Felix Okpara, balanced freshman attack highlight Ohio State's win against St. Francis
He was open, so finally Felix Okpara asked for Ohio State to do something about it.
The No. 25 Buckeyes were hosting St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday afternoon and were finally pulling away from the Red Force in what would become a 96-59 win, and the 6-11, 220-pound freshman center was sitting on 7 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. But after feeling like he was wide open on multiple potential 3-point attempts, he felt the need to point it out to associate head coach and offensive coordinator Jake Diebler.
“I was open 3-4 times so I told Diebs, ‘I’m open,’ ” Okpara said. “He’s like, ‘I’ve got you,’ and drew up the play.”
Then Okpara executed it and, with 2:55 left and the Buckeyes ahead 91-57, swished a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to give him his first career double-double. In his eighth game, Okpara set career highs with points (10), rebounds (12), steals (2) and minutes played (16:09) while providing a second-half spark off the bench for the Buckeyes.
He entered the game with 22 points and 21 rebounds for the season. The 3-pointer, on his first career attempt, was just the icing on the cake.
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“We work on it every day,” Okpara said of his outside shooting. “I give credit to the coaches. They started working early with me, trying to build my game up.”
Okpara finished 3 for 7 from the floor, throwing down a couple of dunks and showing the physicality that he is primarily asked to bring to the defensive end. He was perfect on three free throws and is now five for five on the season after making two attempts in Wednesday’s loss at No. 17 Duke.
The offense is a nice bonus, but it’s not yet what Okpara’s primary role calls for – and he knows it.
“Defense,” he said. “That’s why I check in. Try to get more defensive rebounds, crash the glass. For me right now, scoring is a bonus. I like to do the little stuff, set screens, diving on the floor, mainly just defense.”
Coach Chris Holtmann said that Okpara’s game will expand in time and that 3-point and mid-range shooting will become part of his repertoire. Right now, though, that’s not where he is or what Ohio State primarily needs from the freshman when he subs in typically to give starting center Zed Key a break.
And although Okpara said he enjoyed the 3-pointer more than his dunks because “I dunk every day, so dunking gets old sometimes,” Holtmann said that’s not the case for him.
“It’s a nice problem to have, to be tired of dunking,” Holtmann said jokingly. “I’m not tired of watching him dunk at all. I want to make sure that’s clear. I’m not tired of watching him dunk at all. Especially his rim threat is really important for us. I do believe at some point in his career he’s going to shoot the ball from the perimeter for us. Mid-range at some point.
“That’s not necessarily what he needs to do with this team right now, but I know he enjoyed that moment.”
Four Ohio State freshmen score in double figures
Okpara’s offensive production allowed Ohio State to enjoy an afternoon the likes of which it hadn’t seen in several years. The Buckeyes have four freshmen in their primary rotation including Okpara, and all four of them scored in double figures.
Brice Sensabaugh led the Buckeyes with 15 points, Bruce Thornton scored 13 points and Roddy Gayle Jr. had 12. The four freshmen accounted for 52.1% of the team’s scoring while playing 41.5% of the minutes.
The last time Ohio State had four freshmen score in double figures? On Dec. 22, 2014, in a 93-55 win against Miami (Ohio), when Kam Williams (18), D'Angelo Russell (15), Keita Bates-Diop (12) and Jae'Sean Tate (10) accomplished that feat. Russell, Bates-Diop and Tate are now all playing in the NBA.
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“Good just to see them play,” Holtmann said. “Sometimes guys will play these kind of minutes, sometimes they won’t. When they have these kind of moments in front of them, they have to continue to grow and get better. Felix’s rebounding, his defense and defensive awareness in the post has to get better and grow but he’s a really willing learner. He’s a great listener. He wants to get better. He’s a freshman big.
“We’re going to see ups and downs all year but it was good to see him have some success.”
With Sensabaugh, Gayle and Okpara all coming off the bench, Ohio State’s reserves outscored their St. Francis counterparts 48-8.
“It just makes our bench more wider,” Okpara said. “We have more guys coming off the bench and putting up points and helping the team out.”
