I wasn’t trying to be Coach (Holtmann). Those guys, that’s a fun group to coach. It’s a fun group to coach. The relationship side will always be the same.”

That’s why he needed help from Liddell, texting him, challenging him to be that guy for Ohio State against Northwestern.

Diebler needed Liddell, and the acting head coach got him. That’s all he could think about sitting down after his first win as a head coach

“It sure helps to have E.J. Liddell,” Diebler said, shaking his head.