COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ryan Pedon couldn’t help but smile.

The Ohio State men’s basketball assistant coach was being asked about Penn State’s differences defensively heading into the team’s first Big Ten game of the season, including an aside that Jamari Wheeler is on the Buckeyes and not the Nittany Lions anymore.

“Jamari has given us everything we have wanted out of him,” Pedon said.

But Ohio State’s Big Ten opener will be different for the redshirt senior transfer.

Wheeler said he’s excited, he’s ready to play, but that he’s trying to approach it as any other game, even though he knows how much Penn State means to him and how much he meant to Penn State.

“There’s a lot that came with that,” Wheeler said. “I put up banners, most wins. I’m just excited to go back.”

While it will be his first time playing at the Bryce Jordan Center as a visitor, Wheeler has an idea of what it will be like. The redshirt senior guard said it will be like Big Ten play overall: very physical, many ups and downs.

“Bring your overall attitude with you because in this league, it’s hard to win on the road,” he said. “Really just be ready to battle for 40 minutes.”

This is something Wheeler has experienced. It’s something Malaki Branham has not.

Seven games into his collegiate career, the Ohio State freshman has played one of the hardest non-conference schedules the Buckeyes have played in recent memory, something, he said, will only help him as he approaches his first conference game.

Branham and redshirt senior guard Cedric Russell, coming off his moment against No. 1 Duke, can have an idea of what the physicality is like in Big Ten play, what the atmosphere is like.

But to truly experience it, to know what it’s like, Pedon said it’s something you can’t quantify verbally.

“We can show them video, show them film and prepare them,” Pedon said. “But the reality is, until you get in the arena, until you are on that stage and you feel it, you learn best when you are on the fly like that.”

It’s not something that’s permanent either.

Other than the road game against Penn State and the Big Ten home opener against Wisconsin Dec. 11, Ohio State remains in the middle of its non-conference schedule with four more contests until the Buckeyes begin the bulk of their Big Ten schedule Jan. 2.

From this game against Penn State, all Pedon wants his players to learn is that every Big Ten opener is a war, as are the 19 conference games after it.

“Being thrown into the fire is a valuable thing. It’ll expose you if you aren’t playing at that level, at that intensity,” Pedon said. “How quickly you are able to learn that and sort of shift your level, I think that’s going to be the big key.”

Knowing what Big Ten play is like, Wheeler said Ohio State’s non-conference schedule has prepared the team well for its matchup with Penn State.

But while Wheeler has some increased emotions heading into this first conference game, his mindset remains on the challenge and the task the Ohio State coaching staff has for him: to focus on the task at hand and nothing more.

“We just have to focus on ourselves,” Wheeler said. “We can’t go into it looking like ‘Oh, this is a league game,’ stuff like that. We just know it’s going to be more physical, but just control what we can control and do what we do and we’ll like the results.”

Ohio State’s practice Friday looked a bit different than it usually does.

Head coach Chris Holtmann was away from the team two days before its Big Ten opener with a non-COVID-19 related sickness. Pedon confirmed Friday that the head coach is expected to be back for Sunday’s tipoff, but that practice planning is normal with Holtmann being in regular contact with the coaching staff.

“We have a great staff in place,” Pedon said. “Certainly it’s not going to fall on one person. We work so well together that I know Coach has a lot of confidence in what we’re able to do with the team. We’re going to play our role to the best of our ability.”

Ohio State will travel to Happy Valley to take on Penn State 7:30 p.m. Sunday.