Buckeyes Now

When Kaleb Wesson Struggles, Ohio State Cannot Cope

Buckeyes' losses often trace to best player's ill-timed absences at offensive end

Bruce Hooley

When Kaleb Wesson Struggles, Ohio State Cannot Cope
When Kaleb Wesson Struggles, Ohio State Cannot Cope /

You will not find it on the map, and even if you could, Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann certainly doesn't want to go there.

He's hoping against hope OSU doesn't pass through the place, wherever it is, on the way to Indianapolis for a 6:30 p.m. Thursday game against Purdue.

Truth is, the Buckeyes have already been there against their will too many times.

Call it Slumbertown, Sleepyville or wherever it is that junior forward Kaleb Wesson goes a maddening number of times in a Big Ten season that offers no mercy for such inconsistency.

Wesson is the Buckeyes' best player, and so it's no surprise that when he struggles, they struggle.

Sunday at Michigan State was yet another instance where OSU essentially had no chance because Wesson couldn't get going on offense, despite his ability score both inside and outside.

He finished 1-of-8 from the field, making his only field goal via a dunk, and scored eight points in an 80-69 loss.

That's the sixth time in 20 conference games Wesson has made less than one-third of his shot attempts.

OSU is 1-5 in those match-ups, and 1-6 when Wesson's other sub-33% effort (3-of-11) against West Virginia is thrown in.

Figuratively and literally, Wesson looms the largest on Ohio State's scouting report. He's 6-9, 250 pounds, with the ability to score down low with either hand, and with 43% success from three-point range.

But every team in the Big Ten has a top player who's targeted by the opponent each night, and few offer as many head-scratching absences as Wesson.

The other big men on the all-conference team certainly don't:

  • Iowa's Luka Garza, the Big Ten player-of-the-year, didn't shoot 33% or worse in any game.
  • Nor did Minnesota's 6-10 Daniel Oturu,
  • Michigan State's 6-8 Xavier Tillman did so once, his only time under 40% all season.
  • Maryland's 6-10 Jalen Smith also did so only once.

Wesson leads OSU with averages of 14 points and 9.3 rebounds.

He's re-shaped his body with a disciplined diet and hard off-season work to shave 30 pounds from a frame that used to be unable to hedge defensively on high ball-screens.

Wesson has therefore become a much more nimble defender and a much bigger late-game presence because he's no longer as fatigued.

But too often, he struggles in the close-quarter contact that typifies Big Ten post battles, particularly when he mysteriously shies from contact as he sometimes does.

Kaleb Wesson's sub-33% shooting performances

Opponent

FG/FGA

3FG/3FGA

Points

Result

at Michigan State

1/8

0/2

8

80-69 loss

at Nebraska

3/10

0/2

11

75-54 win

at Wisconsin

2/11

0/4

8

70-57 loss

Minnesota

1/10

0/3

2

62-59 loss

at Indiana

3/11

2/4

11

66-54 loss

at Minnesota

4/13

1/4

12

84-71 loss

West Virginia

3/11

1/4

17

67-59 loss

Take OSU's recent win over Michigan: Wesson scored 14 points thanks largely to 4-of-5 three-point shooting on a day that saw him go 1-for-9 in the lane.

"There are parts of his game that you can look at and, whatever, complain about or take issue with," Holtmann said after that victory. "I look at it on the whole as a coach. Certainly, his two-point finishing is something he would look at and say, 'I can do better.' What gets lost by people who don't sit down and break down film and look at it is Kaleb was outstanding defensively. He was really good defensively.

"We just forget about that. We see a big guy who we think should finish everything around the basket. We don't always look at the fact that he moves really well right now. He did a really good job defending ball screens. He defended the rim in the way that he can defend the rim, which is his size and his length. He was great on rotations. He just overall really had an impact."

Wesson certainly has that capacity.

In OSU's only previous game against Purdue this season, a 68-52 home win on Feb. 15, he had 13 points on 3-for-8 shooting on a night where junior Kyle Young scored a career-high 16.

Young is doubtful for the Boilermakers this time because of a sprained ankle that's kept him out the last two weeks.

Ohio State will likely need Wesson to be at his best, not just to survive the first round, but certainly if it's to avenge its Sunday loss to Michigan State in what would be a 6:30 p.m. Friday rematch.

"So much of what we do is predicated off Kaleb's ability to stretch you from the middle of the floor," Holtmann said. "...Kaleb's ability to stretch that five, or at least present issues for that five, allows C.J. (Walker) and other guys to make decisions."

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Bruce Hooley
BRUCE HOOLEY

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