After four-game away swing, time for Ohio State to rest
It had been more than two weeks since the Buckeyes had played a home game, and in the interim their travels had taken them across the country. After beating Eastern Illinois 65-43 at Value City Arena on Nov. 16, Ohio State then flew to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational for three games against high-major competition. The Buckeyes went 2-1, returned home late on Thanksgiving and then went to North Carolina for a Wednesday night ACC-Big Ten Challenge game against Duke.
After this game, Holtmann cited the specter of fatigue while trying to avoid using it as an excuse for a failure to put the Red Flash away until about five minutes into the second half.
“Maui was a terrific atmosphere,” Holtmann said. “Playing in that thing, it’s a terrific environment. Obviously Duke was a terrific environment. High-level game down to the last four moments. Excuses are tools for the incompetents. You’re trying not to make as many as possible. There was potentially some fatigue, but more than anything, it was we just didn’t play to the effort level that this was requiring of us in the first half.”
It turned around in the second half when Key scored eight straight points, six of them on offensive rebounds, to turn a 10-point lead into what would become a blowout. He finished with 11 points and five rebounds in 21:38.
Sixth-year forward Justice Sueing scored 6 points in only 17:09. Oklahoma State graduate transfer Isaac Likekele played only 24:59, his second-fewest minutes of the season.
The schedule, plus the ongoing lopsidedness of the game, were the reasons why.
“I think it was a little both, and wanting to see our young guys play and get some game experience,” Holtmann said. “That was as important as anything.”
Ohio State will host Rutgers on Thursday in its Big Ten opener and then have nine days before playing North Carolina at Madison Square Garden as part of the CBS Sports Classic on Dec. 17.
3-point shooting returns for Buckeyes
Okpara wasn’t the only Buckeye to dial up some perimeter shooting. After making a season-low three 3-point attempts in the loss at Duke, Ohio State hit a season-high 13 against the Red Flash on 23 attempts.
“Part of the Duke situation was how they were playing,” Holtmann said. “They were really extended defensively so they don’t let you shoot a lot of 3s. Some of that was more a by-product of how teams play defensively against us. We’re always gonna shoot 3s. We always have.”
Seven different Buckeyes hit at least one 3-pointer against St. Francis. Thornton (3 for 5) and Sensabaugh (3 for 6) led the way, while West Virginia graduate transfer Sean McNeil was 2 for 4 and finished with 10 points. Gayle, who was 0 for 6 in his last four games, went 2 for 2 against St. Francis.
Ohio State is now shooting 36.4% (59 for 162) from 3 this season. It entered the game at 33.1% and hadn’t made more than eight in a game since going 10 for 21 (47.6%) in the season-opening win against Robert Morris.
“This gives us confidence going into Big Ten play when things start to get real,” fourth-year Wright State transfer Tanner Holden said. “Overall, it’s a good booster for us. Guys came off the bench and shot the ball well. Sean shot the ball well. Guys played their games.”
Chris Holtmann keyed in on Ohio State football, too
Holtmann said his Friday night wasn’t much different than it was for the average Ohio State fan. With the football team needing some help to potentially reach the College Football Playoffs, the men’s basketball coach was evidently glued to his television to watch Utah hand USC a second loss and likely allow the Buckeyes to inch their way in.
The St. Francis game ended as another football game with potential ramifications – TCU versus Kansas State – continued on. As Holtmann sat down, he asked for a score update.
“Kansas State up?” he said, sliding into his seat. “I did almost lose my voice (Friday) night rooting for the Utes. That was a fun night to get away from prep and to watch that game and pull hard for Utah. I’m excited about what’s next for our football guys.”
The press conference continued and Holtmann got into the win against the Red Flash and what lies ahead, but after answering a final question about freshman Felix Okpara, Holtmann was informed that Kansas State had just scored another touchdown.
“Did they really?” he said. Then, when told the score was now 21-10, he replied, “Go Bucks” before getting up and heading out of the room.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Behind Felix Okpara, fellow freshmen, Ohio State cruises to win
